CHICAGO — Joe Maddon likes to work on his lineups at a local coffee shop. Armed with his iPad, the manager looks over a variety of statistics and other data while searching for every edge for the Chicago Cubs.

The process has been the same for Maddon for a long time. But this year is a little different.

Maddon is doing his lineups three days at a time, giving his players an advance look at what to expect for the upcoming series. It is a marked departure from the days of managers posting the starting nine in the clubhouse before the game, or even the modern practice of nightly text messages, and Maddon likes how it’s going so far.

“It’s getting me out in front even a little bit more than I normally have in the past and there’s not anything wrong with that,” he said. The change in approach is part of Chicago’s reaction to its disappointing finish last season, when it blew a five-game lead in the NL Central in September and lost to Colorado in a wild card game. The Cubs were hurt by an inconsistent offense last year and scored just one run in three of their last four games.

The advance notice provides more leeway for players when it comes to their daily routine.