Chicago White Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol didn’t make an excessive amount of of returning to Surprise Stadium to play the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday evening in Surprise, Ariz.
Grifol spent the earlier 10 seasons in numerous roles with the Royals earlier than being named Sox supervisor final fall.
”It’s one other sport that we have to put together ourselves for Game 1 (of the common season),” Grifol stated Wednesday afternoon. “That’s what the game does to you. It conditions you. You’re in and out of clubhouses. You build relationships, you’re in and out of relationships. I have a lot of friends there still, but I’m here now.”
The Cubs’ 11-7 win Wednesday towards Team Canada marked their fifth exhibition sport towards a World Baseball Classic staff. They beforehand went 2-2 in such matchups.
- 6-4 win versus Team Japan on March 18, 2017
- 8-7 loss to Team Italy on March 7, 2017
- 7-5 win versus Team Japan on March 15, 2013
- 3-2 loss to Team Japan on March 12, 2009
Justin Steele gave up three runs in 2⅓ innings. He allowed two hits, together with a house run, walked two and struck out two. Tucker Barnhart and Cody Belling related for his or her first spring house runs. Prospects Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kevin Alcántara had an RBI every.
Tribune baseball writers LaMond Pope, Meghan Montemurro and Paul Sullivan shall be offering Cubs and White Sox updates all through spring coaching.
Owen Caissie embracing alternative with Team Canada
The Cubs prospect was working within the batting cage at Sloan Park Tuesday when his Team Canada teammate imparted some recommendation.
Of course, the perception carried some further weight coming from former MVP Freddie Freeman.
“Freeman was talking about his routine, his approach, how you have to keep your routine and don’t stray from it,” Caissie stated after batting observe Wednesday. “Because it’s one thing you always have to have. … Everyone on this team is here for each other and it’s just a really great time.”
Caissie, 20, is the second youngest participant on Canada’s roster. He began in proper area towards the Cubs for Wednesday’s exhibition, going 0-for-3. He threw out Edwin Ríos at third base to finish the sixth when Ríos tried to go first-to-third on a single. Caissie, rated the No. 13 prospect within the Cubs system, is within the combine to get at-bats within the nook outfield and because the designated hitter as soon as Canada begins WBC pool play.
“I’m very proud and grateful for the opportunity to play for Canada,” Caissie stated. “It means a lot because we can actually play baseball and not just hockey.”
Cody Bellinger’s swing coming into kind
Three weeks earlier than opening day, Bellinger is the place he needs to be along with his swing.
It translated to his first Cactus League house run Wednesday, a no-doubt solo shot to right-center area. He went 2-for-3, together with an RBI single.
“I’ve been feeling really good at the plate, I’m seeing the ball well, taking good swings,” Bellinger stated afterward. “I’m feeling good and confident. … From the first day to today, there’s been improvements. Obviously you need at-bats to make the right adjustments.”
Beyond producing good contact, Bellinger needs to see the ball nicely. In 14 Cactus League at-bats, he has struck out solely twice; he completed with 18 strikeouts in 36 at-bats final spring with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hope is Bellinger’s strategy will translate to extra hits because the season will get underway. Bellinger has been happy with the reads he’s getting on the plate and figuring out when to put off.
“I’m focusing on getting my pitch to hit and seeing offspeed and seeing these different shapes of the ball again,” Bellinger stated. “It’s just about really seeing it and putting your swing on it. … The more I’m seeing it, the timing’s becoming natural.”
Pedro Grifol stressing urgency throughout this stretch of camp
The Sox returned from Monday’s off day with a reminder that the little issues can result in large outcomes.
“The expectations are ramped up a little bit for the next seven to 10 days, and we’ve got to focus,” Grifol stated Tuesday. “We’ve bought to deal with the little issues. It wasn’t a lot that they had been totally different, it’s simply the extent of urgency that’s concerned … is admittedly essential. Sometimes expectations stay the identical, however the degree of urgency is totally totally different.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer to opening day, and this is how we’re going to win a lot of games — being able to be fundamentally sound.”
Securing the baseball, throwing to the fitting base and correct cutoffs had been among the many defensive expectations highlighted.
Grifol has seen strides in these areas, however “I’ve also seen lapses, mental lapses.”
“And this is the part of camp where that can start to happen,” he stated. “We always have to be wary about falling into the wrong routine. And that’s our job as a staff to address it.”
Elvis Andrus loving problem of adjusting to second base
Andrus made a nifty double play within the first inning Tuesday towards the Milwaukee Brewers, racing to the bag to catch shortstop Erik González’s throw and making an off-balanced toss to first whereas within the air.
“I didn’t have any other shot and I was not going to stop,” Andrus stated after the sport. “I was running too hard for me to stop. I think I would do that a lot during the season if it happens again.”
The Sox just like the progress Andrus is making as he shifts from shortstop to second.
“I think he’s having fun,” Grifol stated final week. “I love watching him play and practice too.”
Andrus continues to embrace the chance.
“I love a challenge,” he stated. “That’s one of many issues I really feel (about) the perfect this yr. I performed brief for therefore lengthy and it will get to some extent, it will get to a rhythm. It’s the identical — I react the identical with each pitch.
“Now it’s completely different. Now it feels like I’m back to minor leagues again, like I have to retrain my brain for different balls where they’re hit and I have to move to different positions.”
Andrus can also be having a productive spring on the plate, hitting .545 (6-for-11) in his first 5 Cactus League video games.
News from the World Baseball Classic
Sox middle fielder Luis Robert Jr. went 1-for-4 with a double for Team Cuba in a 4-2 loss to the Netherlands within the match opener Wednesday. Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada went 0-for-3 with a stroll for Cuba, which is competing in Pool A in Taichung, Taiwan.
Cubs minor-leaguer Jared Young recorded a stroll and hit a two-run double within the first inning to offer Team Canada an early lead in Wednesday’s exhibition loss towards the Cubs.
Up subsequent
- White Sox vs. Team Columbia, 2:05 p.m.
- Cubs vs. Reds, 2:05 p.m.
What we’re studying this morning
Quotable
“I wouldn’t say you’re shunned for it, but you kind of are an outsider because I wasn’t playing hockey. I just played baseball all the time. I had my baseball friends. I didn’t really mingle that well with the hockey kids, but I’m here now. I’m grateful for it.”
— Caissie on rising up enjoying baseball in hockey-loving Canada.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com