The win-loss record will make this season another loser for the Cubs, but the team can hope it has a winner in Junior Lake.
Since being recalled July 19, Lake was had an electric start to his major league career, getting 49 hits in his first 40 games, followed by the expected cooling off time that has his average now at .288.
Lake, 23, wasn’t always mentioned among the organization’s top prospects, though he was named among the top prospects of the 2011 Arizona Fall League.
He is learning to play the outfield after spending his minor league career mostly as an infielder.
“We’ve seen the really good part of Junior and now it’s the adjustment factor, that teams have seen you now,” manager Dale Sveum said.
The hitting adjustments will be about “calming down and understanding” the right batting approach, Sveum said. “How to cut down your swing and see the baseball,” he said.
“He’s had all the at-bats. The [hitting] I.Q. is what comes after.”
