All right. Let’s get some bodies back.
Before the Dodgers series in Los Angeles in late May – oof, remember that one? – Ben Zobrist was hitting a pretty much Zobrist-like .266/.354/.468 (115 wRC+) on the year. And then the wrist injury happened.
From that point on, he hit just .102/.228/.184 (16 wRC+) until finally going on the disabled list in mid-June. Of particular note during that stretch, Zobrist was not striking out (10.5%) – instead, his numbers were crushed by an .095 BABIP, an .086 ISO, and an elevated groundball rate (54.8%).
We know that Zobrist was playing through the wrist issue from that Dodgers series on, and, in retrospect, although he was able to bat left-handed at the time, maybe he shouldn’t have been playing at all.
In any case, with plenty of time off to rest the wrist, hopefully Zobrist can come back to the team at 100%, because they could certainly use his bat, especially if Kris Bryant is going to miss time.
Zobrist is set to begin a rehab assignment at AA Tennessee tonight (Cubs.com). Ideally, Zobrist will need only a couple games to feel comfortable and confident in the wrist, and ready to come back to the big league team.