2015 Spring Training Thread

[Bear Pride]

@pgammo: John Malee says Jorge Soler hasn't swung at a pitch out of the strike zone all spring. Scary good. May be best of Cubs lot right now


This guy could be fun to watch... im predicting he hits that LF video board ALOT..

Plus how much weight did he add? The man is strong. That one HR he hit was an inside fastball he just muscled, and he still hit it 420 feet. :yep:

 

[Parade_Rain]

Boras says Bryant a superstar, so I expect nothing less then .330 40 120 from him every year..

Seriously. . I expect Bryant to hover around .280s-.290 this year and .300s career wise..

I think getting .280 would be a solid goal for this season.

 

[SilenceS]

Baez singles and steals second. Fowler moves him over. Kris Bryant hits his 7th homer of the spring.

 

[chibears55]

Damn. I was so ready to watch today game against the Mariners and Hernandez with that lineup and even more so when i read Russell was playing. .. then i see it the Whitesox and Cubs are on tomorrow. ..
I hope Maddon dont play all the backups tomorrow

 

[Bear Pride]

Baez singles and steals second. Fowler moves him over. Kris Bryant hits his 7th homer of the spring.

Wasn't that Bryant's 8th? Anyhow, this kid is amazing! I wouldn't do any predictions of what he might do, myself. This kid is a superstar waiting to explode on the MLB, imo.

Also nice to see Javi single at the leadoff spot! And what's with Baez stealing bases? That's his 3rd already. I didn't realize that he had some wheels too. :dunno:

 

[chibears55]

@ESPNChiCubs: Maddon talked about batting Baez first. Says he's tried it in the past with struggling players and its gotten them going sometimes


Hiring Maddon may of been the best move the Cubs made since hiring epstein.. ; ))

 

[beckdawg]

Baez singles and steals second. Fowler moves him over. Kris Bryant hits his 7th homer of the spring.

You left off the best part. Was off King Felix.

 

[Bear Pride]

@ESPNChiCubs: Maddon talked about batting Baez first. Says he's tried it in the past with struggling players and its gotten them going sometimes


Hiring Maddon may of been the best move the Cubs made since hiring epstein.. ; ))

Could it be worth 5 more wins?

 

[chibears55]

Castillo with an RBI double, hitting .360 this spring. ..

If they do trade him, they better make sure they get a solid player in return. . Not saying Castillo gonna end up a star but he could end up being a very good player. ..

 

[Bear Pride]

Castillo with an RBI double, hitting .360 this spring. ..

If they do trade him, they better make sure they get a solid player in return. . Not saying Castillo gonna end up a star but he could end up being a very good player. ..

It seems like Ross is the guy that should go. It'll be interesting to see what the Cubs do with Ross being the Lester connection. But Montero and Castillo, if he keeps it up, could make the Cubs C situation a strength for a change. Nothing like a little competition. :yep:

 

[Bear Pride]

Russell with the two run dinger! Man, the Cubs are going to score some runs this year. :yep:

 

[beckdawg]

Castillo with an RBI double, hitting .360 this spring. ..

If they do trade him, they better make sure they get a solid player in return. . Not saying Castillo gonna end up a star but he could end up being a very good player. ..

I was going to make a topic on this and still might but suffice to say one thing the fornt office has done a quality job at is not selling low on players while instead doing an excellent job at buying low. For example, they could have traded Ejax/Wood prior to ST but would have got very little. Now any injury is going to send teams desperately hunting. Likewise, compare what the Rangers gave Choo and what the cubs paid for fowler who's quite similar a player and younger. Granted Fowler is a FA soon but they can always toss a QO on him and potentially net a first round pick and a year of fowler for what amounted to spare parts for them.

 

[theberserkfury]

Castillo with a homer...

 

[Bear Pride]

As if Bryant's 2 run shot wasn't good enough, he hits another 3 run shot in the 4th to give him 2 HR's and 5 RBI's. This kid is ridiculous folks!!!!

 

[chibears55]

Bryant really making it a difficult decision for Epstein. .
Smart business decision to hold him down for 2 weeks but damn the kid been tearing it up since the start of last season. ..

Castillo with another blast, threw out another runner, hitting. 370 now... yea let keep 38 yo Ross over him... SMH

Russell with a 2 hit game batting .400 this spring

Yep... these guys should be fun to watch

 

[chibears55]

Just think the next 7 and hopefully more years of watching Bryant Soler and Russell every game, with Rizzo...

 

[Bear Pride]

Bryant really making it a difficult decision for Epstein. .
Smart business decision to hold him down for 2 weeks but damn the kid been tearing it up since the start of last season. ..

Castillo with another blast, threw out another runner, hitting. 370 now... yea let keep 38 yo Ross over him... SMH

Russell with a 2 hit game batting .400 this spring

Yep... these guys should be fun to watch

Man, I'm starting to think differently. Maybe the Cubs just start him from day 1. I get the BS rule and the extra year of control, and screw Boras, but the Cubs will still have a couple years of arbitration to set any kind of market for him.

I've got to think it could set the tone moving forward for these young players. I've got to think that the Cubs will extend him long term prior to that extra year anyhow. It might actually be a good thing to do at this point.

Also, I'm starting to wonder about Bryant playing LF. I always thought his height was prototypical for 3B, but Russell would be better at 3B, and I'm starting to think he should stay. Russell's range at 3rd could help Castro as well.

A lineup of Fowler, Baez, Bryant, Soler, Rizzo, Castro, Russell, and anyone else could be freakin awesome. Mendy, Olt, Coglin, and La Stella coming off the bench makes the Cubs legit deep. Man, exciting to be a Cubs fan today!!!

 

[chibears55]

Was just thinking if Baez does go down to start season, how talented that Iowa infield going to be for a few weeks,,

Vogelbach Baez Russell Bryant

 

[chibears55]

Man, I'm starting to think differently. Maybe the Cubs just start him from day 1. I get the BS rule and the extra year of control, and screw Boras, but the Cubs will still have a couple years of arbitration to set any kind of market for him.

I've got to think it could set the tone moving forward for these young players. I've got to think that the Cubs will extend him long term prior to that extra year anyhow. It might actually be a good thing to do at this point.

Also, I'm starting to wonder about Bryant playing LF. I always thought his height was prototypical for 3B, but Russell would be better at 3B, and I'm starting to think he should stay. Russell's range at 3rd could help Castro as well.

A lineup of Fowler, Baez, Bryant, Soler, Rizzo, Castro, Russell, and anyone else could be freakin awesome. Mendy, Olt, Coglin, and La Stella coming off the bench makes the Cubs legit deep. Man, exciting to be a Cubs fan today!!!

I hear what your saying and i do hope they bring him north cause i yea i think if he that good their gonna hope to extend in year 4 or 5 anyways, but i think even more so now cause boras mouthed off, that epstein will hold him down cause that the business side of baseball. ...

 

[chibears55]

@PWSullivan: Sammy Sosa hit 12 homers in Cactus League in '99. Kris Bryant could pass him this week.