Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has gotten off to a promising start in 2014 after batting .233 with a .419 slugging percentage in 2013. The Cubs feel Rizzo's turnaround is part of the maturation process for a young player.
"He’s maturing," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said, per CSN Chicago. "He’s gaining more and more confidence. He’s hitting the ball to all fields now. He obviously has the strength that if he gets a pitch to handle, he can drive it out of the ballpark."
Rizzo has really stepped up his performance against left-handed pitchers. He is batting .394 with a .697 slugging percentage against lefties, which is well above his career average of .212 and .380 slugging percentage.
"He’s just basically not panicking in those situations anymore," Renteria said. "He’s just growing up. He worked very hard over the winter, worked very hard in the spring. I think he’s making a tremendous mental adjustment as to how he wants to approach pitchers. He kind of knows what they’re trying to do with him. All those things that come with maturation and growing and learning."