Carter Hawkins believes Craig Counsell's patience permeates throughout Cubs' clubhouse

(670 The Score) New Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s impact has been felt quickly in his first season in Chicago, as general manager Carter Hawkins recently explained.

While facing a tough early schedule that has included a series against the defending World Series champion Rangers and the formidable Dodgers as well as a long West Coast road trip, the Cubs are off to a 9-6 start. Most recently, Chicago won two of three games at Seattle over the weekend.

“You used the word simplify, and I think especially in an environment like professional sports, it can be really easy to react to small sample sizes, react to noise outside of your clubhouse, react to a bad game, a bad performance, a couple bad performances,” Hawkins said of Counsell on Inside the Clubhouse on Saturday. “But I think he’s got a really good ability to look and say, ‘Hey, we’re (15) games in to a 162-game season plus all the games we hope to play in the playoffs, so we’re not going to overreact either positively or negatively to any of that information, but we’re going to think about it deliberately. So from that standpoint, it’s a lot of patience, and I think that permeates throughout a clubhouse and allows guys to understand, ‘Hey, I have a shot to really show who I am and how I can help the team.’ And ultimately, that’s the idea – is help the team the best we can and win as many games as we can.”

The Cubs are back in action when they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday evening. First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on 670 The Score, where pregame coverage starts at 8:05 p.m. In the Chicago area, the game can also be heard online and on the Audacy app .