The Chicago Cubs field player, Ian Happ, was on average one home run per month this season in early June. He had three – one in March, one in April and the other in May.
Happ added his fourth on June 5, and suddenly, the balls he hits out of the park with a little more regularity.
He will seek to continue this success when the Cubs will open a four game visit to the Cardinals of St. Louis on Monday.
“When you sit there in mid-May with three circuits, you are really frustrated,” said Happ, who reached 25 years last season. “You just want to do more, you want to help more. But I did this for a long time for me to trust that it will appear at some point if you continue to do the right swings. Obviously, the last two weeks, it happened.”
HAPT struck eight circuits this month. Seven of them have spent its last 12 games, including three in the three-game Chicago games against Seattle Mariners this weekend. Two won a 10-7 on Saturday victory before it was held in a single in the 14-6 defeat on Sunday.
HAPT SLUGGING .573 This month, a notable increase compared to the percentage of slugging of 0.350, it was on average during the first three months of the season.
“We knew that it was going to happen. He sits there with three circuits about 10 days ago,” said Cubs director Craig Counsell. “I don’t want to say it’s planned, but there has been a sequence of series at home for him.”
Chicago enters the series against Saint-Louis after losing three of his last four games after winning four of their five previous games. The Cubs of the Central National League have had trouble preventing their opponents from scoring in recent times, granting 31 points in their last three defeats and 38 in their last four games in total.
The right-hander Ben Brown (4-5, 5.57 ERA) will be on the mound to open the series for its first career appearance against Saint-Louis.
The cardinals will seek to get closer to their long -standing rivals in the ranking during the first meeting between the two this season. They provide 4 1/2 games at the rear of the cubs in the central of the National League.
“Obviously, we know that (the Cubs) have played a good ball and it is a team from our division that we are looking to catch up,” said Voltiger Lars Nootbaar. “Whenever you play cubs, it’s always a fun series, and when the stakes are a little higher, there is probably a little more intensity with.”
St. Louis saw his sequence of five consecutive victories on Sunday with a defeat of 4-1 against the Reds of Cincinnati.
The cardinals, however, are happy that this first match came in the comfort of the house at the Busch Stadium, where they are 24-15 so far.
“Our production (offensive) was actually higher in Busch than on the road,” said Oliver Marmol, director of cardinals. “I think that part of this is that we have the mentality to collect tubes. It does not mean that we do not hit the circuits or the doubles, but we must play with our strengths, and we have guys who can strike.”
Gaucher Matthew Liberatore (4-6, 4.08 ERA) should start for hosts. It is 0-1 with an MPM of 4.38 in eight career appearances (two departures) against the Cubs.
– field level media