The Chicago Cubs are having a great season for many reasons. One of the things on the list would be the production from their infield offensively. They’ve gotten very good contributions from Ben Zobrist and “fifth infielder” Javier Baez, but it’s the trio of others that are looking to make NL history with their power numbers.
Shortstop Addison Russell hit a home run on Sunday night, giving him 20 homers and 90 RBI on the season.
As things stand, here are the home run and RBI totals of first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Russell and third baseman Kris Bryant.
| Cubs IF | HR | RBI |
| Rizzo | 29 | 97 |
| Russell | 20 | 90 |
| Bryant | 37 | 94 |
So it’s a safe bet that both Rizzo and Bryant are going to top 30/100, but what if Russell gets to 100 RBI? He needs 10 in the final 20 games. He’s been hitting fifth a lot, and considering how much the Cubs’ get on base (.341 OBP, first in the NL), that’s a lot of opportunity. He will be rested on occasion down the stretch, however, as the division will be tied up within the next several days.
So it should be close. If the three do get to 100 RBI, they’ll join the following teams with three infielders having at least 20 home runs and 100 RBI:
1940 Red Sox (Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Jimmie Foxx)
1950 Red Sox (Doerr, Walt Dropo, Vern Stephens)
2001 A’s (Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez)
2010 Yankees (Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez)
Notice anything about those four teams? Yes, they are all AL teams. So, obviously, if the three Cubs’ infielders mentioned above reach 100 RBI, they’ll become the first team in NL history to pull off such a feat.
It would be yet another feather in the cap of the Cubs for the 2016 regular season before they set their sights on what they believe will be a special postseason.
Story provided by by Matt Snyder
