How changes from '23 can help Cubs' Seiya Suzuki take the next step in '24

MESA, Ariz. — How did Seiya Suzuki turn his season around in a big way in 2023?

There was a point in early August when he looked lost at the plate. His numbers fell as his production slipped, and he just didn’t look comfortable. After a very strong month of May, his June and July were rough, and no one knew how to get him back on track.

With the Cubs still fighting their way back into the playoff race at the time, former manager David Ross decided to sit Suzuki. First, he was out of the lineup against right-handed starters. Then, for a four-game stretch, he was out of the lineup completely (getting just one pinch-hit appearance in that time).

That reset period, as short as it was, worked wonders for Suzuki. From Aug. 9 (his first game back in the lineup full time) through the end of the season, he was one of the best hitters in baseball. Among all qualified batters during that stretch, Suzuki ranked second in average (.356), slugging (.672), wRC+ (187) and wOBA (.449). He was worth 2.6 Wins Above Replacement, tied for fourth in all of baseball.

It was the kind of eye-opening performance that reminded everyone why the Cubs invested nearly $100 million in Suzuki two years ago. And it’s one they believe he can carry over into 2024.

“I think we all know that that’s him and he’s capable of that, and I don’t think we expect much different from him,” Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. “I mean, the power numbers started to just go through the roof with him being really aggressive in the zone. So, I think that second half of the season is what we should get this year, too.”

What exactly changed with Suzuki that helped him reach another level over the last two months of 2023?

Cubs manager Craig Counsell, then the skipper in Milwaukee, didn’t see an obvious change when the teams met in the last series of the season, other than Suzuki was just swinging the bat well heading toward the end of his second year in the majors.

“I can’t say I did [see a change],” he said. “I mean, he obviously got comfortable and got locked in and went through a really good stretch. I chock a lot of it up to just experience and confidence in what he is seeing from the league, confidence in what’s going to happen to him every day and being able to respond and adjust a little more quickly.”

Of course, Counsell has seen Suzuki a limited amount of times over the last two years. But to get to that point at the end of 2023, Suzuki, Kelly and the rest of the hitting group had put the work in behind the scenes.

It started with reworking his routine in the cage. First, he just needed to get to the park with a plan in mind. He said (through interpreter Toy Matsushita) that he would get to the field and decide at that point what he was going to do, but he made the change to “creating a plan beforehand and making sure I complete those tasks every day.”

He also took lessons from some of his teammates. Watching guys like Cody Bellinger and Ian Happ, there was a clear difference in how concise their routines were versus his. Suzuki was someone who would take a lot of swings and work through a longer routine, but he realized then that cutting it down would be to his benefit.

“I think it started to get the wheels turning for him a little bit when he had that little bit of a downtime where he wasn’t playing,” Kelly said. “Gave him a chance to kind of think about it, and then when he came back, it was a much shorter, more concise routine.”

There was also a change in his approach at the plate.

Everyone knows how good Suzuki’s eye is, which makes him a dangerous at the dish when he’s right. But with that came times where he’d watch borderline pitches go, ones that probably could’ve been balls but ones he was rung up on anyway.

There was a noticeable shift from Suzuki to be more aggressive, especially earlier in counts. Opposing pitchers couldn’t just expect him to let strikes go by and work the count. He was ready and willing to swing early, and if a pitch caught too much of the zone, he was doing damage.

“Taking some of those chances earlier in counts really helped him last year,” Kelly said. “Knowing that he can get to some pitches that were in the heart of the zone earlier in the count just really helped open up the aggressiveness, and what it ended up doing is it just put a little bit more fear into the pitchers of knowing that, hey, he’s gonna be swinging earlier than what he has been in the past.”

Now entering his third year in the majors, Suzuki feels much more comfortable on and off the field.

There’s familiarity with the environment around him. There’s familiarity with Kelly — who Suzuki said is “like my dad, just constantly watching over us” — as he was retained in his role after the team switched managers. There’s even familiarity on the nutrition side, as he’s gotten used to the food culture here compared to Japan. And of course, that aggressive approach is something he plans to carry over into 2024.

All of that could help him find the kind of offensive success in Year 3 that he couldn’t consistently achieve the last two seasons.

Still, the Cubs haven’t added a big bat to the lineup yet. And considering they’ve lost Cody Bellinger’s production from last season, if they ultimately don’t make any more additions, they’ll be relying a lot on internal improvements to take them where they want to go — with Suzuki one of the main players people will look toward.

So, how does he feel about the possible need for him to be an even bigger force in the middle of the order?

“We need to sign some good stars for now,” Suzuki quipped.

Oh, relax. He was only joking. He knows what he needs to do, and equipped with the changes he made in 2023, he’s eager to go out and do it.

“They expect a lot out of me, and I’m gonna do my best to make sure I meet those expectations,” Suzuki said. “I feel like I’m ready for this season. I worked really hard during the offseason, so I’m ready to go.”