ATLANTA — To a certain extent, Cubs manager Joe Maddon is more concerned with Addison Russell’s progress in reading a Stephen King book than he is the 21-year-old second baseman’s batting average.
Maddon has Russell — the youngest player in the National League — listening to the audiobook version of "11/22/63," a novel about a man who travels back in time to try to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The goal, Maddon said, is to have Russell take his mind off baseball in his downtime.
“Just to get him when he leaves the ballpark, he leaves the ballpark and gets caught up in a different part of his imagination or mind and not dwell on particularly bad or good,” Maddon said.