Friday night’s big storyline was Justin Steele making his spring training debut and who would’ve known that his perfect two innings would be the start of a combined no-hitter. Steele only needed 18 pitches to retire all six batters he faced and then Javier Assad, Brad Boxberger, Adbert Alzolay, Jeremiah Estrada, Cam Sanders and Nick Burdi pitched seven more no-hit innings in the Cubs’ 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres.
And you knew the Padres really didn’t want to get no-hit and were paying attention, as Jose Azocar dropped a bunt in the sixth inning, but he was thrown out on a nice play by Alzolay in front of the mound.
Nick Burdi finished off the no-hitter, getting a double play in the ninth inning after walking a couple guys with one out.
The closest the Padres came to recording a hit came in the sixth inning, when right fielder Yonathan Perlaza left his feet to make a catch in the gap.
The seven Cubs pitchers who combined to throw the no-hitter struck out seven, while allowing five guys to reach base via walk.
Steele was scratched from his first scheduled start in spring training last Sunday because of arm fatigue. No big deal, as the lefty threw a bullpen on Tuesday and got his first game action Friday night. He looked as great as he did in the second half of 2022, inducing weak contact against the Padres. Great to see Steele back on the mound. Big expectations for him in 2023.
While it is just spring training, it’s good to see all the pitchers the Cubs currently have in their system and tonight was another example of their excellent depth. I mean, Assad has four scoreless innings, but he’s kind of an afterthought when it comes the fifth spot in the rotation. Alzolay is locked into a bullpen role and then you have younger guys in Estrada and Sanders looking dominant early on in spring training.
But aside from the pitchers coming up through the Cubs minor league system, a few of their pickups in the offseason are showing nasty stuff.
Burdi was acquired during the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He’s hitting 100mph and this slider was filthy.
I mean yeah, that’s just a terrible swing, but Burdi still had a lot of movement on that slider.
For an organization that struggled for so many years to develop pitching, the Cubs right now are loaded with a lot of talented pitchers. There is so much upside in the minors and we will be seeing more of those pitching prospects come up to the majors in 2023. Exciting stuff!
