Oct. 22--There will be no sneaking up on anyone in 2016.
The Cubs figure to be picked by many experts to win it all next year after 97 wins and a vaunted youth movement already in progress.
"We're going to do what we do," Addison Russell said Wednesday night after the Game 4 loss to the Mets in the National League Championship Series. "We've got a good team for years to come. It's just going to get better from here on out."
Russell is one of the main reasons to be optimistic. The rookie shortstop missed the NLCS after suffering a left hamstring strain while tripling in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the National League Division Series, and his absence was felt.
It's no coincidence the Cubs' late-season surge coincided with the move of Russell to short in early August. While Javy Baez played well replacing Russell in the NLCS, he also made an error on the first play of the first inning of Game 3, booting Curtis Granderson's grounder during an infield shift.
Batting ninth most of the season, Russell hit .242 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI, though he also had more than three times as many strikeouts (149) as walks (42).
But his defense was stellar at two positions. Russell finished fourth overall in the majors in defensive runs saved (17.1), and third amongst all infielders, despite starting at second and moving to short after Starlin Castro was benched. He would've been a Gold Glove candidate at second had Russell remained there the entire season.
"Going down the line I think I had a pretty productive season," Russell said. "It stinks I couldn't play, but you push on and try to root on your teammates. We didn't get the job done, but this ballclub has just been amazing. This year has been amazing. Nobody expected us to go this far. It just really leaves us thirsting for next year."
Russell had been rehabbing and hoping to return if the Cubs made the World Series, but it may have been a longshot anyways. But he will be ready for spring training, and will now have some valuable experience to rely on in the future.
"I'm healthy," he said. "No need to go out there and run now that the season is over. Time to relax, rehab, get it strong and take some time off and then ramp it back up."
