As the Chicago Cubs prepare to celebrate the storied career of franchise hero Anthony Rizzo, here’s a look back at the season the first baseman rose from promising prospect to All-Star slugger.
It’s hard to find too many MLB players that had the privilege of making two highly anticipated debuts at the start of their careers, but Anthony Rizzo certainly fits the bill.
Originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, Rizzo spent over three seasons as a promising first base prospect in the system before figuring as a centerpiece in a blockbuster trade that sent him and three other players to the San Diego Padres in exchange for slugger Adrián González.
After elevating his top prospect status even more with the Padres, Rizzo made his MLB debut with the club as a mere 21-year-old, mainly struggling through 49 games as he posted a .141/.281/.242/.523 line with a ghastly 51 OPS+.
No stranger to blockbuster trades already, Rizzo was dealt once again in January 2012 in a trade Cubs fans would remember as a watershed moment in franchise history. In a four-player trade, Rizzo and minor league pitcher Zach Cates were traded to the Cubs in exchange for right-handed hurler Andrew Cashner and outfield prospect Kyung-Min Na.
Though the magnitude of the deal wasn’t obvious at the time, Cubs fans immediately held high expectations for the young first baseman, who was ranked the 37th-best prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2012 season.
Rizzo went on to make a fool of the Triple-A competition, posting a 1.101 OPS with 23 home runs in just 70 games with the Iowa Cubs, leading to a June 2012 call-up to the Chicago team that felt like another MLB debut. Except this time, Rizzo proved he was there to stay.
The lefty went on to play 87 games with the Cubs in 2012, slashing .285/.342/.463/.805, good for a 116 OPS+ alongside 15 home runs. The performance segued into Rizzo taking the Opening Day first base job for the first time in his career in 2013, his first full season at the big league level.
While 2013 was a season of mixed results and growing pains that included a .233 batting average with 40 doubles and 23 home runs, Rizzo made it clear that the 2012 version of himself is what Cubs fans should get themselves used to the following season.
It was clear that the 2014 Cubs had few expectations as a unit, coming off of a 66-96 campaign on a roster noted more for its promise and young talent than any chance to compete – but Rizzo himself certainly had expectations to take a major step forward, one that was immediately apparent with a quick start to the season.
Despite the Cubs scuffling to a 9-17 record at the end of April, it was certainly to no fault of Rizzo’s – the first baseman went 26-for-92 with seven extra-base hits to go along with 18 walks and 18 strikeouts, managing an .864 OPS.
The offense Rizzo supplied in April and would go on to supply throughout the season was especially potent in one of the most offensively dormant seasons of the past 50 years, with 2014 having fewer runs and total bases than any other full MLB season in my 29-year lifetime.
While Rizzo’s batting average took a slight dip in May, he remained equally as productive, hitting six home runs in the month with 20 walks to just 21 strikeouts, finishing the month with a slightly higher .867 OPS.
After an undoubtedly strong start to the season, it was June where Rizzo emerged as not only a leader and star within the Cubs clubhouse, but a hitter to be feared across Major League Baseball.
The beginning of the month saw Rizzo craft one of his signature moments of the season as the Cubs were starting to play some better baseball.
Opening a three-game weekend set at Wrigley Field against the Miami Marlins, the Cubs appeared to be on their way to a 3-0 win on June 6 when the Fish stormed back in the top of the ninth, tying the game at 3 apiece.
In what suddenly looked like an impending loss to crush the club after a sweep of the New York Mets, a lengthy extra-inning contest ultimately ensued. Until Anthony Rizzo called game, hitting a ball into the backdrop of the sun-kissed buildings along Sheffield Avenue in the bottom of the 13th inning.
The victory marked the Cubs’ fourth in a row, while also marking the start of an even more torrid run for Anthony Rizzo.
After an unusually cold winter and spring in the Chicago area, Rizzo began to heat up alongside the weather in Chicago, going on to finish June with 15 extra-base hits, a .295 batting average and MVP-level .944 OPS, especially considering a leaguewide OPS of just .700.
Still, the best of 2014 Anthony Rizzo was yet to come.
July ended up being an even more impressive month for Rizzo as he locked up his first career All-Star nod thanks to winning the fan vote for the final roster spot.
The lefty slugger knocked eight home runs in July, slashing .308/.395/.558/.953 while drawing nine walks and six hit-by-pitch. While an All-Star appearance and blazing month were plenty to remember, it was in July where Rizzo firmly established his legacy as a leader for the Cubs franchise.
In a back-and-forth affair against the Cincinnati Reds on the road that also happened to be the MLB debut of Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs were locked in a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning when the atmosphere turned heated.
Cubs’ outfielder Nate Schierholtz arrived at the plate with one out and took two Aroldis Chapman fastballs high and inside, the second of which, a 100 mph pitch, narrowly missed Schierholtz’s head.
Reacting to the objectively scary moment, Rizzo was chief among Cubs players shouting at Chapman from the Cubs dugout in the aftermath of the pitch. After Chapman ultimately struck out Schierholtz, the imposing closer walked towards the Cubs dugout and offered an intense stare, one met with a fiery response by Rizzo and fellow Cub Chris Coghlan.
After retiring the side, Chapman stared once again at the Cubs dugout, dismissively waving his glove towards his opponents moments before benches emptied on both sides.
Though no punches were thrown in the dust-up, Rizzo’s immediate and defiant defense of his teammates in the middle of a close game against a division rival caught the notice of fans around baseball. On July 10, 2014, the Cubs became Anthony Rizzo’s ballclub – few fans of the North Siders, if any, would argue with that.
Following the searing July, the rest of 2014 was a mixed bag of sorts for Rizzo – the slugger came back to Earth a bit in August for his weakest month of the season, slashing a diminished but still solid .242/.304/.495/.798 line with eight doubles and five home runs.
A back injury sustained in late August also put a damper on his end-of-season efforts, taking him out of action for a little over two weeks. While some could have seen logic behind shutting the young Rizzo down for a team out of playoff contention, the lefty still had more to offer, returning with his best stretch of the season.
In his first game back from injury, Rizzo broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off shot to dead center, kicking off an incredible finish to the season that would only offer a preview of what was to come in the following years.
In 11 September games, Rizzo was an incredible 15-for-38 with five doubles and two home runs, good for a .521 OBP and otherworldly 1.205 OPS.
Rizzo’s consistent season led to year-end totals of 28 doubles, 32 home runs and a .286/.386/.527 line, good for a .913 OPS that figured as the third-best in the National League, only behind Andrew McCutchen and Giancarlo Stanton.
Rizzo finished the season tied with fellow breakout star Jake Arrieta with 5.6 WAR to lead the Cubs, with the first baseman receiving another honor after the season in the form of finishing 10th in NL MVP voting.
The excellent 2014 season set the stage for what was an incredibly impressive and consistent career for Anthony Rizzo. The slugger went on to finish fourth in MVP voting in each of the following two seasons, being named an All-Star in both while winning a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in the latter.
From there, Rizzo went on to win three more Gold Gloves, playing on the North Side until a fire sale in 2021 saw him get moved to the New York Yankees in exchange for Kevin Alcántara and another prospect.
An icon of the Cubs and an integral piece to the curse-breaking 2016 World Series-winning club, Rizzo finishes his MLB career with 303 home runs, 1,644 hits and a .261/.361/.467/.828 line, good for a 123 OPS+ to go along with 40.4 career WAR.
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