Cubs' Joe Maddon Confident Anthony Rizzo Will Snap Out Of His Slump
(CBS) Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is slumping with a 1-of-23 showing and zero RBIs in six postseason games, but manager Joe Maddon believes he'll bust out soon, given the that he's seeing the ball fine and swinging at the proper pitches.
"Fouling his pitch off," Maddon said in an interview on the Spiegel and Goff Show on Tuesday. "When he's seeing his pitch, he's missing it. He's fouling it off. He hit a pop-up against (Clayton) Kershaw the other night. I mean, he was all over it, but again, the trajectory wasn't right. So he's just missed hitting his pitch right now, for lack of a better way of relaying that info.
"He looks fine. He's look fine at the plate. His mind's fine. I talked to him. He's good. He looks the same.
"When you look at a hitter who's going through problems, is he A) swinging at strikes? And B) if he is, what's he doing with his pitch? For me, right now he's fouling it off ... He just has to put the ball fair and hard when he sees his pitch. He hasn't been doing that of late."
Rizzo hit .292 with 32 homers, 109 RBIs and a .929 OPS in the regular season.
Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta will opposes Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7:08 p.m. from Dodger Stadium, and you can hear the hometown call on 670 The Score. The series it tied 1-1.
Listen to Maddon's full interview below.