[adinserter block=”1″]Although for various reasons (“first of the spring” and “so very awesome”, respectively), Kyle Schwarber’s and Munenori Kawasaki’s homers yesterday got the individual treatment, there were three other homers in yesterday’s game that deserve your enjoyment. If you didn’t see the first two, check out those links. They’re fun.
As for the rest of the crew, the Cubs also got a team-leading fifth Spring Training homer from Addison Russell:
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That was a lightning quick bat, and it didn’t seem like he got enough extension to send the ball out. But there it went, to right center no less.
[adinserter block=”1″]When you watch that one, you can see that there’s a simple truth at play: Russell has a lot of power. It might not be the way you think of him, but he does. If it becomes fully playable in-game this year, I see no reason he couldn’t hit 25 homers.
And that’s a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop hitting 7th or 8th in this lineup. My freaking word.
It may be easy to forget, but Matt Szczur was the Cubs’ big-time power source last Spring Training, and it seems like he would have been again this year if he’d been healthy. Because he’s been back only a few games, and he already hit his second homer:
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And that was a boooomb, too. It came on the day that Szczur found out he made the team, so that’s a nice cap to a great day for him. We’ll see what the future holds – when Javier Baez is ready to return, Szczur’s spot on the roster (and therefore the Cubs, because he’s out of options) will be tenuous. Until then, though, I hope he just keeps hitting, because the glove and the speed would be so nice to keep around.
Then, of course, there’s David Ross, showing there’s still life in his bat:
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If you leave one hanging, 39 or not, Ross can still turn it around.
It won’t be quite as easy to hit homers for the team in April at Wrigley Field, so I’m not going to expect a five-homer output on the regular. Still, I think we’ll see it from time-to-time with this group. Probably some six-homer days, too. Maybe even a seven spot.