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One day closer to Cubs baseball and they did play some of it on Tuesday!
We played some baseball today. pic.twitter.com/xv9qz4ernR
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 19, 2019
Anyway, here are some more updates from Cubs spring training.
The Cubs had their first team workout on Monday and there was one prominent player not in Mesa yet. Ben Zobrist was absent on Monday and he still wasn’t in camp on Tuesday.
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Maddon said there remains no established arrival day for Ben Zobrist, who is an excused absence for "personal reasons" in Cubs camp.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 19, 2019
Zobrist was the subject of trade speculation this offseason. He’s in the final year of his four-year contract with the Cubs and his luxury tax hit for 2019 is $14 million. But let’s just hope everything is all right with Zobrist.
Yu Darvish threw a live session of batting practice and looked pretty good.
Yu Darvish throwing live BP. Almora stepping in now. Schwarber also in this group. pic.twitter.com/78jIoOuGpU
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 19, 2019
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy with Darvish after 25 pitches of live BP. All seemed pleased. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/9V280WI1jH
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) February 19, 2019
When pitchers and catchers first reported last week, Darvish expressed a new sense of ease in his second year with the Cubs. More importantly he said his velocity was up compared to last year’s spring training and it’s a great sign to see Darvish throwing 93-94 mph.
Darvish said he hit 93-94 mph throwing "nice and easy." #Cubs
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) February 19, 2019
Speaking of looking good, it seems like Anthony Rizzo’s wedding diet paid off.
Is it just me or does Rizzo look really, really skinny in the Instastories that the Cubs just posted? pic.twitter.com/Bm5eqHWvTz
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) February 18, 2019
Might be hard to tell here but Rizzo lost a bunch of weight. pic.twitter.com/dYfGpLattb
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 19, 2019
Rizzo has suffered nagging back injuries for the past few years, so hopefully the weight loss leads to no further missed time for Rizzo.
Javier Baez wants to walk more in 2019.
1) Javy Baez spoke with reporters for the first time this spring. Couple highlights: Unprompted he said he wants to walk more this year. Usually he has to be asked about that. Most interesting was a leadership thing.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 19, 2019
Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward taking BP for your viewing pleasure.
Tall lefties… pic.twitter.com/D8BRZ08eSW
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 19, 2019
And hey, want any good news regarding Heyward?
For what it's worth, BN'er Spriggs on Heyward today: "I have never seen him hit so many BP homers ever. Mostly to RF, but a couple to CF and LF. I still don’t believe what I saw. He was also hitting hard liners off live pitching, including a lefty (Baldonado)."
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 20, 2019
But also…
It should be noted that these were the *two* grounders he hit. Poor timing. He did have a really nice BP otherwise. #SampleSize
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 20, 2019
And finally, Kevin Youkilis is the man.
#Cubs hitters getting early concentration lesson in #SpringTraining…young child behind home plate wouldn’t stop crying during BP…so Kevin Youkalis, Dad of 3, went over and gave him a baseball = quiet Kid! @cbschicago #Wellplayed pic.twitter.com/YUssRyMJro
— Megan Mawicke (@MeganMawicke) February 19, 2019
