Two seasons after building a cult following based on his dramatic hits, David Bote isn’t taking his status for granted as he battles for a spot on the opening-day Cubs roster.
“Anything I can do to help the team win, whether it’s bouncing around or staying in the same spot,” Bote said. “I have things I like to do and things I can do to help the team win. (Manager) David Ross has decisions to make for the best of this team going forward, and he’s very qualified to do so. He doesn’t need my qualification.”
The competition at second base is so thick that Bote recently has played more at third base, auditioning as a potential fill-in when Kris Bryant shifts to the outfield. Bote didn’t disappoint Friday. He made a diving, backhanded stop to rob White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson of a hit.
One of Bote’s biggest challenges could occur in the final two weeks of spring training. Bench coach Andy Green said Ross might play Bote at shortstop for a few games to see if he can back up Javier Baez.
Nico Hoerner is the team’s best backup shortstop option, but Hoerner, 22, might need more minor-league seasoning after skipping Triple A to fill in for the injured Baez in the final three weeks of the 2019 season.
“(Bote) has got plenty of arm strength for that spot,” Green said Sunday. “Ross intends to get him over there these last couple of weeks, just depending on roster construction.
“If Nico is on the club, then Nico obviously becomes the backup shortstop. If something happens and he’s not, then Rossy wants to make sure we get our bases covered.”
Another option is non-roster invitee Hernan Perez, who has started 106 games at shortstop over parts of an eight-year career.
But the Cubs have a lengthy history with Bote, who ascended from an 18th-round pick in 2012 to the majors in 2018.
He achieved hero’s status in the second half of 2018 by hitting two dramatic home runs, including a pinch-hit grand slam with two outs in the ninth for a 4-3 victory over the Nationals in a nationally televised Sunday night game.
Bote hit a game-tying homer 21/2 weeks before his grand slam, setting the stage for a game-winning home run by Anthony Rizzo in a 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
The dramatic hits overshadowed a .212 batting average with 12 strikeouts in 32 at-bats in September 2018. A 3-for-25 slump with eight strikeouts at the start of May sank his 2019 batting average to .233 at an inopportune time as Ben Zobrist took a leave of absence and Daniel Descalso began to struggle.
But Bote rebounded by not chasing breaking pitches out of the strike zone and gradually appearing less vulnerable to high pitches.
“It’s part of the process,” said Bote, whose .257 batting average and .362 on-base percentage were marked improvements. “If you start swinging at pitches in the dirt, they’ll go there because you’re swinging at balls there.
“They’re quick to exploit what you’re showing them. So the quicker you’re making an adjustment off that, you can get the next leg up. It’s a back-and-forth game all over. It will be that way until you stop playing.”
In the second inning of Sunday’s game against the Diamondbacks, Bote displayed his plate discipline by drawing a two-out walk to load the bases and set up the Cubs’ lone run in an 8-1 loss.
“If you know what they’re exploiting and you’re able to combat (it) by either putting it in play or holding off and getting in a good count and hitting a mistake,” Bote said, “then they have to stop going there and find something else to do.”
Bote’s .353 career batting average as a pinch hitter (12-for-34), remarkable for a third-year player, could be a major factor when finalizing the 26-man roster.
He credits hitting coach Anthony Iapoce, “one of my favorite coaches ever,” for his passion, knowledge and understanding of the human element to hitting.
“Rarely do we talk about mechanics or approach,” Bote said. “From the human side, what does that influence in the batter’s box in your mind and (the pitcher’s) mind?
“He wants us to be comfortable, to be us, and he does it in a Jedi Mind Trick-type way of inserting these truth bombs.”
