Who Is Cubs’ Face Right Now?
Late in the preseason and on into the regular season, there was a debate of sorts over whether Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner, or some Janus-like combination of the two was the “face” of the Cubs. You know, the player who best encapsulates the fighting spirit and approach of the entire squad. The one even casual fans of the game associate with the team’s logo.
This notwithstanding that the public face of the Cubs is probably Tom Ricketts, who is the managing end of the family and is probably best seen as a Ferengi. Or maybe it’s Jed Hoyer, whose public utterances are usually devoid of actual meaning as he won’t commit to any position, and who could easily be another member of that fictional alien race from Star Trek: TNG.
However, that extended riff of pitch-black cynicism is better-suited to worse times, and we’re trying to be positive here. We’ll save that for a meditation on the ongoing CBA negotiations, about which I had things to say when I worked for BCB, and none of which has been contradicted or contra-indicated by events as far as we know.
The thing is that PCA and Hoerner are both mired in slumps, and the latter has been uncharacteristically testy. Crow-Armstrong always has the red ass, though he’ll grow out of most of it and learn to use that emotion to power his performance. Hoerner’s been barreling a few balls lately, and he’ll be all right in the end.
That said, maybe the face of the team is the longest-tenured position player, a man who is using his contract to demonstrate that he still has plenty in the tank. That would be Pittsburgh-area native Ian Happ, who leads the Cubs in power numbers and limits more players to singles on balls ricocheting off the walls than any left-fielder I’ve ever seen. He follows the Dexter dictum that the leadoff man needs to be on base once a game to be successful.
That’s clearly been communicated to PCA, who is on pace to have 60 or so walks — triple what he had last year — and has been leading off lately. That’s a spot in which the ability to take a base on balls is especially valuable. He has time to be he Face, but he’s young and has things to learn.
What do you think, oh readers? Has anyone yet taken the step or had the moment that makes them the face of the team for you? Tell us why — we really want to know.
