Even before the first public allegation of domestic abuse against Addison Russell, back in June of 2017, the then-Cubs infielder looked like a troubled man.
He wasn’t hitting. His defense was slipping. Just a reporter’s take here, but in the clubhouse he seemed tense and distracted and had become less pleasant to speak with.
Then-manager Joe Maddon saw it all, too, of course. Maddon had begun “resting” Russell, as he put it, starting Javy Baez instead at shortstop for multiple games.
“I looked into his eyes and determined something wasn’t right,” Maddon explained at the time.