Spring Training Miscellany: Cubs 8, Angels 1 – April 1, 2012

It was a relatively tight game until Jason Isringhausen made an appearance, and wasn’t particularly interested in getting Cubs out. The bits…

  • Lefty pitching prospect Chris Rusin, who’ll be in Iowa’s rotation to start the year, had a downright good performance today against a lineup of mostly Angels regulars (caveat Albert: there was no Pujols today). He went 5.1 innings, giving up two hits, and striking out three. No walks (which is one of his hallmarks), and no runs. The Angels don’t have much on the way of an advanced scouting report on Rusin, mind you, so I wouldn’t take the start for more than what it was: a really nice day. He’s still no more than a possible back-end starter at some point in the future, and no more than the Cubs’ 10th starter right now.
  • Shawn Camp got 1.2 innings to try and sway opinion back in his favor in the bullpen competition, and he came through with a one-hit, no-run, three-strikeout outing. He’s got to beat only one of Lendy Castillo and Manny Corpas (assuming Rodrigo Lopez is already in the pen) in order to land a spot. In other words, it’s likely that two of that trio will make the pen.
  • David DeJesus finally had a two-hit game. It’s just one game, but it would be nice to see him heating up just in time for the season.
  • Most of the regulars saw action today, and got a hit or two. Blake DeWitt also saw time at first base (hit and a walk), and Jeff Baker hit a ridiculous bomb of a three-run homer.
  • Second base prospect Ronald Torreyes saw some action late, and, given that he’s got the best “hit tool” in the system, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that he got a hit. And, yes, he is as tiny as folks have suggested. Tony Campana could totally beat Torreyes up.
  • On the downside today, all of Ian Stewart, Starlin Castro, and Blake DeWitt had an error.
  • Meanwhile, Matt Garza threw a four-inning tuneup against Minor Leaguers, giving up a hit and striking out six.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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