LOS ANGELES -- Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon "reshuffled" his lineup to jump-start his offense as his team prepares for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against lefty Rich Hill and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Maddon is starting Jorge Soler over regular right fielder Jason Heyward while promoting hot hitting Javier Baez to fifth in the batting order.
"Baez to me is the big part of it," Maddon said. "I've not wanted to do that with him all year, but looking at all the candidates and what he's doing right now it seemed like the best thing to do."
Baez has a 1.025 OPS in the postseason so far with two game-winning hits. He can provide some protection for Anthony Rizzo, who's batting fourth on Tuesday instead of third.
"Just to give him a different thought process," Maddon said of Rizzo, who is hitting .043 in the postseason.
Soler is the other big move, as he provided a lift last season in the playoffs when he reached based in nine consecutive plate appearances. He's 0-for-6 this postseason.
"Reshuffled it a little bit primarily to get Soler in the lineup against the lefty," Maddon explained.
"Soler, by now, should be feeling a lot better based on what had been bothering him," Maddon added, referring to an injury to Soler's right side.
The Cubs are hitting .193 this postseason, last among the final four teams. The revamped lineup includes struggling Addison Russell (.045) moving from fifth to seventh:
Dexter Fowler, CF
Kris Bryant, 3B
Ben Zobrist, LF
Rizzo, 1B
Baez, 2B
Soler, RF
Russell, SS
Jake Arrieta, P