Cubs' Joe Maddon Impressed With Addison Russell's Continued Improvement

(CBS) It was Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo who first proclaimed in early March that shortstop Addison Russell has MVP potential.

While Russell's not in the mix for that accolade this season -- it's actually Rizzo and teammate Kris Bryant who are two of the leading candidates -- it's become evident over the past several months and through Russell's season-long maturation process just where Rizzo was getting that idea from.

With two RBIs on Monday in a win at San Diego, the 22-year-old Russell became just the third shortstop in Cubs franchise history to reach 80 RBIs in a single season. He also has 18 homers, a .249 average and .771 OPS while playing superb defense in a season in which he started at shortstop for the National League.

A second-year pro, Russell's 3.3 WAR ranks sixth among regular shortstops in baseball, per Fangraphs.com, and he's impressed manager Joe Maddon with his continued improvement. Russell's has upped his on-base percentage to .335 this season in part because he's drawn 47 walks in 117 games. Last season, he walked 42 times in 142 games.

"The maturation with him from last year to this year is the fact that he's not expanding (his strike zone)," Maddon said on the Spiegel and Goff Show on Tuesday. "He will on occasion like everybody does, but for the most par he'll go from 0-2 to 4-2 a lot. He'll accept his walk, and that's it. I've had a lot of good, young hitters -- Garret Anderson really comes to mind, GA didn't hit for a lot of power when he was younger because he would swing at everything. Then he got a little bit better at getting in better counts. When you get in better counts, you can hit the ball harder and farther.

"That's Addison. Addison's extremely strong from his fingertips to his elbows. He's got a really quick bat. And now he's understanding all of this stuff. The guy's not even 23. I keep talking about that because all of our guys are doing right now, but they're still learning the game. They're learning about themselves. They're learning how to make adjustments. And for me as we continue along this path, just keeping them healthy, you're going to continue to watch them improve."

Listen to Maddon's full interview below.