Changing the Cubs’ culture on offense came one player at a time

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs’ front office knew it would take time. It’s why it likened changing over the team’s offense to turning an ocean liner around. It’s a slow process, but at least Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer knew what they were looking for: Hitters who got on-base.

It sounds like a simple concept, but the Cubs were anything but an on-base team when the current front office took over before the 2012 season. They were a pretty good home-run-hitting team, but it was on-base percentage which correlated most directly with runs scored. The front office brass knew that from its days in Boston and set out to change the makeup of the Cubs’ lineup.

“We always talked about if we were going to improve our on-base skills we had to put our money where our mouth is and acquire guys that grind at-bats and get on-base,” general manager Jed Hoyer said recently.

The front office and manager Joe Maddon both agree that drafting or acquiring guys that were good at getting on was the way to go instead of trying to change players who weren’t inclined to take walks. They’ve said as much many times throughout the years. It’s not really a teachable thing.

Free agency wasn’t much of an option at the time, so drafting and trading for on-base guys was the way to go. Kris Bryant fit the description for a power hitter, as did Kyle Schwarber, but so did little-known infielder Tommy La Stella. He’s a great example of the Cubs “putting their money where their mouth was.”

The Cubs drafted Kris Bryant not only because of his power potential, but because of his penchant for taking pitches and getting on base. Caylor …

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