CHRIS DENORFIA: JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS HE?

7 July:

He had a nice spring, although once again shortened by nagging leg issues. Started the season hot, and then pulled the hamstring yet again. Landed him on the DL, and he wasn’t very happy about it. You see, guys like Denorfia think they’ve died and gone to puppy heaven getting to play at Wrigley.

Having played for the Reds, A’s and Padres he’s used to a sparser crowd, for instance.

Not to mention the peripherals of being here. The media presence, the national nature of the franchise and such.

Yep, he was damn happy to be offered that one year, $2.6 million with $400 k in incentives. He also knew how good they are going to be. Already he’s become one of the most valuable guys on the team.

His .330/.364/.784 ops sure helps.

So, too does his defensive flexibility; he’s a better outfielder than Coghlan (and Soler as well) and gives you slightly above average play at the corners and average at center.

His swing is what he calls ‘low maintenance swing’. He hits a lot with his hands, and off of his front foot. But he keeps his hip rotation tight and can explode when given a center cut meatball. He has more power than you think but is quite pleased to put a lot of spin, both top and back on balls depending on the situation.

He keeps it on the ground but jerked a walkoff sacrifice fly when tasked to.

The Wheaton College grad hails from ESPN’s backyard in Bristol, Connecticut. The 34 year old knows the time is now to make a grab at the golden ring both for himself and the team, and is taking it all with a fervor.

The Cubs have a lot of rookies, and some of them either playing out of position, or learning one on the fly. They needed a couple of skilled role players, and added Dexter Fowler.

But they might have grabbed their biggest steal right here…

CHRIS DENORFIA: JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS HE?