MESA, Ariz. — After 5 days of pitchers’ and catchers’ exercises, Monday represents the official first full-squad exercise for the Cubs.
With the whole roster already in Arizona, Monday feels extra like one other day than a momentous day within the baseball calendar.
“Once more, an important factor is we stroll off the sector all wholesome once more,” supervisor Craig Counsell stated. “However there’s some ceremony to it. Most significantly, it’s a day when the entire group is collectively. That’s what I feel an important factor is about it and that’s necessary.”
Don’t anticipate an enormous “rah-rah” speech from Counsell on day 1. For him, it’s about maintaining the identical strategy he’s had this complete week.
“Yeah, I’m gonna discuss,” Counsell stated. “I actually assume it’s how can we work together every single day that turns into the motivation. That’s what turns into of it. We’re not filming a film tomorrow, proper?”
However will there be some sort of present? Can a shock participant arrive at camp Monday, a la Dexter Fowler in 2016?
“Not my focus proper now,” Counsell stated. “Full squad exercises are a brand new problem for the teaching employees. We add some new power into the constructing with all of the place gamers. That’s the straightforward half to be enthusiastic about and look ahead to tomorrow and that’s actually all I’m wanting ahead to.”
A managerial first
In seasons as a supervisor, there’s not a complete lot of issues that Counsell hasn’t skilled.
He has a primary with the Cubs: managing a Japanese participant. With Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga, Counsell may have two at numerous factors of their careers within the States.
“It’s new for me, for positive,” Counsell stated. “It’s definitely totally different and there are challenges, for positive, you respect them and simply we’re attempting to cowl every part with out overloading them, I feel in Shota’s case is the easiest way to say it.”
Suzuki is coming into his third season and appears to be actually adapting and coming into his personal. Imanaga, then again, will enter his first season within the U.S. and with that come some changes.
“The pitch clock is new to him,” Counsell stated. “The foundations that had been instituted final yr, we sort of spent a while on these already. I feel it’s going effectively, however I feel it’s on us as a training employees and as a company to supply a stage of help that makes them really feel ready.”
Fast hits
- Lefty Jordan Wicks and righty Caleb Kilian threw dwell batting observe to hitters on Discipline 1 at Sloan Park. Each threw a pair of simulated innings to Ian Happ, Miles Mastrobuoni, Christopher Morel, Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya. Wicks had a pair of strikeouts within the outing.
- The large hit of dwell batting observe got here in Kilian’s first inning, the place Morel hit a ball to the right-center discipline wall to finish the body.
- After exercises ended, Morel went over to the half discipline behind the agility discipline to get some additional work in at third base.