Quade Experimenting with Cubs' Batting Order; Cubs 0-3 when Castro No. 3

It seemed that the Cubs were set with their first and second hitters in the batting lineup. Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney have been hitting well. They have been getting on base and scoring runs. So why was Castro batting in the third spot Sunday against the Dodgers?

Carrie Muskat has posted an article at the MLB.com website titled "Quade tinkers as Cubs' lineup remains fluid."

If we look a little deeper, we find that the reason Castro was batting third had to do with the fact Marlon Byrd has been struggling at the plate.

Byrd is always a class act. That explains why he says in his blog he will do for the team whatever has to be done. However, he does say that "he has an ego" and so he wants to be batting third. He also says the reason he has an ego is because he is a male. He may get a little grief over that. You can read his comments here.

Kosuke Fukudome has been taking over at the leadoff spot. Despite the fact Byrd is struggling, it is important to note the Cubs are 0-3 when Castro is batting third. Sometimes it is just better to leave well enough alone rather than continue to "massage" things.

Two things it is easy to notice about the extraordinary hitting of Castro is that he is taking more balls and also is able to make contact with pitches outside of the strike zone. That makes his at-bats longer, which in turn wears down opposing pitchers and gives him an even better chance of getting a hit.

In additional news, Jeff Samardzija has logged a career-high seven consecutive scoreless innings. You may remember Samardzija was a noteworthy wide receiver for Notre Dame who opted to pitch in the Major Leagues. Further, catcher Geovany Soto has thrown eight out of 27 runners trying to steal. This number leads MLB.

Finally, as Muskat reports, the average game-time temperature at Wrigley Field so far this year has been a chilly 47 degrees.

Considering that, perhaps it is true the Cubs are lucky to have ended this first stretch so far only one game below .500.

References:

MLB.com Website, Carrie Muskat, "Quade tinkers as Cubs' lineup remains fluid"

MLB.com Website, Marlon Byrd, "4/23 The Three Hole"