As you know, Joe Maddon likes to mix-and-match his lineups. This drives some of you crazy. Many think the Cubs should have a “set lineup,” though that’s not really the way baseball works anymore. Especially on Maddon-managed teams, players who can play multiple positions and do it well have succeeded and helped the team succeed.
Sahadev Sharma recently posted an article on this topic at The Athletic, so I thought I’d take a deeper look into this as well. Here’s the key part of the article, in my view, quoting Theo Epstein:
When he spoke to reporters following his team’s wild-card exit this October, he was asked about how his players handle Maddon’s frequent changing of lineups during the season.