A Tip of the Recap March 12th

The Cubs came up just short, losing to the Angels by a score of 10-9 to fall to 1-7 on the spring.

The Good

Kris Bryant went 3 for 4 with 2 HRs and a ground rule double that would have been a HR in most parks (it is 420 to CF) and he had 3 RBI.

Jorge Soler went 2 for 4 with a HR, double and 2 RBI.

Addison Russell looked outstanding all around today going 3 for 3 at the plate with a double, stolen base and 1 RBI. He also made one hell of an amazing stop at short on a hard hit grounder, he didn’t have time to make the throw, but it was an awesome stop nonetheless.

Welington Castillo continues to have an impressive spring going 2-4 at the plate with an RBI double. He also probably should have thrown Mike Trout out at 2nd trying to steal but Baez couldn’t handle the throw. The better he plays the more I wonder if the Cubs will find a way to carry 3 catchers. If nothing else, his value is improving.

Javier Baez had a decent day at the plate, going 1 for 3 without any strikeouts and two booming flyouts.

Mike Olt continued his resurgence this spring with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. He looks so calm and confident up at the plate and I’m really feeling like he has figured out a consistent approach.

The Bad

Jason Hammel struggled a bit today giving up 3 runs and walking 2 in 3 innings of work during which he had around 65 pitches. The struggles aren’t worrisome yet, but he hasn’t look overly sharp this spring, but if you are going to struggle now is the time.

Kris Bryant had his 2nd throwing error of the spring and he probably could have a couple more if not for some help for his teammates. Nothing to sound the alarm about, but it is worth watching this spring to see if he can improve on this a bit.

The Ugly

It doesn’t get much uglier than Felix Doubront’s outing today. After a clean 4th inning, he proceeded to give up 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th. He gave up hit after hit and an 8-3 game turned into a 8-8 tie.

On Deck

The Cubs are going split squad tomorrow with a game against the Indians at 3:05 PM with Tsuyoshi Wada starting (CST) and the A’s at 7:05 PM (CST) with Jake Arrieta getting the start. The A’s game will be broadcast on CSN.