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Confidence, consistency key to Russell’s success
- Updated: August 25, 2016
LOS ANGELES — The Cubs did not take batting practice on Tuesday at Petco Park — they rarely do, because manager Joe Maddon feels it’s overrated — but Addison Russell was on the field prior to the game to do his early work. His extra effort is one of the reasons the shortstop is a leading candidate for a 2016 National League Gold Glove Award.
“He wants to be good, and he is good,” Cubs third-base and infield coach Gary Jones said. “He wants to be better. He’s one of those guys who comes every day and wants to get better every day.”
Which is why Jones will hit grounders to Russell for about 10 to 15 minutes before a game.
“It’s something I know I have to do,” Russell said. “I know I feel more confident going into the game if I take ground balls before the game. Batting practice doesn’t really make a difference to me. I really like to get at shortstop, move the feet around, go left to right, practice a few drills, and then I feel good going into the game.”
Defensively, Russell leads all NL shortstops in zone rating (.873), and he is seventh in fielding percentage (.978), making 10 errors in 113 starts. It’s almost impossible to count how many times his defensive wizardry has been featured in postgame highlights. Russell is tied with the Angels’ Andrelton Simmons and the Indians’ Francisco Lindor — pretty good company — for second in MLB with 14 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) among shortstops. The Giants’ Brandon Crawford leads all shortstops with 17.
“He’s definitely got to be in the conversation, legitimate conversation,” Maddon said of any Gold Glove discussion regarding NL shortstops. “This guy on defense, it’s getting to the point where there’s no one else like that right now.”
Just watch video of the play Russell made in the eighth inning Monday to rob the Padres’ Wil Myers of a potential hit and RBI. The next day, Maddon presented Russell with a bottle of wine marked “6-3 — Enjoy it” to commemorate it.
“His feet are so good,” Maddon said. “Everybody looks at the whole picture and looks at the waist up all the time, but watch how he moves his feet. He’s very …
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