SCOTTSDALE and GLENDALE, Ariz. — Growing up in Arizona exposed Chicago Cubs infielder Scott Kingery to plenty of hot days on the diamond.
As a Phoenix native who later played college baseball at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Kingery got used to the blazing dry heat every summer. But those past experiences don’t lessen how challenging it is to play in triple-digit temperatures.
By 3 p.m. on Wednesday, it hit 101 degrees during the Cubs’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Most Cubs players wore long sleeves for added protection from the sun. Players who normally would be standing against the railing to watch the game instead sought refuge on the bench under the cover of the dugout. Wednesday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch was called after eight innings due to the heat.
Between Thursday and Saturday, temperatures in the region are expected to reach at least 104 degrees, with a high of 106 degrees on Friday.
This marks the earliest day of the year that 100-degree temperatures have been recorded in the Phoenix area.
“I don’t know where this 106 is coming from, but find shade,” Kingery told the Tribune. “I mean, you’ve got to hydrate and find shade as much as you can. But I think it’s good they moved to night games because it does feel like your skin’s burning when you’re out there. It’s a little different than Florida. In Florida, if you’re outside, you’re sticky. It’s like dense air, and this one just feels like you’re on fire.
“Places are hot, but especially now in the middle of March and it’s gonna be 106 is kind of crazy to me.”
Right-hander Edward Cabrera pitched in the escalating temperatures Wednesday, throwing 74 pitches in three-plus innings. The Dominican Republic native didn’t seem fazed by the Arizona heat, noting how humid it can get in his native country and in Miami, where he spent his first five big-league seasons.
“You can’t control the weather, so I don’t necessarily get caught up on whether it’s hot or what the temperature is,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I try to always go out there and give it your absolute best.”
The Cubs are tweaking their daily schedule to accommodate the heat. After Thursday’s off day, most of the Cubs’ work will shift inside to their new performance center. Manager Craig Counsell also adjusted their schedule to backload team meetings to the end of the week to stay indoors as much as possible during the hottest days. The temperature isn’t projected to drop below 99 degrees before the Cubs depart for Chicago on Tuesday.
“This new building will help out a lot for the hitters, so we’ll take advantage of that,” Counsell said this week. “Then we’ll take advantage, we’ve actually saved some meeting time and team time together for this weekend that we’ll use.”
The White Sox have adjusted some of their workout plans.
“Our whole plan here was that these last 10 games for us, that we revisit some of our team fundamentals at game speed,” manager Will Venable said Tuesday. “Today we ended up making that kind of our last day of doing that with the heat coming. We are going to back off a little bit in these pregame workouts just to be mindful of where we’re at and really make decisions on a daily basis.
“But I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to not go out there and run full speed and then also ask guys to play eight, nine innings in a game. We’ll be mindful and make our decisions day to day.”
The extreme temperatures have forced multiple Cactus League games this week to shift from daytime starts to night games.
Both of the Cubs’ split-squad Cactus League games Friday — at Sloan Park against the Cincinnati Reds and on the road at the Athletics’ Hohokam Stadium — shifted from a 1:05 p.m. and 1:10 p.m. local start to 6:05 p.m. and 6:10 p.m., respectively. Their Saturday road game against the Seattle Mariners at Peoria Sports Complex also shifted from a day game to another 6:10 p.m. local start due to the forecast.
The Sox had one time change with Saturday’s contest against the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark switching from a 1:05 p.m. local start to 6:05 p.m. But as of Wednesday, Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels in Tempe, Ariz., has a scheduled first pitch of 12:10 p.m. local time. The projected high temperature on Friday is 106 degrees in Tempe. The Sox have their Cactus League home finale scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Sunday against the Seattle Mariners, when it could reach a high of 102 degrees.
Sox pitcher Davis Martin, who is slated to start on Thursday night in a split-squad game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, isn’t fazed by the expected heat.
“That’s fine,” Martin said last week. “I spent a whole summer out here rehabbing (in 2024 following Tommy John surgery the previous May) when it was 120 (degrees) and we were doing lives against (Yoán) Moncada and Eloy (Jiménez).
“That’s part of it, you’ve just got to deal with it.”
Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas kept it all in perspective.
“We need to enjoy these couple of weeks when we’re here in the heat because it’s going to be cold (in Chicago),” Vargas told the Tribune last week.
Vargas is feeling at home with the conditions.
“I’m from Cuba, it’s hot out there every time,” he said. “I think it’s going to be fine, just fine for me. We have to hydrate because it’s really hot sometimes.”
“Hydration” was the key word for Venable.
“We have all of our trainers and strength coaches with all the resources they need to support these guys with hydration,” Venable said last week. “In between every half inning, you hear five different people yelling, ‘Hydrate.’
“We challenge these guys to continue to hydrate and do the things they need to do to recover. That’s been the message since Day 1 in camp. These guys should have the program in place to stay healthy out there.”
