Attention Cub personnel: For tips on hitting please contact Chuck McElroy, the ”Big Stick from Beaumont.” McElroy, looking more and more like one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball, also is gaining quite a reputation as a hitter.
Saturday, against the Cardinals, McElroy was 2 for 2 with a triple and a single to boost his career batting average to .417, a solid 100 points higher than Roberto Clemente`s lifetime average and a cool 50 points ahead of Ty Cobb`s all-time career high.
Of course, McElroy is only in his second full major-league season and only has 12 official at-bats. So maybe Clemente and Cobb are safe.
But McElroy admits he loves to hit.
”It feels good because a big hit can really turn a ball team around, especially with a pitcher getting a hit,” he said.
McElroy, who lives in Beaumont, Texas, during the off-season, said the last time he hit a triple was back in high school in Texas. But he says he`s ready to bat any time manager Jim Lefebvre needs him.
– Lefebvre said he might take McElroy up on the offer. ”Hey, I`m thinking about using him as a pinch hitter off the bench,” he said. ”(Pitching coach) Billy Connors told me he swings a good bat, and he sure does.”
– McElroy`s performance at the plate brings back memories of last year when outfielder Doug Dascenzo shocked everyone by becoming the first position player for the Cubs in the 20th Century to make three appearances as a pitcher. Dascenzo had a 0.00 ERA in four innings of work against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Pirates. McElroy was asked if, maybe, he and Dascenzo could platoon on the mound and at the plate. ”No, if they want to do that, I`ll say no,” said McElroy. ”I want to stick with pitching. You see all that frustration with hitting. You got guys breaking stuff up and throwing things. I`ll stick with pitching.”
– Dascenzo had a pretty good day at the plate, too, getting a hit and driving in the final run of the game in his only appearance. With shortstop Shawon Dunston nursing a stiff hamstring and center-fielder Jerome Walton on the disabled list, Dascenzo would have seemed to be a natural choice to bat leadoff against the Cardinals. After all, he had the fifth-best on-base average in the National League (.371) last year in games where he batted leadoff. But Dascenzo is only 1 for 19 (.053) lifetime against Jose DeLeon, who started for the Cardinals. Dascenzo got his hit off reliever Mike Perez.
– DeLeon has to cringe when he looks at the schedule and sees the next stop is Chicago. He was 0-4 against the Cubs last year despite a respectable 3.86 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings. Those numbers are typical of DeLeon`s hard-luck career. His lifetime ERA is 3.67, but his record is 73-105. Last year, he had the sixth-best ERA in the NL (2.71), but only finished with a 5-9 record. That`s because he had the lowest run support of any NL starter. The Cardinals only scored 3.5 runs for every nine innings he pitched.