This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

As Willson Contreras stood in the on-deck circle Wednesday night, watching Christopher Morel foul off the first two pitches against Milwaukee’s Hoby Milner, the veteran catcher remembered what it was like to be in that type of moment as a rookie.

It was the 10th inning, the game was tied and now Morel was down 0-2 with the winning run 90 feet from home.

“It happened to me once,” Contreras said. “I rushed, because I wanted to get the base hit to walk it off. And it didn’t end that way. But when I saw him swing at the first two pitches, I noticed that he was rushing. The game was speeding up on him. I kind of whistled a little bit.”

Contreras got Morel’s attention and the rookie turned to look back at his Cubs mentor. Contreras closed his eyes and took an exaggerated deep breath, raising his arms with his chest for added emphasis. Morel understood the cue. Slow down. Breathe.

• Morel's exuberance galvanizing Cubs

The game broadcast caught the moment, which finished with Morel turning back and inhaling slowly and deeply before getting back into his stance.

“That’s a great moment that I’m happy was captured on camera and for everyone to see,” Morel said via Cubs team translator Will Nadal.

“We’re a team and everyone talks about that, but something that I say is that we’re a family. I think that in those moments, and especially in that one, it was something that was really important.”

Morel took the next pitch from Milner, who fired a changeup that was tempting but tumbled below the zone. The lefty reliever came back with another changeup -- this one low and away and on course to be a strike -- and Morel attacked it.

Morel sent a fly ball deep enough to left field to set up a walk-off sacrifice fly, scoring Jason Heyward from third and setting off a mob scene on the field. Once he ran through first base, Morel raised his arms skyward, awaiting his sprinting teammates as the Wrigley Field crowd roared.

“It was a really cool moment,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I think Willson has a lot of that in his personality to help these guys out. And you see, when they do well, just the love in the dugout that they have for each other and the support they have for each other. That stuff's contagious.”

Morel has continued to use the deep-breath routine before pitches, too. He did so again on Friday before a single to right against the Cardinals. That third-inning hit extended his on-base streak to 17 games -- a Cubs record to begin a career.

“That means that he won’t forget what I said to him,” Contreras said.