Greetings from Arizona. Opening day is less than three weeks away, and starters are trying to safely ramp up their pitch counts for the season while dealing with a compressed spring training schedule.
, made his spring debut. He tossed two innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch and allowed two runs. He struck out three while not walking a hitter. Right-hander Scott Effross looked good in relief. The sidearmer pitched a perfect inning, striking out a batter.
— Cubs manager David Ross on Jonathan Villar, who will see time around the infield, including third base when Patrick Wisdom plays left field.Left-hander Justin Steele bulked up in preparation for competing to be part of the opening-day rotation. Steele added about 23 pounds and credited his girlfriend, Libby, for preparing his nightly offseason meals.
Steele pitched well in his first spring start Saturday against the San Diego Padres with two scoreless innings that featured two strikeouts, one walk and zero hits. He said he feels a lot more confident compared with last spring thanks to his experiences in the majors last year. Velasquez retired the side in order in the first. He surrendered three consecutive singles to begin the second, the final hit going just off the glove of leaping second baseman Leury García.