Slump or just bad luck? Digging into Anthony Rizzo’s recent struggles

11:47 AM ET

ST.LOUIS — In the past there would have been little doubt Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo would have come through in a key spot in a baseball game. In fact, earlier on Monday night he seemed to break out of his slump with an opposite-field RBI to put the Cubs up 3-1 against the St. Louis Cardinals. And the night before he had walked in his final at-bat. Good things were starting to finally happen again for him.

But here Rizzo was in the ninth inning with the game tied 3-3 and men on first and third with one out. The team’s best two-strike hitter needed to take a two-strike approach and somehow, someway get that run home from third. Instead he lined softly to third base and teammate Dexter Fowler was doubled off on the play. A few minutes later the Cubs would lose 4-3, their eighth loss in their past 12 games. A 2-for-26 road trip became 2-for-27 for Rizzo.

“I would like balls to fall but what are you going to do?” Rizzo said before the game. “The law of averages will work out.”

He might be right, but a closer look at his season points to a very strange year for the Cubs top hitter of a year ago. There’s the 11 home runs and 35 RBI’s, good for fifth and second in the NL, respectively. That’s extremely impressive. But then there’s the .239 batting average which dips to .231 in games deemed late/close this year. And his numbers against …

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