MESA, Ariz. – The nerds have been at it again, and the result is Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is leaning toward batting his pitcher ninth in the order this season.
“The geeks got back to me,” Maddon said on Wednesday. “I got some really good information.”
At the beginning of camp, Maddon asked the Cubs' front-office guys – often referred to, affectionately, by the manager as geeks – to analyze the pros and cons of having the the pitcher bat eighth, as he did often last season. The main thing Maddon wanted to know was how often the No.