Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, top, forces out Seattle Mariners’ Jorge Polanco (7) at second base and makes the throw to first for the double play against Mariners’ Ty France to end the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Seattle.
Lindsey Wasson/AP Photos
PHOENIX — When the Cubs began the season with some shaky defensive performances, it wasn’t expected to last.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve played our caliber defense yet,’’ president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said after the Cubs’ season-opening series in Texas. ‘‘I thought one of the things that we were really good about last year was playing clean games and playing really good defense, so we just haven’t yet.’’
Early this season, any mistakes in the field have been even more glaring because of the state of the rotation. Though Javier Assad and Ben Brown have filled in admirably, the Cubs have a smaller margin for error without Justin Steele (strained left hamstring) and Jameson Taillon (strained back).
In the last couple of weeks, however, the defense gradually has shored up. It wasn’t perfect in a six-game homestand, but several Cubs made game-altering plays. And in the just-completed weekend series in Seattle, back-to-back victories Saturday and Sunday were made possible by staunch defense.
The Cubs entered a three-game series Monday against the Diamondbacks with reinforcements coming. Taillon threw a bullpen session in Arizona, and manager Craig Counsell said he is scheduled to start ‘‘early in the homestand,’’ which begins Thursday against the Marlins.
Already this season, second baseman Nico Hoerner has accumulated quite the highlight reel on defense. One play in particular stood out to him.
‘‘The diving play up the middle was probably the best play I’ve made as a second baseman,’’ he said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times.
On April 5 against the Dodgers at Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ 6-2 lead was in danger in the top of the fourth inning. The Dodgers had runners on second and third with two outs. Gavin Lux was up, with the fearsome top of the Dodgers’ order right behind him.
Lux hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that should have been a one- or two-run single. But Hoerner made a diving stop, popped up and threw a dart to first base to get the Cubs out of the inning. The Cubs went on to win 9-7.
‘‘I had one play in college as a shortstop that I felt like was ahead of that,’’ Hoerner said. ‘‘But as far as game situation and early in the year and just excitement and to impact the game like that, that was one of my favorite plays I’ve ever made.’’
In Seattle, third baseman Christopher Morel had a career game on defense. He kept the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 4-1 victory Saturday from spiraling out of control with back-to-back reaction plays.
Then the Cubs’ 3-2 victory Sunday ended on a defensive high. They got out of the seventh and eighth innings with double plays to maintain a one-run advantage.
‘‘There’s a lot of layers to it,’’ shortstop Dansby Swanson said, listing preparation, positioning and pitchers making big pitches.
Closer Adbert Alzolay sealed the game in the ninth with a quick move to first base. Coupled with a nice tag from first baseman
Michael Busch, who homered in his fifth consecutive game Monday, the Cubs picked off Julio Rodriguez for the final out.