Patrick Wisdom’s spur-of-the-moment mustache won’t be going away for now.
Wisdom sported the new look when he arrived at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday and then clobbered two home runs that night on his 30th birthday. He followed those birthday bashes with another multi-homer game Saturday in the Chicago Cubs’ 7-0 win against the White Sox.
Wisdom is having fun with the facial hair, though he made sure his daughter watched as he shaved his beard. He recalled her being somewhat apprehensive when Wisdom would get her in the morning after he went with a ‘stache at one point last year.
“It’s going to stay for a little bit, yeah,” Wisdom said. “Power of the mustache, I guess.”
Cubs manager David Ross joked after Wisdom’s performance Friday that the team collectively might need to rock a mustache. Ross might need more convincing to get on board with it.
“Oh, man, I don’t know, I’m on TV too much to look that bad,” an amused Ross said after Saturday’s victory. “It’s working good for Wiz. Unless we go teamwide, I’m going to spare you guys that look.
“But I mean, wow, what he’s doing is so impressive. When he touches the ball, it just doesn’t come down. It explodes off his bat.”
Wisdom had been on tear in his last eight games before Sunday, when he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk. He has seven home runs in his last nine games to continue an all-around solid rookie season. Some of the numbers Wisdom is putting up — and the records he’s breaking or threatening — are eye-popping.
10.04: Patrick Wisdom’s average at-bats per home run
If it feels like Wisdom is homering every series, that isn’t far off. Prolific hot stretches have helped his home-run rate, of course, but he’s launching baseballs into the stands at a rate seen from the top home-run hitters in the game.
After another multi-homer game Saturday, Wisdom ended the night averaging a homer every 10.04 at-bats this season. He doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify among big-league statistics; a player needs a minimum of 3.1 plate appearances per team game, equating to at least 502 by the end of the season. But if Wisdom did qualify, his AB/HR rate would be among the best. Entering Saturday, Fernando Tatís Jr. (10.3), Shohei Ohtani (10.6), Joey Votto (12.6) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (12.6) were tops in the majors among qualifiers.
Mike Zunino (9.7) is the only unqualified hitter with at least 200 plate appearances to post a better AB/HR rate than Wisdom.
“He looks calm in the box, comfortable with a nice rhythm to his approach,” Ross said. “He’s been consistent and letting the pitchers come to him.”
8: Cubs players, including Wisdom, since 1970 with two eight-game stretches in one season with at least six home runs.
While one scorching power stretch would be impressive, this marks the second time Wisdom has gone on this type of run to put him in rare Cubs company
Hot streaks, like slumps, are inherent to baseball. Aside from consistency, the best hitters experience more peaks than valleys in their offensive production. And then there’s Wisdom, who has experienced a pair of stretches rarely seen in Cubs history.
He became the eighth Cubs player since 1970 to have two eight-game stretches with six-plus home runs in the same season. He joins Dave Kingman (1979), Andre Dawson (1987), Ryne Sandberg (1990), Sammy Sosa (1995, 1998-2002), Moises Alou (2004), Alfonso Soriano (2007) and Kris Bryant (2016).
“It’s unbelievable — obviously in other spots, he wasn’t given the most chances, and in a situation like this getting everyday playing time, it’s been special to watch,” Cubs pitcher Alec Mills said after throwing 8? scoreless innings in Saturday’s win. “I mean, obviously what he did tonight at the plate, but he made four or five really, really good defensive plays starting at third base. So he can kind of do it all, and it’s a lot of fun to watch when he’s clicking.”
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Wisdom’s performance this weekend against the White Sox, with four homers in the first two games, hasn’t surprised Lance Lynn, who was on the St. Louis Cardinals as Wisdom was coming up through their organization. Wisdom took Lynn deep on a 2-2 changeup over the middle of the plate for a solo home run in the fourth Saturday. In the fifth, Wisdom got around on a full-count, 94 mph fastball that was down and inside, roping it for a line-drive solo homer to left and a 7-0 lead.
“When we make a mistake, he hits it,” Lynn said after the game. “You find guys that get in zones like that, and that happens. Right now he’s in a good spot, he gets a chance to play. I’ve known Patrick for a long time. He kind of got passed over for years, finally getting his opportunity. He’s making the best of it, obviously.”
2: Consecutive multi-homer games, a first in Cubs history for a rookie
Even for a franchise in existence as long as the Cubs — dating to 1876, when they were the Chicago White Stockings — something new can happen at the ballpark.
Wisdom became the first rookie to have consecutive multi-homer games in Cubs history, according to Elias Sports Bureau. He couldn’t pinpoint one specific element that fuels his hot streaks. However, he credited the Cubs coaching staff — including hitting coach Anthony Iapoce, assistant hitting coach Chris Valaika and quality assurance coach Mike Napoli — for helping him put on blinders and pointing him in the right direction.
“I kind of surprise myself sometimes,” Wisdom said. “I think it’s just talking things over with the staff here. … It’s just slowing things down, taking it pitch by pitch. I get frustrated with a certain at-bat and I’ve got to flush it and move on and take the positives and learn from it and get on to the next at-bat and try to get more good swings off.”
26: Kris Bryant’s franchise record for home runs by a rookie, which Wisdom is on the verge of tying
Aside from leading National League rookies in home runs and sitting second overall behind the Texas Rangers’ Adolis García (29), Wisdom is making a run at the Cubs rookie record despite not getting called up until May 25.
With 30 games remaining, Wisdom is one shy of the Cubs rookie record of 26, which Kris Bryant set in 2015 en route to winning the NL Rookie of the Year award. Wisdom’s 25 homers tie him with Billy Williams (1961) for second-most for a Cubs rookie, though the third baseman recorded his in 311 fewer plate appearances, putting his home-run rate in further perspective.
“That’s really cool — I had no idea, honestly,” Wisdom said of the record and the history he’s making. “I’m kind of speechless with those names you dropped because those are obviously great players, phenomenal players, even Cub legends. So that’s really, really special.”
Despite turning 30 on Friday, Wisdom came into the season with only 88 plate appearances in 43 major-league games spanning three seasons (2018-20) and three organizations (Cardinals, Rangers and Cubs). He began 2021 with four homers in the majors, all in 2018. This is the first extended playing time of his big-league career, and he is not wasting the opportunity to leave a mark.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m coming off rude, but if they’re surprised, then that’s on them,” Wisdom said. “I know what I can do and other people know what we can do. There’s a reason why we’re here and why we’re playing well like we are.
“Obviously team-wise, we want to win and that’s the goal. But if we can just keep going, I think things will turn around and I’m so happy for (Rafael Ortega) and Frank (Schwindel) and other guys down the line, just to come in and play like we’ve been playing. It’s really special and it’s really fun to be a part of.”
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