Addison Russell hits first home run in Cubs 1-0 win, joins rare company
Despite all the excitement surrounding the April call ups of top prospects Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, the Chicago Cubs had actually yet to receive a home run from their young power duo in their first 17 total games.
As the calendar flipped to May on Friday, however, that quickly changed when Russell muscled up against Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta to hit a solo shot to the still-under-construction bleachers in left center at Wrigley Field.
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Amazingly, Russell’s third-inning blast held up as the only run in the game — Chicago went on to win 1-0 behind a strong start from Jon Lester and the relief work of Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon. As a result, that not only gives Russell a great memory to take with him, it also places him in unique territory in Cubs history.
Granted, it’s been done more recently that the Cubs last World Series championship, but it’s still pretty rare. It’s also quite surpriisng that it’s Addison Russell and not Kris Bryant who had first crack at such an accomplishment.
When Bryant got the call back on April 17, no one would have dared predict that Russell, who would still be in the minor leagues for another week after Bryant, would be the first of the two prospects to hit a major-league home run. Especially after Bryant tore up the Cactus League with a league best nine home runs and started off the year with three homers in seven games at Triple-A Iowa. But that’s how things played in this unpredictable baseball world.
Russell struck out in his other two at-bats on Friday, which has been an issue so far. At the conclusion of Friday’s game, Russell is still hitting just .194/.219/.387 mostly out of the nine spot in Joe Maddon’s lineup. He’s mixed brilliant moments with some shaky moments on defense, which is considered the strongest part of Russell’s well-rounded game. Of course, he’s also adjusting to a new position, second base, on the fly with the big club.
As for Bryant, he’s actually been very productive in 12 games despite the lack of power, hitting .304 with 10 RBIs and 10 walks.
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That should create another level of excitement for Cubs fans, as the power numbers will certainly come in short order. In the meantime, he’s looking like a player willing to make adjustments and take what pitchers are giving him, rather than forcing the issue. If he continues on that path, he should be able to avoid extended slumps.
Another bright spot on Friday was the performance of ace Jon Lester. For the first time in five Cubs starts, he was able to pitch into the seventh inning and beyond. He finished with seven shutout innings on just three hits to pick up his first win of the season.
That it came against the hapless Brewers is secondary to the fact Lester simply needed an outing that got his feet under him after posting a 6.23 ERA in his first 21 2/3 innings this season. He’ll look to build on Friday’s effort next Wednesday in St. Louis.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
