Spring Training Miscellany: Cubs Fall, Lester Works, Cishek Debuts, Wick Wows, Rizzo Balds, More

March 2, 2019, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

Pfft. It ain’t no tiebreaker game so whatever.

The Cubs lost 7-4 today to the Brewers at Sloan, with Jon Lester giving up a two-run shot to Travis Shaw in the first, and Matt Carasiti allowing the bulk of the rest of the damage in the 6th.

The homer isn’t going to bother Lester, who is getting in his work:

Jon Lester on sticking to preparation, not Brewers: pic.twitter.com/aO3yhK8ZhL

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) March 2, 2019

Meanwhile …

Steve Cishek made his spring debut, and true to form, he was overused. I kid, of course, but he did throw 23 pitches – quite a bit for a spring inning.
Utility prospect and 2018 breakout power guy Trent Giambrone hit his second homer of the spring. Bryan likes him enough to rank him 21st in the system, and mentioned today:

https://twitter.com/cubprospects/status/1101969865538183170

I’ll definitely agree on that last part – when you watch the video of the homer, you kinda can’t believe how far that ball goes. I knew he hit it hard, but it doesn’t look like he hit it THAT hard. And yet, it’s waaay gone.
The Cubs acquired Rowan Wick early in the offseason from the Padres for third base prospect Jason Vosler, and he was flashing some good stuff today:

Wick gets Cain and Yelich to ground out, hits Aguilar, and then strikes Travis Shaw out on a breaking ball. Len and JD quoted Wick at 95 a couple different times. Nice simple delivery, looks under control. https://t.co/e4S8qMYGDu

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) March 2, 2019

Old friend Jay Jackson – yes that Jay Jackson, back from Japan – pitched the 9th for the Brewers.
Loaded spring lineups today:

MVP lineups: 3 of the top 7 finishers and 5 of the 19 players who received NL MVP votes in '18 are in today's Cubs-Brewers lineups, including MVP Christian Yelich and runner-up Javy Baez. Also: No. 7 finisher Lorenzo Cain, No. 16 Jesus Aguilar and No. 17 Anthony Rizzo.

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) March 2, 2019

Schwarber and Morrow looking fit, IMO:

A few shots from around Cubs camp this morning: Baez and Happ, Schwarber, Ross and Morrow… pic.twitter.com/jdBvpT6FpL

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 2, 2019

Tell me this picture is headed to Cooperstown:

Never let anyone tell you that you can't become a baseball player. pic.twitter.com/7SYodgUpBB

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 2, 2019

Post-Respect Bald shave, Anthony Rizzo’s bleached blond stubble makes his head look instead like it is badly balding, which is to say he REALLY got into the spirit of the event: