Anthony Rizzo Shouldn’t Be The Cubs Cleanup Hitter Right Now

This one is pretty simple, since June 16 Anthony Rizzo has two home runs. Those came on July 19 and July 27, which means the first baseman hasn’t homered in 15 straight games heading into Wednesday night’s action against the Phillies.

That’s pretty weird, considering MLB is hitting a record number of home runs this season. Rizzo’s power has disappeared and while he still is posting good numbers (.323/.419/.465 since the ASG) he’s also hurting the Cubs offense batting in the cleanup spot and not adding any slugging.

But *why* are these things happening, while the rest of his game stays strong? Really hard to say, and I don't immediately see signal in his discipline and pitch data. Best I can see is he's swinging a bit more, seeing fewer fastballs and sliders, and seeing more sinkers? pic.twitter.com/t7aKPmYo9W

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 14, 2019

Sahadev Sharma wrote a full breakdown of Rizzo’s numbers during the past couple months over at The Athletic.

Anthony Rizzo believes he's having a highly productive season — and he's not wrong. But the last two months his power has dipped significantly. Is it mechanics? Too much chasing? Perhaps a mix of both? https://t.co/JboRWRkoS4

— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 14, 2019

Here are the Cubs home run leaders since the 4th of July.

Cubs HR leaders since July 4:
Schwarber: 9 HR, 108 PA
Bryant: 7 HR, 134 PA
Báez: 6 HR, 135 PA
Castellanos: 5 HR, 53 PA (since Aug. 1.)
Almora: 5 HR, 81 PA
Garcia: 4 HR, 62 PA (last game July 30)
Happ: 4 HR, 50 PA (since July 26)
Heyward: 3 HR, 123
Rizzo: 2 HR, 131 PA pic.twitter.com/AsObu8yOfx

— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) August 14, 2019

And again, this isn’t saying that Rizzo is now a bad hitter, he’s not, but right now he probably shouldn’t be batting cleanup. We’ve seen Joe Maddon move players into the leadoff role when they’re struggling, which at this point may not be a bad idea for Rizzo.

After all, Jason Heyward might miss another game on Thursday because of knee inflammation, so why not move Rizzo up and use his best current skill where it’s most important, getting on base in front of Nick Castellanos and Kris Bryant.

Despite the power numbers going down, Rizzo has a .416 OBP since July 1. Right now, he’s just not doing enough to merit the fourth spot in the lineup.