FIRST 3 GAMES CUBS GO 1-1-1

Spring training games got under way this past weekend and the World Champions played two split squad games Saturday and hosted the Indians for a World Series “rematch” on Sunday. If you were looking for any real action in any of these three games, you were likely disappointed. As I wrote about on Friday, these games are glorified practice. The focus is on improving skills not winning games, as the 1-1 tie against the Indians proved. However, there is a lot to watch and some interesting things that caught my eye.

THE OBVIOUS

So what would we expect in three games in two days? How about the fact 25 pitchers were used in the 27 innings. Only Jake Buchanan (2 innings) and Steve Perakslis (1.2 innings) threw more than one inning. Only five of those pitchers gave up runs, but again results this past weekend really don’t mean much. Of those 25 pitchers maybe Mike Montgomery and Brian Duensing might be the only two that break camp on the 25 man roster. There are a few others like Buchanan, Zac Rosscup, and Rob Zastryzny that could see some significant innings as the season progresses. Brett Anderson is scheduled to start Monday against the White Sox, but we likely won’t see Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, and John Lackey for another week.

As for position players 37 got to play this weekend. Seeing a theme here? There were 17 players that saw action in two games, but no player got more than 6 plate appearances. We’ll take a closer look at those guys in a minute. Of the 12 players we expect to see in St. Louis on April 2^nd seven of them didn’t get on base. Remember when I said results don’t matter?

In another earlier article I highlighted 26 non roster invitees, but this past weekend another 18 players got some playing time. So the count is no up to 84 as far as I can tell and 62 of them got to play. Take that little coaches who can’t get 12 kids into one game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

I really hesitate to do this. Three games is just such a small sample size and the players haven’t really played much. Only a few hitters saw more than four plate appearances and only two pitchers threw more than one inning, as I mentioned. So take this as just reporting not as an evaluation.

Charcer Burks recorded the Cubs first Spring training home run against the Athletics on Saturday and Jeimer Candelario got the Cubs first triple against the Giants. Chris Dominguez has already hit two doubles. Other Cubs hitting doubles include Javier Baez and Jon Jay and six others. Jay is actually 2 for 2, for what it is worth and Baez has gone 3 for 6.

Baez is one of those players who has had six plate appearances. I think the Cubs are letting him get some early playing time since he’ll be joining team Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic. Jason Heyward is another player that has seen six plate appearances and this is likely to get him as many chances as possible. As we’ve seen in past seasons most players won’t get much more than 70 PA over the course of the Spring, so that is something to keep an eye on. Candelario is the only other player to get 6 PA. My theory is that the Cubs are giving him a chance for that last roster spot. Matt Szczur right now is the most likely candidate, given he has no minor league options. Oh by the way, Szczur has gone 3 for 4 with 3 rbi.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

There have been a bunch of zeros that are meaningless and not worth talking about. But one zero that has been a bit of a surprise is the number of PA that Tommy La Stella has received. Of the 38 position players, La Stella is the only player that hasn’t played. Maybe he has a slight injury, I haven’t heard anything….

Javier “Buenos Manos” Baez made another spectacular play. Maybe that should have gone under heading THE OBVIOUS? His pivot at second on a few double plays looked like the same old Javy. He’s definitely gearing up for the WBC.

.@javy23baez is just here to play. #SpringTraining ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/Fpwcz2SDKy

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 26, 2017

HEYWARD’S SWING

A lot has been made of Jason Heyward’s modified swing. While he is 0-5 there are obvious changes. Still too early to tell if the changes have made any difference. In fact if he was 5 for 5 I would have said the same thing. What everyone has noticed is that he has lowered his hands. It has been reported this was done to relieve the tension in his upper body. I have also noticed the Matt Szczur has also lowered his hands, both looking more like Anthony Rizzo. But when you get the chance, watch the top two prospects Eloy Jimenez and Ian Happ. Both are part of a group of six that have had 5 PA and both are fun to watch. But pay attention to wear their hand placement is prior to load. Just goes to show, hitting is no exact science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zqNKuiMO7M

This video is from our friend John Ferlise over at Cubs Insider. It was taken last week of Candelario, Jimenez, Happ , and Willson Contreras. Look how Jimenez starts his hands high, then drops them low just before his load. Meanwhile Happ and Candelario have a similar load with their hands slightly above the shoulder and then right into the load position. The similarities could be because they are both switch hitters. All four of these guys look much different than what they seem to be doing with Heyward.

Final observation, the team appears very loose and confident. Can’t wait to see them in person in a few weeks.