Oct. 20--The Cubs' selective-aggressive approach at the plate produced 171 home runs this season but also a National League-high 1,518 strikeouts.
Against a strike-throwing Mets pitching staff, the Cubs need to find a happy medium if they're going to rebound from a 2-0 deficit in the NL Championship Series that resumes Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
"That's not going to change all of a sudden when we face better pitching," outfielder Chris Coghlan said. "We're not going to stop (striking) out. No team is perfect. They all have things people can critique, and I understand that's one for us.
"At the end of the day, it's the quality of the at-bat. You can't control whether you get a hit. It's about how well can we put quality at-bats together and how often we can hit the ball hard."
The Cubs hope warmer temperatures forecast for the next two days will help cure their offensive woes. After striking out 20 times in the first two games while scoring only three runs -- one on a homer by Kyle Schwarber -- the Cubs face another stiff test against Jacob deGrom, who was fifth in the NL with a 5.39 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
DeGrom's 4.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first two seasons is second only to former Cub Mark Prior (4.45) since 1920.
Manager Joe Maddon doesn't want his batters to expand the strike zone after intimating that might already have occurred in the first game thanks to plate umpire Rob Drake.
"You don't want to change anything," Maddon said. "There's been some width to the strike zone that we normally don't get out of our patterns. I don't want our guys to get out of our patterns. Strike zones would be contingent a lot based on the particular umpire. I don't want our guys to change based on an umpire in the previous game. It could change in the next game.
"Regardless of the fact that the strike zone is supposedly a static area, it's not. It depends upon the guy. So I prefer that we stay with our normal patterns, and then we have to adjust sometimes during the course of the game."
One silver lining for the Cubs is that deGrom throws nearly as hard as Games 1 and 2 starters Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard, and Harvey's control (5.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio) nearly is as impressive as deGrom's.
"I don't want to say it's more comfortable, but we know what to expect," third baseman Kris Bryant said. "(DeGrom) is an All-Star and has had an unbelievable year (14-8, 2.54 ERA). We have our work cut out."
Although the Cubs recovered from deficits to win three consecutive games against the Cardinals in the division series, early run support would take some pressure off their starting pitchers, who have allowed six first-inning runs over the last three games.
"That first-inning thing is biting us," catcher David Ross said. "Get on the board early and let our starters relax, rather than getting behind. That's never fun. It's easier when you get the lead. You're able to do more things."
The Cubs believe they're due for some breaks after hitting into their share of misfortune, such as Curtis Granderson robbing Coghlan of a home run in the second inning Sunday.
"We've hit the ball harder than our stat line shows," Coghlan said. "So with this weather being warmer and being at home, hopefully it changes."
mgonzales@tribpub.com
