Cubs Live
By: Ryan Melson (@RyanMelson1)
Here are the quick highlights from the weekend in Cubs land. The Cubs had a lot of action over the weekend with half of the team in Las Vegas and half of the team at Sloan Park. Saturday Las Vegas Crew 1) Q Looks Ready For The Regular Season. In Vegas, Jose Quintana showed why he has been one of the best and most consistent pitchers in all of baseball over the past four years. Quintana threw six marvelous innings, allowing one hit, and striking out eight. I think Q is ready for the regular season to start. 2) Addy Muscle. Just as I mentioned yesterday, Addison Russell hits homeruns in bunches. He hit his second homerun of the spring on Saturday and he is really looking comfortable at the plate. Addy collected three hits in all in this game. It would be fantastic to see Addy take the next step like Xander Bogaerts did in Boston with Chili Davis. 3) Hey Hey, J-Hey. Jason Heyward also was looking comfortable at the plate by driving in a run on two hits. 4) Power-man. Jacob Hannemann was an absolute monster Saturday in Vegas. Hannemann hit a homerun in his first at bat, and just missed hitting two more. Hannemann collected three hits on the day. This was a very encouraging day at the plate for the young lefty. Lets hope that the Chili Davis effect is already working. 5) More Hitting Prospects. Mark Zagunis and David Bote both had really nice days at the plate. Both of these prospects are very good, but there is unfortunately no spots on the major league roster for them right now. 6) Last Bullpen Spot. Randy Rosario struggled in his relief appearance in Vegas. Rosario is battling Eddie Butler for the last bullpen spot. Sloan Park Crew 7) El Mago Returns. Javier Baez is back and feeling good. While the Cubs and Javy claimed his hamstring was fine, it was good to see him back out on the field to prove that claim was true. 8) The Great Schwarbino. Kyle Schwarber is zoned in at the plate. He collected two more hits (a double and a triple) on Saturday. With the spring he is having, I am fully on board with Schwarber’s declaration that he wants to win the MVP. 9) Eddie Money. Eddie Butler had a mixed start. He looked really good the first three innings, but the wheels came off in the fourth inning. Butler lost his command and wound up allowing three runs in the fourth. 10) Solid Bullpen Outings. Pat Cishek and Justin Wilson both threw nice, crisp innings out of the bullpen. 11) Farrell The Strikeout Machine. Luke Farrell also threw three really good innings. Farrell struck out 7 and only allowed one run. While he struggled early in the spring, Farrell has really pitched well of late. Sunday Las Vegas Crew 12) Court Is In Session. Illinois native Ryan Court continues to mash the baseball. Court hit his fourth homerun of the spring, while maintaining a .395 batting average. I have a feeling this kid is going to sign with someone else when he does not make the Cubs twenty-five man roster and have a really solid season. I will still lead his fan club when he does this. 13) Keep An Eye On Mills. While they have already optioned him to Triple A, Alec Mills has been extremely impressive. Mills pitched three innings, allowed one hit, and he allowed zero runs. Mills ERA this spring is now down to 1.74. I have been very impressed with Mills and he could be a pitcher that gets the first call-up from Triple A this season. Sloan Park Crew 14) Mi Friend, Willson. Do yourself a favor and go watch Willson Contreras hit a homerun that is still travelling in the galaxy. Willson hit his fourth homerun of the spring and is another player that could be in MVP contention if he can stay healthy. I am expecting a massive season out of Willson this year. 15) The Great Schwarbino Pt. 2. Kyle Schwarber continues to show that his offseason changes have brought him back to the player that we all fell in love with. Schwarber collected another hit today, while drawing two walks. Schwarber is quietly hitting .378 this spring. 16) Chatwood’s Mixed Start. Tyler Chatwood struggled a little bit today. This is his first blemish in a Cub uniform, but it truly was not a terrible start. Chatwood uncharacteristically walked three batters and allowed seven hits. However, he only let up four earned runs over five innings. Chatwood also struck out six batters, which continues to be a pleasant part of what he has done this spring that is different from his past seasons. With the Cubs offense as high octane as it is, I am perfectly fine with these starts from Chatwood. He will have the opportunity to win a lot of ball games if he allows four or less runs. 17) Let’s Just Forget. Justin Wilson and Mike Montgomery both had performances wee are going to just forget about and never mention again. 18) Grimm To The Royals. Justin Grimm was employed quickly after hitting the market. Grimm signed with the Kansas City Royals and we wish him the best of luck.
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Kyle MalzhanFounder who is an aspiring journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs daily. Archives
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