Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
The return of Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney can’t come soon enough. On Apr. 16, Barney expects to return from the disabled list. He missed the first two weeks of the 2013 MLB season after he suffered a knee laceration in an exhibition finale.
At age 27, Barney has a career .305 on-base percentage with nine homers and 89 RBI. Most lineups wouldn’t miss that type of production and could probably survive for two weeks without his Gold Glove-caliber defense. Then again, most teams aren’t the Cubs.
Not much was expected from the bat of Brent Lillibridge, a career .208 hitter with a .272 OBP. But after 20 at-bats, Lillibridge has just one hit with seven strikeouts and two RBI. He has yet to take a walk. He has a .050 batting average with a .100 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).
The advantage from playing seven different positions is offset with such lackluster offensive production. Fans can only hope that Lillibridge will find his rhythm as the season progresses. Until then, the Cubs basically have two automatic outs at their No. 8 and No. 9 spot.
It’s well-known that Barney is one of MLB’s best defensive second basemen. Can his presence rub off on his teammates? Through nine games, the Cubs have committed a league-leading 10 errors. Three of those have come from Starlin Castro. One of them came from Lillibridge on Opening Day.
Because of his limited offense, some fans have talked about trading Barney. If these nine games have shown anything, it’s that defense can lose games. Poor defense and an unreliable closer have already cost the Cubs at least two wins.
These two weeks have shown that the Cubs do—and will in future seasons—need a Darwin Barney who plays well.
Joshua Huffman is a contributor for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your LinkedIn and Google networks.
