Micah Hoffpauir Delivers for the Cubs

One of the Cubs' strengths that is showing up early this season is the team's deep bench. So far, Koyie Hill and Reed Johnson have stepped up for the team. With Milton Bradley out with injury, the Cubs need to depend on their reserve players. Never fear, Micah Hoffpauir is here!

Hoffpauir -- who was not even a lock to make the team coming from spring training -- is stepping up for the Cubs. In Tuesday night's dominating win over the Reds, Hoffpauir hit a two-run home run to start the scoring for the team. In 16 at bats, he has gotten a hit six times. When a job needs to be done, Hoffpauir can do it.

Is there anything more you want out of a bench player? Oh, a dash of humility and willingness to sacrifice for the team would be nice, too. Luckily, Hoffpauir delivers on those fronts, too.

"The at-bats are great, but you never want to get them in a situation like this," Hoffpauir said. "You never want to wish anything on anybody. It's not good for our team with [Bradley] out of the lineup. But, yeah, it's awesome to get the at-bats."

Lou Piniella likes to rotate his players throughout the season to make sure that they are strong late in the year. Having a player like Hoffpauir to depend on means that Piniella can give his starters a rest without having to worry.