After signing a seven-year, $177 million deal in December to be the centerpiece of the Chicago Cubs lineup, Dansby Swanson entered the ultimate weekend of Cactus League play hitting .059.
It wasn’t only a subpar spring. No one in spring coaching with 30 or extra at-bats had a decrease batting common than the brand new Cubs shortstop.
In his first at-bat Friday in a 5-3 win in opposition to the Texas Rangers at Sloan Park, Swanson hit a sluggish curler to the precise facet however legged out an infield single because of a poor defensive play. He completed the day 1-for-3 to extend his common to .081.
There’s no scarcity of tales of gamers placing up abysmal numbers in spring coaching and beginning the season red-hot and vice versa. Swanson’s sluggish begin shouldn’t be trigger for concern — until it carries over into the season.
Manager David Ross stated he wasn’t anxious about Swanson’s spring.
“I don’t want to single out Dansby, but everybody in camp is always working on something,” Ross stated earlier than Friday’s sport. “The thing that stands out to me with a lot of these guys is, ‘Are they recognizing the pitches? Are they taking passes at really good pitches? Do they shut it down on balls out of the zone? Are they taking their walks?’ ”
Swanson had eight walks in his first 14 video games versus solely two hits in 34 at-bats. Ross theorized it was only a matter of discovering the “right mental or physical cue” to get his timing again.
“He’s seeing the baseball, it’s about timing,” Ross stated. “The swings are there. I stated to him the opposite day — ‘How many pitches have you fouled straight back on really good swings?’ To me, that’s all timing. Trey (Mancini) has felt somewhat off, and he stated it’s timing.
“They’re all going to go through that throughout the season. The mechanics are going to get a little wonky …. I guess my answer is no, I’m not worried about that, but he’s always working on something.”
Swanson hasn’t taken it to the sector with him. He went into the opening within the first inning to throw out Marcus Semien on a wonderful defensive play. And he hasn’t been the one Cub struggling. Cody Bellinger has a .175 common after an 0-for-4 afternoon.
At the beginning of spring, Ross known as it “a big year for (Bellinger),” including “he’s got something to prove, but it’s not a pressure type of thing. Asked what mechanical changes Bellinger had to make to return to his MVP form, Ross said Bellinger was working on “getting ready to hit and the way he loads.”
“We’re making sure he’s training that in the weight room and drilling that in the cages,” Ross stated.
The Cubs entered the day hitting .240, second-worst amongst Cactus League groups and sixth-worst within the majors. They want Swanson and Bellinger to warmth up quickly after beginning the season with out injured proper fielder Seiya Suzuki with no apparent substitute on the roster.
Adding to the urgency, nobody has stood out among the many third-base candidates, and Willson Contreras is gone, having been changed by two defensive-minded catchers.
Ross stated lots of the present gamers carry a chip on their shoulders for various causes. Some have been written off, some are attempting to indicate they belong. First baseman Eric Hosmer, who matches the previous class, stated that’s one thing everybody has to cope with in their very own approach.
“Every year brings a different kind of pressure for certain guys — young guys trying to live up to certain things, certain guys trying to get paid and certain guys trying to prove they still have it,” Hosmer stated. “Each yr presents one thing somewhat completely different.
“I’m excited to do my part and produce, and I think we’ve got a team that can really surprise people and it’s going to be a fun year.”
Hosmer went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, and Marcus Stroman allowed no earned runs in 5⅓ innings in his closing tuneup earlier than his opening-day begin in opposition to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, decreasing his spring ERA to 0.90.
The Cubs are 15-10 with 4 Cactus League video games remaining coming into Friday night time. But the finale Tuesday in opposition to the White Sox at Sloan Park will probably be crammed with minor-league gamers, that means solely three video games actually stay to work out the kinks.
After six weeks in Arizona, the brand new gamers have had a chance to bond collectively, a ritual groups have participated in for many years. The gamers consider the expertise and camaraderie can carry them a great distance.
“We have a great dynamic,” Stroman stated. “Just the vibe, the atmosphere in the clubhouse is much better than last year because we have a veteran presence now, mixed with the young guys. A great balance of veterans and really talented young guys that can kind of lean on us when we need to be a voice or a helping hand.”
Every group says they’ve bonded each spring. But how do we actually know? I lined the 1997 Cubs group that insisted they bonded, then began the season 0-14.
Ross stated it’s all a seasonlong course of.
“I don’t that just happens in spring training,” he stated. “That’s a long-term process as you get to know your family for that season and connect on road trips, on bus rides, on plane rides. But I’ve definitely felt this is a group that has come together very fast in a short amount of time in spring training, the vibe that I get and the vibe that the coaches get and the feedback we’ve gotten from some of the new players.”
Whether that vibe continues to develop over the season stays to be seen, however it has to begin someplace.
“It’s huge,” catcher Tucker Barnhart stated. “When you’re invested in your teammates as individuals and never simply as teammates, that places you in the very best place to do one thing particular.
“I think we’re doing a great job of that and I foresee it continuing down that road as we get to Chicago and on into the summer.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com