Spring Training Miscellany: Cubs Fall to Red Sox, Darvish is Fun, Almora Highlight, More

Although the Cactus League slate is over, Spring Training still has a couple days left for the Cubs, who traversed the country and kinda joined the Grapefruit League for a couple games against the Red Sox. Tonight’s edition saw the Cubs lose 4-2.

  • Yu Darvish pitched just 3.0 innings in his final regular season tuneup (not unusual), as his pitch count inflated rapidly. He did not record a strikeout, which – even in an exhibition – seems impossible. I am wholly unmoved by that fact, however. Because exhibition. Also, he was still doing some fun stuff:
  • https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/978405547421700098

  • Speaking of Yu and fun:
  • Victor Caratini had the honors of catching Darvish in this one, fresh off being named the Cubs’ backup catcher. It wasn’t a great night behind the plate, though, as Caratini had some visible goofs, including the cardinal sin for a catcher – tossing one over the pitcher’s head:
  • Steve Cishek continued his near-flawless spring with another scoreless, two-strikeout inning. You are reminded: he was absolutely brilliant last year after a midseason trade to the Rays, where he worked with now-Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey.
  • Justin Wilson rebounded from some recent outings with a scoreless, two-strikeout frame of his own.
  • Carl Edwards Jr. had gone all of Spring Training without issuing a walk – quite a feat for him – but unfortunately that control left him tonight, with two walks (to go with three hits and a couple runs given up). It would have been another run or more if not for Albert Almora nailing a runner at the plate:
  • Ian Happ had one hit in four tries, which was just enough to maintain his OPS lead (1.234) over Kyle Schwarber (1.119), who had a couple hits in three tries. None of that “matters,” mind you. It’s just kinda fun.
  • 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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