The Cubs can quit worrying about third base for a while. The kid with the bandaged hand has stepped in.
Jose Vizcaino, once considered an insurance policy for Shawon Dunston at shortstop, now looks more like a long-lost heir to Ron Santo at third.
”I like playing third, but what I really like is being in the lineup,”
says Vizcaino, who turned 24 just before the season began.
The Cubs needed Vizcaino at third when it became apparent no one else could fill what for years has been a glaring hole in the lineup.
Sub Luis Salazar stepped in sporadically during the last couple of seasons whenever the Cubs would abandon experiments with Gary Scott. But Salazar is 36 and is struggling at the plate: He is hitting just .208. Whenever he plays more than a couple days in a row, his bat seems to slow perceptibly.
Out of sheer desperation, manager Jim Lefebvre took a calculated gamble and gave Vizcaino a shot at third base last month. It was calculated because it allowed Lefebvre to make two moves at once. With Vizcaino at third, Lefebvre had an opening at shortstop for 24-year-old Rey Sanchez.
Vizcaino played third base once early in the season against St. Louis, but he was hit in the thumb by a line drive in that game and didn`t play third again until May 31.
That also proved to be a cameo appearance at third because the Cubs called up Scott from the minors again the next day and gave him another chance to step in. It turned out to be a brief chance. Less than three weeks later, on June 21, Lefebvre officially gave up on Scott and started Vizcaino at third base, leading off in the batting order, with Sanchez at short, batting eighth. Vizcaino went 2 for 5 and drove in a run against the Phillies, only to be outdone by Sanchez, who was 3 for 4 with a career-high three runs batted in.
Vizcaino and Sanchez have started every game but one since then. Coming into this weekend, they had committed only one error and thrown out or put out 90 opposing hitters or runners in 11 games.
”We feel comfortable out there,” says Sanchez. ”Jose knows he can go a long way to try to get balls hit to his left because he knows I`m right there behind him in case he can`t make the play.”
That has been the early hallmark of Vizcaino`s reign at third-his range at third. A shortstop all his career, he is used to going wide and far for balls.
It looks as if he could be doing it for a long while if he can lift his batting average from its sub-.225 level. (He`s hitting .283 over the last two weeks.)
Those are decent numbers, but third base, particularly, is traditionally a power-hitter`s position. Teams usually don`t win unless they have a third baseman like Santo, who hit 337 homers and drove in 1,290 runs.
Rey of sunshine: The only reason the Cubs can afford to let Vizcaino move to third is because they have an abundance of fielding talent at shortstop.
(Sanchez is hitting about .220, but .270 over the last two weeks.) Sanchez has proved he is good enough to be the starting shortstop on most major-league clubs. It may not be with the Cubs after Shawon Dunston returns from his back surgery, but then again, it might be. The Cubs are in a position now where they can trade Dunston, Sanchez or Vizcaino and still have two solid major-league shortstops. And that doesn`t even count Alex Arias, who is hitting .274 and is turning heads down at Triple-A Iowa.
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Trademark bandage: Vizcaino has played with his right hand taped since he hurt his thumb on a stinging line drive off the bat of Bernard Gilkey in St. Louis April 19. Trainer John Fierro says the thumb is healed, but Vizcaino still has it taped daily. He has become used to playing with it that way, and the Cubs say they can afford the tape if it makes their new third baseman comfortable. Lefty-righty: Baseball wisdom dictates left-handed hitters have the advantage against right-handed pitchers and vice-versa. A key reason is because the pitcher`s breaking balls will come in on a hitter instead of curving away. Generally speaking, statistics bear all this out. But not always. The Cubs have a couple ”turnaround players”-pitchers or batters who turn the statistics around. For example, left-handed batters have a .275 average against left-handed reliever Chuck McElroy, while righties are batting just .178 against him. Same thing with right-handed reliever Jim Bullinger. He has held left-handed hitters to .200, but right-handers are batting .250 against him.
No place like home: A survey in this month`s issue of Sport magazine shows Wrigley Field is the favorite ballpark of major-league players. Asked what stadium other than their own was the best place to play baseball, 16 percent of the 156 big-leaguers polled said Wrigley. Tied for second at 10 percent each were: Fenway Park, Busch Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium. Class acts: Those same major-leaguers were asked which organization, other than their own, they would most like to play for. The Los Angeles Dodgers were first (22 percent), followed by-get this-the expansion Florida Marlins, who have yet to play a game. The Marlins were chosen by 18 percent of those surveyed. Just behind, with 17 percent, were the Cubs.
Around the league: The Reds` Jose Rijo, scheduled to pitch against the Cubs this week, has won three of his last four decisions after starting the year 2-5. He beat the Pirates 2-1 last Thursday night. . . . The Mets are giving their team doctors a workout. Reliever John Franco, second baseman Willie Randolph and outfielder Vince Coleman all had MRI examinations last week. None of the three had any unexpected problems. . . . San Diego third baseman Gary Sheffield slipped past Philly catcher Darren Daulton for the league lead in RBIs last week, but Daulton still is on a pace to become the first National League catcher since Gary Carter in 1984 to drive in 100 runs. And, yet, he is in fourth place in the NL All-Star balloting. . . . Coming into this weekend, the Houston Astros were the only team in the NL West with a losing record against East Division opponents. They were 13-21 against the East. . . . As good as they are, the Pirates could be better. They lead the league in stranding runners, leaving an average of 7.3 on base per game. . . . Maybe it`s because all that haze stops them from every really seeing the sun, but the Dodgers have the league`s worst record in day games. They were 8-14 entering the weekend.