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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – INSIDE PITCH
With Opening Day now in sight, things are beginning to take shape in the Cubs’ spring camp.
There wasn’t much competition for jobs; injuries were the only factor that would affect who makes it and who doesn’t, and even that is beginning to sort itself out.
Shortstop Starlin Castro returned after resting a sore injury, and third baseman Ian Stewart appeared to be getting the benefit of the doubt on making the team after a quad injury slowed him.
The one question fans wanted to know was whether two youngsters, shortstop Javier Baez and outfielder Jorge Soler, had a chance to make the team out of spring training. The answer has been an emphatic “no” from the get-go. The Cubs are committed to building their team from within and are willing to take their lumps along the way. They are avoiding, at all costs, the temptation to rush their young players.
The rotation appears set, with Jeff Samardzija tabbed for the Opening Day start over the injured Matt Garza. Scott Baker, a free agent pitcher acquired in the fall, also may not make the team out of camp as the Cubs take it easy on his comeback from Tommy John surgery, performed last April. Following Samardzija in the rotation will be right-handers Edwin Jackson and Carlos Villanueva and lefty Travis Wood.
Offensive production continues to be a big concern. The Cubs were at or near the bottom in several key categories last year, and progress has been slow this spring.
“We’ve got to start kicking it in,” manager Dale Sveum said. “Obviously, we’re missing (Anthony) Rizzo (because of the World Baseball Classic) and Castro. But even our secondary guys — we’re not swinging the bats at all. The on-base percentage — everything — has been pretty bad this spring training. And that’s after two pretty good games to start the Cactus League. Since then, it hasn’t been very productive at all.”
Center fielder David DeJesus is the Cubs’ best on-base guy. Rizzo and left fielder Alfonso Soriano provide power. The Cubs want even more from Castro, and they’ve got an interesting platoon in right field with Nate Schierholtz and Scott Hairston.
“It’s not going to be a prolific offense,” Sveum said, “but it’s going to be an offense that’ll keep the line moving a little better than they did last year.”
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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – NOTES, QUOTES
–CF Albert Almora will be out of action until mid-May after breaking a bone in his wrist. The 18-year-old is ranked the 18th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball Prospectus. Almora broke the hamate bone while taking swings Thursday. Almora was the sixth pick in the draft last year and signed a $3.9 million contract with the Cubs. He hit .321 in 33 games at rookie ball with two homers, 12 doubles and a triple in 145 at-bats.
–SS Starlin Castro returned to action March 13 after being out since the first week of Cactus League play with a hamstring injury. The Cubs stressed that if this were the regular season, Castro would have come back much sooner but that they didn’t want to rush him in spring training. “I feel good,” Castro said after his first game back. “I just played three (innings) because I didn’t want to tear it again.”
–3B Ian Stewart played in a minor league game in mid-March before being scheduled to return to the big-league team. He was trying to come back from a left quad injury that had kept him out of Cactus League action until then. “I think there’s plenty of time now,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said March 11 about Stewart. “We were a little bit worried that it would be next week, but everything’s gotten a little bit quicker. He came in knowing it was a job he was going to have to just play well and produce. It’s still 16, 17 possible games left starting (March 14). You’re looking at hopefully cramming 30 at-bats into that and some minor league at-bats, too.”
–RHP Matt Garza resumed playing catch as he comes back from a strained left lat muscle that derailed his spring and is likely to cost him the first month of the regular season. “I was expecting to be real, real sore,” Garza said, “but I was muscular sore, not the old sore.”
–CF David DeJesus won the Cubs’ second annual bunting tournament, defending his title of a year ago. The Cubs aren’t much for sacrificing with their position players, but with DeJesus’ skill, manager Dale Sveum would like to see him bunt for a hit now and then.
–RHP Alberto Cabrera, who pitched in 25 big-league games for the Cubs last year, was among those optioned to Triple-A Iowa just before the middle of March. Cabrera, whose action last year came solely in relief, made three spring appearances (one start), giving up 14 hits and 12 runs in just 6 2/3 innings. Also optioned to Iowa were RHP Trey McNutt, LHP Brooks Raley and INF Logan Watkins. RHP Rob Whitenack was optioned to Double-A Tennessee, while RHP Nick Struck, the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2012, was sent to minor league camp. He was a non-roster man.
