Spring Training Game Thread

[Rcal10]

29 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Reading between the lines of the latest Athletic article, it looks like Alcantara will be making the trip to Japan and Shaw will be staying. 

This didn’t age well. Cubs announced Shaw is going to Japan.

Edited March 11, 2025 by Rcal10

[thawv]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

This didn’t age well. Cubs announced Shaw is going to Japan.

Now we can't trust Mooney???   Hahaha 

[CubinNY]

14 minutes ago, thawv said:

Now we can't trust Mooney???   Hahaha 

lol, they might be pissed at him because he keeps bringing up their lowball offer to Bregman.

EDIT: who's getting bumped off of the 40 man?

Edited March 11, 2025 by CubinNY

[mul21]

24 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

lol, they might be pissed at him because he keeps bringing up their lowball offer to Bregman.

EDIT: who's getting bumped off of the 40 man?

Nobody yet.  They announced he's going, not that he'll be on the 26 man for the games.

[chibears55]

33 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Nobody yet.  They announced he's going, not that he'll be on the 26 man for the games.

Right, they play 2 exhibition games in Japan before the Dodger series.

These extra players will play for most of those 2 games

[thawv]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

lol, they might be pissed at him because he keeps bringing up their lowball offer to Bregman.

EDIT: who's getting bumped off of the 40 man?

Hahaha...  Hollowell?  Maybe 60 DL Assad or Little? 

[thawv]

45 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Nobody yet.  They announced he's going, not that he'll be on the 26 man for the games.

I can't imagine that he's not on the 26 man roster, and starting both of those regular season games.  He's healthy, and he's making the trip.  It's not to watch or just play in exhibition games. 

[Bertz]

The 40 man move is interesting.  We know both Brujan and Workman are making the Japan trip.  All of the roster bubble pitchers are as well.  It's either Hollowell, Kilian, or someone is going to get DFA'd while in Japan.

[mul21]

Just now, thawv said:

I can't imagine that he's not on the 26 man roster, and starting both of those regular season games.  He's healthy, and he's making the trip.  It's not to watch or just play in exhibition games. 

There's enough other uncertainty with the roster that it wouldn't really surprise me if he didn't make the 26 man to keep the 40 man flexibility available until the domestic opener in AZ.  Between Workman's need to be on the 26 and the glut of relievers they have to make decisions on, pushing that decision down the road as far as possible to be able to account for any injuries that happen between now and March 27th is valuable to the team in several ways.

[Cubs206]

Steele looks ready for opening day.  Pitching batting practice.  

[thawv]

24 minutes ago, mul21 said:

There's enough other uncertainty with the roster that it wouldn't really surprise me if he didn't make the 26 man to keep the 40 man flexibility available until the domestic opener in AZ.  Between Workman's need to be on the 26 and the glut of relievers they have to make decisions on, pushing that decision down the road as far as possible to be able to account for any injuries that happen between now and March 27th is valuable to the team in several ways.

There's a few guys that won't be missed if they were removed right now.  They can also 60 day DL Assad and/or Little if they think they are going to be missing more time than originally thought.  I mean neither guy has thrown a pitch in a game this year.  I'd bet anything that Shaw didn't make this trip to watch.  They don't really have any sort of 40 man roster crunch when taking a look at all 40 of them.  Adding him would be a piece of cake.  

 

[Bertz]

Misiorowski is Milwaukee's closest equivalent to Horton or Brown.  1 ST game obviously meaningless but good to see him not really doing much against this lineup

[Cubs206]

7 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Misiorowski is Milwaukee's closest equivalent to Horton or Brown.  1 ST game obviously meaningless but good to see him not really doing much against this lineup

Then there’s Steele. They pulled him. And they put him in a second time to give up more homers lolllllll 7ER so far and 3 homers 

[UMFan83]

Not really worried. Yes I would assume for pitchers, performance at the end of spring training is more relevant than performance at the beginning when you are building your arm up and working on specific things rather than locking in for the regular season, but in general I still think ST performance is just noise.

[Bertz]

52 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Not really worried. Yes I would assume for pitchers, performance at the end of spring training is more relevant than performance at the beginning when you are building your arm up and working on specific things rather than locking in for the regular season, but in general I still think ST performance is just noise.

There are some breadcrumbs you can pick up around developing and convalescing players but for an All Star level talent like Steele it's purely about health.

[Cubs206]

37 minutes ago, Bertz said:

There are some breadcrumbs you can pick up around developing and convalescing players but for an All Star level talent like Steele it's purely about health.

With his era this spring approaching 11 is he healthy 

Edited March 11, 2025 by Cubs206

[Bertz]

I'm probably reading too much into it, but I wonder if Miller and Pearson pitching today is a sign they're indeed going to make the 26 man roster.

This is the last game before everyone jumps on the plane to Japan.  From a standpoint of being ready for next Tuesday, you'd probably want your A team relievers to pitch today, then one of the exhibition games.

[Cubs206]

They lost all the games I’ve gone to this year in Mesa. Very disappointing. I know it’s spring training but they should be better than this.  Hope the real season they shake it off. 

Edited March 11, 2025 by Cubs206

[Rcal10]

21 minutes ago, Cubs206 said:

They lost all the games I’ve gone to this year in Mesa. Very disappointing. I know it’s spring training but they should be better than this.  Hope the real season they shake it off. 

Today was my 4th spring game in Mesa. My first loss. I saw 2 wins, a tie and this loss. 

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

I'm probably reading too much into it, but I wonder if Miller and Pearson pitching today is a sign they're indeed going to make the 26 man roster.

This is the last game before everyone jumps on the plane to Japan.  From a standpoint of being ready for next Tuesday, you'd probably want your A team relievers to pitch today, then one of the exhibition games.

If all these guys also threw in games today I think it backs up Pearson/Miller being part of the 8 man bullpen theory

Also great news that Owen Caissie seems on track for opening day, if not sooner.

[Bertz]

This did a really good job clearing things up IMO.  Keegan Thompson not being part of the travel party probably makes him the 40 man move for Shaw I'd guess.

 

[JHBulls]

3 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Today was my 4th spring game in Mesa. My first loss. I saw 2 wins, a tie and this loss. 

A tie? In Baseball?

[Rcal10]

37 minutes ago, JHBulls said:

A tie? In Baseball?

Say, in spring baseball….. yes

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Pleasant surprise is Palencia making it. He has a huge arm, could have mass appeal in trades if he doesn’t stick or be a big player here 

Not really a surprise. He made the 31 player roster going to Japan. I don’t see that surprising. I also don’t see him making the stateside 26 man roster. He will start at AAA, which is no surprise. 

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

This did a really good job clearing things up IMO.  Keegan Thompson not being part of the travel party probably makes him the 40 man move for Shaw I'd guess.

They're bringing 17 pitchers coming and 14 position guys.  The 26-man will have 13 pitchers and 13 hitters.  Reese McGuire is almost certainly the backup catcher on the 5-man taxi squad, plus 4 pitchers TBD.  Shaw then is for sure on the 26-man and likely Thompson DFA'd as you say.

Taxi squad pitchers might be Palencia and 3 out of Wicks, Brown, Miller, Pearson, Morgan, Keller.  I think Wicks probably starts in AAA barring injuries and Morgan is on the team.