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

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:

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:
  • Old friend Jay Jackson – yes that Jay Jackson, back from Japan – pitched the 9th for the Brewers.
  • Loaded spring lineups today:
  • Schwarber and Morrow looking fit, IMO:
  • Tell me this picture is headed to Cooperstown:
  • 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:
  • 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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