Spring Training Game Thread

[Bertz]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

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.

Mooney in the Athletic this AM says Friday's a bullpen game and Taillon is starting Sunday. 

I'd guess Keller (who would require another 40 man move for the Dodgers series) and Wicks follow Taillon on Sunday.  Then the pitching staff for the Dodgers series is the normal on paper one except with one of Palencia/Brown subbed in for Taillon.

[CubinNY]

13 hours 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. 

decaf my friend, decaf. 

[Brian707]

16 hours 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. 

[squally1313]

lol they went 11-5. 

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, Bertz said:

Mooney in the Athletic this AM says Friday's a bullpen game and Taillon is starting Sunday. 

I'd guess Keller (who would require another 40 man move for the Dodgers series) and Wicks follow Taillon on Sunday.  Then the pitching staff for the Dodgers series is the normal on paper one except with one of Palencia/Brown subbed in for Taillon.

But then wouldn't Taillon need to be optioned to Iowa?

I don't know how the taxi squad works.

Edited March 12, 2025 by Stratos

[We Got The Whole 9]

38 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

lol they went 11-5. 

He just needs to accept that they hate him

[CubinNY]

16 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

He just needs to accept that they hate him

or he's a jinx and should never attend games again. 

[mul21]

49 minutes ago, Stratos said:

But then wouldn't Taillon need to be optioned to Iowa?

I don't know how the taxi squad works.

No, they get a 5 man taxi squad that's "available" but not on the active roster.  Between the games being 10 days before the season starts and that far from home, they're allowed to have 5 guys with them but not on the active roster and also don't have to be optioned/cut/DFA/whatever until the final cuts before actual opening day.

[JHBulls]

So excited to see there is an exhibition game in Japan against the Hanshin Tigers before the regular season games against the Dodgers. 

[Hot Sauce]

23 hours ago, JHBulls said:

A tie? In Baseball?

It’s weird to me to think that I once saw ties in hockey. The concept seems so foreign to me now.

[Hot Sauce]

23 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

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. 

Not surprisingly I was surprised to read this. 

[thawv]

On 3/11/2025 at 3:55 PM, 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.

If Shaw wasn't going to start these LAD games, I think he would have stayed back to get additional at bats in.  Opposed to only playing the 2 exhibition games in a 9 day span.  I really don't think they brought him along to watch.  

My guess is that carry 10-11 pen guys on the 26 man roster.  I also don't think the 40 is an issue when I look at it.  Keegan is going to create an opening for either Shaw or Keller.  There's a few options to open up another spot without affecting the 40 in a negative way. 

Edited March 13, 2025 by thawv

[thawv]

On 3/11/2025 at 7:28 PM, Rcal10 said:

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

Lucky bastard! 

[thawv]

On 3/12/2025 at 12:38 AM, Stratos said:

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.

I think that they only carry 2-3 SP, and the rest are pen guys.  Jaimo and Boyd are 2 that won't be on the 26 man roster. 

[thawv]

18 hours ago, Stratos said:

But then wouldn't Taillon need to be optioned to Iowa?

I don't know how the taxi squad works.

Jaimo will be one of the 5 guys on the travel squad.  He won't be on the active roster. 

[squally1313]

2 hours ago, thawv said:

I think that they only carry 2-3 SP, and the rest are pen guys.  Jaimo and Boyd are 2 that won't be on the 26 man roster. 

I know you realistically only have a certain amount of innings with Boyd, but I think in a world where this signing pays off he's a much better middle relief option than someone near the back fringes of the pen. Having two lefty starters downplays the impact a bit but he still seems like a guy who would play up if you let him rip for a short stretch. 

[thawv]

30 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I know you realistically only have a certain amount of innings with Boyd, but I think in a world where this signing pays off he's a much better middle relief option than someone near the back fringes of the pen. Having two lefty starters downplays the impact a bit but he still seems like a guy who would play up if you let him rip for a short stretch. 

Both Boyd and Jaimo are pitching in the exhibition games.  Putting them on the 26 man roster would not make sense.  It's best off to go with 2-3 SP and the rest pen guys. 

[Rcal10]

49 minutes ago, thawv said:

Both Boyd and Jaimo are pitching in the exhibition games.  Putting them on the 26 man roster would not make sense.  It's best off to go with 2-3 SP and the rest pen guys. 

I know Jaimo is, not sure about Boyd. I do think he makes some sense being on the roster. With only 1 lefty pen arm, why not carry him too. I think he is a better option than Rea in the pen. (For this particular event) Maybe Rea pitches the other exhibition game and Boyd is held for the real games. 

[Rcal10]

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move. 

[Stratos]

27 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move. 

Looks like Brujan is out of options so likely Workman is odd man out.  They can use a CF backup anyways.  Yeah work something out with Tigers.

Might be able to get Brujan through waivers though

Edited March 13, 2025 by Stratos

[CubinNY]

No TV game today, but they do have a cool video of Suzuki taking BP with a samurai sword. 

Is that racist?

[JBears79]

32 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move. 

They need to send Detroit a low level prospect or something. Workman should make the team imo. I get Brujan offers more versatility defensively but his bat is vomit worthy.

[thawv]

36 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move. 

I can't imagine any scenario that Brujan is on the roster.  Workman has clearly and decisively won the last position on the roster.   Workman is already on the 40, so no roster move is needed.  I think Hollowell is an easy choice to DFA.  Although the Cubs may feel differently. 

[Jason Ross]

37 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move. 

Probably Brujan. Workman can't be sent to the MiLB, and while Brujan can handle CF, I suspect that the Cubs, in an event of a PCA injury, would be okay with allowing Suzuki/Tucker/Happ/Berti to handle CF for a day or so before Alcantara took it over (he's already on the 40). 

Brujan hasn't looked awful this spring by any means, but he's been awful at the MLB level so far, is decently far removed from being a highly thought of prospect, and looks much closer to that dreaded Quad-A guy more than anything. 

There will be a few weeks where and injury can change the math, but I'd suspect today that the answer of "who goes" is Brujan be a notable amount. 

[JBears79]

16 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

No TV game today, but they do have a cool video of Suzuki taking BP with a samurai sword. 

Is that racist?

Not if the sword is signed by Randy Jackson