Infield fun rule: Cubs' young quartet could dominate for a decade

The precocious Chicago Cubs' infield is far less likely to show their age on the field than off of it, where they maintain a group text message chain and are all active on social media. Each uses Twitter and/or Instagram, with a recent fad of creating DubSmash videos, such as first baseman Anthony Rizzo taking a Vine of jaywalking teammates and adding the song, "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta."

"Yeah, we've been fooling around with that," third baseman Kris Bryant said of DubSmash, an app that dubs videos with movie soundtracks, which his early 30s questioner was too old to have even heard of. "I'm sure Anthony's in there making them right now. Really, it's just about keeping it loose, realizing it's a long season and you've got to take your mind off the pressures of on-the-field stuff and keep it loose in the clubhouse."

Then again, sometimes they do show their youth at the ballpark, too, such as Starlin Castro doing a perfect mimicry of Bryant throwing to first base, or of Rizzo DJ-ing postgame dance parties.

Bryant said he sometimes looks over at Castro and Rizzo during a game and finds them "doing something that's completely against the norm in baseball."

"I think the culture is changing and we're having a whole lot of fun," Bryant said. "It's just a great time for us to be in this organization."

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And the youth will lead them — that is the ethos in Wrigleyville for a club whose 39-31 record would earn a wild card if the playoffs started today.

Rizzo was born on Aug. 8, 1989, a mere 145 days before a new decade - and yet the 25-year-old is the only Cubs infielder to be a child of the '80s.

Shortstop Starlin Castro, also 25, was born March 24, 1990; third baseman Kris Bryant, 23, was born in Jan. 4, 1992; and second baseman, Addison Russell, who is just 21 with a Jan. 23, 1994 birthdate.

It's a whole infield on the cusp of legal age to rent a car and not something seen in baseball in more than seven decades.

"It's definitely different because I've always been the youngest," Rizzo said. "I'm still one of the youngest, but have a few more years of service time and experience."

The last full-time 25-and-under infields to all play enough to qualify for the batting title were in 1942, when both the Boston Braves and Boston Red Sox. Only seven clubs in history have had such a quartet of infielders, but two — the 1911 Philadelphia Athletics and 1928 New York Yankees — won the World Series. Both of those clubs, incidentally, had a pair of Hall of Famers: the '11 A's featured Eddie Collins and Home Run Baker; the '28 Yankees starred Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri.

As if that isn't enough to get Cubs fans salivating, their cohort of infielders has another remarkable commonality, in that each peaked somewhere in Baseball America's Top 50 prospect rankings. Add in Class AAA infielder Javier Baez, 22, who is currently sidelined with a fracture of his left ring finger, and the organization employs five under-25 infielders, with three having breached Baseball America's top five: Bryant (No. 1 in 2015), Russell (No. 3 in 2015) and Baez (No. 5 in 2014).

While staying on the diamond dirt, the Cubs have another outstanding youngster behind the plate. Rookie catcher Kyle Schwarber, the 22-year-old ranked No. 19 in this spring's BA rankings, started his big league career 8-for-22 in his weeklong promotion.

Furthermore, given the contract extensions already signed by Castro and Rizzo, not to mention the standard six-plus seasons of team control franchises have over young players, all five Cubs infielders could be under contract with the organization into the next decade.

"Hopefully we play together a long time, injury-bearing and God-willing," said Rizzo, whose seven-year, $41 million contract runs through 2019, with $14.5 million club options for 2020 and '21.

Just before his injury, Baez started playing third base in the minors, and Bryant has made two big league starts in the outfield, which shows that the Cubs are already tipping their hands about how to keep all five in the everyday lineup.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon likens the group to the assemblage of the 2003 Rangers infield with shortstop Alex Rodriguez, 27; second baseman Michael Young, 26; first baseman Mark Teixeira, 23; and third baseman Hank Blalock, 22, who as a group were only slightly older.

"I don't remember the ages on that, but I really thought, that's a hell of an infield right there," Maddon said. "I look at this group, and it has the ability to be as good as that group moving forward. And, of course, there are other guys still on the way."

This group of youngsters isn't just about potential but production. As a whole, Cubs infielders lead the major leagues in on-base percentage (.345), and rank third in walks (140) and fourth in stolen bases (27).

"Just judging by the way that we act in the clubhouse and the way we act on the field, sometimes I forget how young we are," Russell said. "We have a great thing going here. We have a lot of years to get to know each other here, and I'm excited about it."

Rizzo ranks among the top-three in the National League in doubles (21), OBP (.417), slugging (.575), OPS (.992), and the top-10 in batting average (.305) as he keeps pace with Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the NL MVP race.

After being inserted into the cleanup spot of the lineup for his big league debut, Bryant has been second only to Rizzo in offensive production, with 10 home runs and an .860 OPS.

Castro is a three-time All-Star who's struggling a little at the plate this year (.263 average) but recently tallied his 900th hit, becoming the youngest in Cubs history to reach that bench mark. (Even though Castro is 228 days younger than Rizzo, the shortstop has two more years of service time.)

Russell is batting only .255, albeit with 15 doubles and five home runs in 196 at-bats. He is, however, leading the club with seven defensive runs saved despite the natural shortstop learning second base on the fly. In fact, Maddon joked that he was becoming "starry eyed" remembering the first time he saw Russell field grounders in spring training.

"I thought he picked up a ground ball exactly as it should be picked up," the manager said. "His mechanics are that sound. I like simplicity in everything. He's very simple, and I like that. It's the highest compliment you can give, when somebody's very simple in his mechanics and the way he plays this game."

In Tampa Bay, Maddon was used to managing a young roster because the small-market Rays rarely signed big free agents and so often traded players once they reached big money in arbitration. In Chicago, the Cubs have the luxury of affording stars on the open market — such as lefty ace Jon Lester — but are largely filling out their lineup and building the core of the team with the young infielders, while not making that burden seem too heavy.

"Joe's been really good about the pressure side of things and not letting that exceed the pleasure of the sport," Bryant said.

There's no talk of curses or World Series droughts among these players, who haven't even been alive for a quarter of the time North Siders have been waiting for another title. Instead, they've infused the organization with some refreshing youthful enthusiasm.

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