Results tagged ‘ 1000 Words ’
1000 Words: It’s game time for Len Kasper
Cubs television broadcaster Len Kasper readies for the home opener at HoHoKam Stadium Sunday. Kasper will be calling the game on MLB.com with Tennessee Smokies broadcaster Mick Gillespie at 2 p.m. CST. The Cubs play 38 more Cactus League games this season, and Spring Training broadcasts on MLB.com are free.
1000 Words: B-Jax is locked in early
(Photo by Stephen Green)
After struggling with contact at the major league level last year, outfield prospect Brett Jackson spent most of the offseason working to refine his swing. Though it’s still early, his hard work has paid dividends so far. In the first Cactus League game of the season Saturday, B-Jax went 2-for-2 with two triples. That followed a 3-for-3 performance, with two doubles and a stolen base, in an intrasquad game Friday.
“[The new swing] is second nature at this point,” Jackson said. “I still have to stay on some things, as every hitter does. There are some things you’re going to work on your whole career, and it’s never going to just stay. I think most hitters work their whole career to stay back or stay behind the baseball. You always have to be on top of that kind of stuff.”
1000 Words: The Cubs new spring home is taking shape
The Cubs will play their home opener tomorrow afternoon at HoHoKam Stadium, their spring home of the last 17 years. One year from now, they’ll be playing their home opener here.
Vine Line toured the Cubs new Spring Training facility being built in the Riverview area of Mesa, Ariz., earlier this morning. You can see the third base dugout on the left of the photo and the beginnings of the seating bowl behind it. It’s going to be an impressive new home, and it will be ready for the first pitch of the 2014 spring slate.
1000 Words: Castro and Soriano are ready
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro and left-fielder Alfonso Soriano have their bats ready for the Cactus League season. The Cubs open Saturday against the Angels in Tempe (Castro and Soriano are not in the lineup) and play their home opener Sunday against the Giants.
1000 Words: Soler caps off a productive day
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Top Cubs outfield prospect Jorge Soler announced himself in a big way Thursday at HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. In his first at-bat in the first Cubs intrasquad game of the spring, the 20-year-old Cuban expat blasted a home run to deep left off minor league pitcher of the year Nick Struck. He also walked and made an impressive play coming in on a ball in left field.
1000 Words: First steps of the 2013 season
(Photo by Stephen Green)
The 2013 Cubs take the field for the first time today at HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. In an intrasquad matchup, the white team, laden with veterans like David DeJesus and new right-fielder Nate Schierholtz, took down the prospect-heavy blue team 7-3.
1000 Words: Hoyer and Rizzo talk shop
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer and first baseman Anthony Rizzo share some trade secrets around the batting cages at Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz. The big league team said a rainy final goodbye to Fitch yesterday afternoon before heading over to HoHoKam Stadium, where they’ll spend the rest of the spring. The team will move into a new facility for spring 2014.
1000 Words: East Meets West
(Photo by Stephen Green)
New Cubs reliever, Japanese import Kyuji Fujikawa, dials it up at Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz. Fujikawa, who tallied 220 saves and a 1.17 ERA in 12 seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball league, signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Cubs in December. He became the second Japanese player in Cubs history, following Kosuke Fukudome, who was with the Cubs from 2008-11.
1000 Words: Hairston runs one down
(Photo by Stephen Green)
New Cubs outfielder Scott Hairston tracks down a ball at Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz., on Monday afternoon. Hairston is one of five members of his family to play in the major leagues and is the third member of his family to play for the Cubs. His uncle, Johnny, was with the Cubs in 1969, and his brother, Jerry, played for the Cubs from 2005-06.
1000 Words: Soler swings away
(Photo by Stephen Green)
One of the most exciting aspects of early camp is getting the chance to see some of the organization’s top prospects in action. This week, Cubs fans in Mesa, Ariz., are getting their first glimpse of Jorge Soler, the massive Cuban right fielder the team signed to a nine-year, $30 million contract last June. Soler, who won’t turn 21 until Feb. 25, weighs in at 6-foot-3, 205-pounds (and looks bigger than that).
In 20 games for Class-A Peoria last year, he hit .338 with three home runs and 15 RBI in 80 at-bats. Baseball America ranks him the team’s No. 3 prospect, and baseball insiders, including Cubs manager Dale Sveum, rave about his light-tower power.
