Why Cubs think they can handle Mets pitching this time around

LAS VEGAS – They’re not going to prove anything this week in Vegas.

But a Cubs lineup with Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward holding down the first two spots Thursday against the Mets offered at least a glimpse of why the Cubs believe – and why Vegas odds-makers seem to agree – that they’re better equipped this year to handle the Mets’ electric young pitching staff.

Zobrist has a career .355 on-base percentage; Heyward, .353.

“I think they help,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of the free agent hitters the Cubs added over the winter. “I also want to believe it’s the natural progression of a young hitter to be able to work an at-bat and move the baseball in the latter part of the count and just naturally get better.”

As the Cubs and Mets faced Thursday for the first time since the Mets’ four-game playoff sweep, they ranked 1-2, respectively, on the local odds lists for the National League pennant. The Cubs, Giants and Mets are 1-2-3 among odds-makers to win the World Series.

In the National League Championship Series last fall, the Mets scored as many runs in the clincher (eight) as the Zobrist/Heyward-less Cubs did in the whole series against a pitching staff headed by flame-throwing starters Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz.

Both starting pitchers in Thursday’s game were minor leaguers. Friday’s 3:05 p.m. game is a Game 4 pitching rematch between Matz and Jason Hammel.

“Our guys are really talented,” Maddon said of a mostly young position player group that returns four 2015 rookies. “Our DNA’s been really to power the baseball; strikeouts are OK. But I’ve really made a push this camp for even our bigger guys to understand to make adaptations when you get into the count.”

The Cubs struck out 37 times against the Mets in the NLCS (compared to 30 combined hits and walks), with a .164 team average and .225 on-base percentage.

The emphasis this spring that Maddon is talking about has been on two-strike approach, with Javy Baez’s dramatically cut-down swing later in counts this spring the most conspicuous example.

“To me that’s more a mental adjustment,” Maddon said. “Some of it’s physical, but most of it’s mental. So, yeah we are better suited with some additions, plus the guys that are here that I’d like to see continue to make improvements.”

Notes: Maddon said he talked to ace Jake Arrieta, who worked through a thumb blister over the past week, and the Cy Young winner is all clear for Monday’s opener. … Light-hitting backup catcher David Ross had an impressive streak of four consecutive at-bats with an extra-base hit snapped in Thursday’s second inning when he struck out against Paul Sewald. …Leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler (side) was out of the lineup for the fourth straight day Thursday. Maddon said he wanted to get him in a game before Monday’s opener, leaving him Friday and Sunday (vs. the Angels) to do that. …Thursday’s Cubs starter, Ryan Williams, was struck on the foot by a Kevin Plawecki line drive leading off the third inning, but after getting checked he remained in the game and finished the inning.