–INF/OF Junior Lake, who is on the 40-man roster, will be out four to six weeks with what the Cubs described as a stress fracture on the top rib of his right side. Lake is one of several shortstop prospects, but with Starlin Castro entrenched there and Javier Baez on the way, the Cubs had been trying Lake some at third base and in the outfield. He’ll rehab the rest of spring training and open the season on the disabled list.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0.69 — ERA for LHP Chris Rusin through March 14. Rusin, who made seven starts for the Cubs last year (2-3, 6.37 ERA), is bidding to make the team, either as a spot starter or long reliever.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Close your eyes and you run into things sometimes.” — RHP Jeff Samardzija, on hitting a home run in a Cactus League game. Samardzija has one homer for his career in regular-season play.
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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – ROSTER REPORT
PROJECTED ROTATION:
1. RHP Matt Garza
2. RHP Jeff Samardzija
3. RHP Edwin Jackson
4. RHP Scott Feldman
5. RHP Scott Baker or LHP Travis Wood
The Cubs believe this is a strength of the team. A lot will depend on health. Garza and Baker are coming off elbow problems. Samardzija seems fine even though the Cubs shut him down early last September because of his innings workload.
Jackson, signed as a free agent, is a proven innings eater. Having pitched for the White Sox, he knows what Chicago is all about. Wood could be the odd man out, but if any of the other starters falter or can’t go because of health issues, he would step in. If not, he could be a second lefty out of the bullpen.
PROJECTED BULLPEN:
RHP Carlos Marmol (closer)
RHP Kyuji Fujikawa
RHP Shawn Camp
LHP James Russell
RHP Carlos Villanueva
LHP Travis Wood
RHP Hector Rondon
The Cubs still would like to trade Marmol, and if they can, Japanese veteran Fujikawa would step into the closer’s role. Marmol is nearly unhittable when he’s on, but inconsistency and a lack of control have been two big issues. He started using his fastball more last year instead of relying solely on the slider, and that helped.
Camp and Russell were a solid right-lefty setup combo. They were both overworked, but if Marmol stays, Fujikawa’s presence should lighten the load. Villanueva could be a swing man, and Rondon was a Rule 5 draft pick. The Cubs do have some power arms among their young relievers, such as RHP Rafael Dolis and Alberto Cabrera. Both saw time last year, and they should again this season.
PROJECTED LINEUP:
1. CF David DeJesus
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. 1B Anthony Rizzo
4. LF Alfonso Soriano
5. SS Starlin Castro
6. RF Nate Schierholtz/Scott Hairston
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C Welington Castillo
The Cubs will need to improve their on-base ability if they’re going to take the pressure off their pitchers. They were last in OBP as a team last year and near the bottom in runs scored. DeJesus is a good on-base guy, but the Cubs will need improvement in that area from Barney and Castro.
Rizzo and Soriano provide plenty of pop, Rizzo from the left side and Soriano from the right. The Cubs will need a bounce-back year from Stewart. Schierholtz and Hairston provide an interesting platoon situation in right.
TOP ROOKIES: Although no longer rookies, CF Brett Jackson and 3B Josh Vitters will fight for spots in spring training but likely will end up at Triple-A Iowa because of their disappointing showings at the plate late last season. INF Logan Watkins was the organization’s minor league player of the year after posting a line of .281/.422/.383 at Double-A Tennessee last season. He could push for a utility job and eventually take the place of Darwin Barney at second base, if the Cubs decide to trade Barney. RHP Nick Struck, 23, isn’t on the 40-man roster, but he piled up the decisions last year at Tennessee, going 14-10 with a 3.18 ERA while walking 44 and striking out 123 in 155 2/3 innings. He was the organization’s pitcher of the year, and if he makes a good spring impression, he could get the call if the Cubs need a starter midseason, and certainly by September.
MEDICAL WATCH:
–CF Albert Almora (broken hamate bone) will be out of action until mid-May. The 18-year-old is ranked the 18th-best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball Prospectus. He broke the bone while taking swings Thursday.
–RHP Matt Garza (left lat muscle strain) was playing catch in mid-March. He will open the season on the disabled list, and he might miss all of April.
–3B Ian Stewart (strained left quad) had yet to make his Cactus League debut as of March 14. However, the team was still confident he’d be ready for Opening Day.
–SS Starlin Castro (tight left hamstring) left a Feb. 27 game after he pulled up lame running out an infield hit. He returned to action March 13.
–RHP Scott Baker (Tommy John surgery in April 2012) threw a simulated game March 7. He’ll likely start the season on the disabled list, though he might not miss a significant amount of action.
–INF/OF Brent Lillibridge (groin strain) was out March 1-12, but he returned to action March 13. He went a combined 2-for-4 in his first two games back.
–INF/OF Junior Lake (stress fracture in right ribcage) will be out until mid- to late April.
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