Spring Training games start on Friday February 24th, but the World Champion Cubs have their first games on Saturday. They will actually have split squad games. All that means is that there will be two games on Saturday. Part of the team will host the Oakland Athletics at Sloan Park and the other part will travel to Scottsdale Stadium to face the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs announced that their top four pitchers, Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks, and Lackey won’t see any game action until the second week of games. The starters for the first four games will be Mike Montgomery against the A’s and Rob Zastryzny at the Giants on Saturday. Jake Buchanan will start against the Indians Sunday and Brett Anderson will face the White Sox on Monday. But what Cubs will make up the rest of the line up?
In addition to the 40 man roster, there are another 26 players that were invited to Spring Training. Most of them are under control by the Cubs and in their minor league program. A few others are looking for a job and may or may not stay with the club after Spring Training. Some of these 26 players are high profile guys, like Ian Happ and Eloy Jimenez, but let’s meet them all.
Here is the link to the non roster invitees if you want to get a more in depth analysis on each player. But we’re going to take a broader view of the group as a whole.
PITCHERS
There are 16 total pitchers that have been invited, ranging in age from 24 years old to 34 years old. There are just four lefties, three of which were with the team last year, Manny Para (34 years old), Zac Rosscup (28 years old), and Gerardo Concepcion (25 years old). The new lefty is David Rollins (27 years old) who was acquired off waivers. You may have heard of him as he cleared waivers like a million times this off season.
As for the 12 right handed pitchers, Jim Henderson (34 years old) brings a lot of experience, but most of it from the minors. He has had a few cups of coffee with the Brewers and Mets for a total of 137 innings. His minor league career has stretched over 14 years and 688 innings with a 4.00 era. Fernando Rodriguez (32 years old), joins Manny Parra and Jim Henderson as the only pitchers over 30. He signed as a free agent after being released by the A’s. He has 231 career MLB innings all in relief with a career 4.35 era.
OTHER NEW RIGHT HANDED PITCHERS
The Cubs acquired several pitchers this off season. They are Conor Mullee (29 years old), Seth Frankoff (28 years old), Maikel Cleto (27 years old), Casey Kelly (27 years old), Daniel Corcino (26 years old), Dylan Floro (26 years old), William Perez (25 years old), Ryan Williams (25 years old), and Jhondaniel Medina (24 years old).
Casey Kelly was a 1st round pick by Theo back in 2008 with the Red Sox and was in the Anthony Rizzo deal, when they were traded to the Padres. The problem is he only has 62 innings in the minors during his injury plagued career.
The lone right hander that was a Cub in 2016 was Andury Acevedo (26 year old). He was likely invited to Spring Training because he tore his ACL in May of 2016 and missed the entire season. He came over as a free agent from the Yankees after a very good 2015 season, moving through all three levels of A, AA, and AAA compiling a 2.59 era in 41 games.
POSITION PLAYERS
Most of you know about Ian Happ (22 years old) and Eloy Jimemez (20 years old), if not you will. Jimenez and Happ are the top two Cub prospects according to MLB. They are ranked 13 and 28 respectively by the MLB across all the teams. Jimemez is a corner outfielder with tremendous power, while Happ is a switch hitting second baseman who also plays the outfield. Does that description of Happ make you think of anyone? Maybe the World Series MVP Ben Zobrist? OK, we won’t put him in that class just yet, but many others have.
The other two outfielders are Mark Zagunis (24 years old) and John Andreoli (26 years old). Zagunis best attribute is getting on base. Makes me think of the movie Money Ball. “Why do we like him? Cause he gets on base.” He has a minor league career .404 OBP in three seasons with the Cubs. Andreoli has been with the Cubs for six seasons and was one of Theo and Jed’s first draft picks back in 2011. Andreoli has just 21 minor league home runs, but 12 of those came last year at AAA Iowa.
INFIELD INVITEES
Munenori Kawasaki (35 years old) is back for another year. While he spent most of last season in Iowa, he does have almost 1700 career hits in his 16 years of professional baseball, including the minors and Japanese league. If anything, he is fun to be around, or so I’m told. Jemile Weeks (30 years old) is the younger brother of Rickie Weeks. Back in 2011, the brothers had career years, as Rickie was selected to the All-Star team and Jemile hit .303 in 97 games for the A’s in his rookie season. Unfortunately that has been the best season for Jemile as his second year in 2012 he hit just .221 in 118 games. He only has 260 career MLB games played and 215 came in those first two seasons.
Chris Dominguez (30 years old) is another minor league veteran infielder, who joined the Cubs via free agency. He only has 22 career MLB games played compared to 862 minor league games played. The final infielder to be invited is Chesny Young (24 years old) and was drafted by the Cubs in 2014. The last three seasons in the minors he has a .314 batting average, but just 5 home runs.
CATCHERS
Carlos Corporan (33 years old) and Taylor Davis (27 years old). No offense to either of these guys, but when you have 40 pitchers in camp, you’re going to need several catchers. Corporan at least has experience as he was the Astro’s back up catcher from 2011 through 2014, before being traded to Texas. He spent 2016 with three different teams, but did not play in the major league games. David was signed by the Cubs back in 2011 and has a decent bat. IN 2015 he hit .311 with 9 home runs between AA and AA in 104 games. Last season in 88 games he hit just .264 with 2 home runs.
While it will likely take a major injury to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for one of these guys, they play a very important role for the preparation of 2017 Cubs. Not to mention the future star potential for a few of these guys. Remember, a player must have a major league contract, which places him on the 40 man roster. Only players on the 40 man roster can be part of the expanded roster call ups in September. It is very likely there will be roster moves throughout the year, so don’t be surprised if one of these “non roster invitees” ends up in the Cubs dugout in September, but that’s a long way off. Let’s enjoy Spring Training for now.
