Spring Training Miscellany: Fly the T, Rizzo Goes Deep, Tazawa Impresses Again, More

March 21, 2019, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

The Cubs and Dodgers tied at four last night at Sloan Park, which will not go very far in helping determine the winner of the coveted Cactus League Championship.

At least Anthony Rizzo sent some fans home happy:

Safe travels! #TeamRizzo pic.twitter.com/WEmL1fWbMV

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 21, 2019

Like Yu Darvish before him, Cole Hamels batted in this game and wound up knocking in a run with a single:

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As for Hamels’ pitching, well, he gave up a couple dingers and a lot of hard contact over his six innings of work. Were it a regular season game, we’d probably break down what happened in more detail, but as always, you just don’t know exactly what the goal was of the outing for Hamels – because he’s not always maximize outs no matter what in a Spring Training affair.
Of course, for guys trying to win a job on the team, that definitely does seem more like the priority, and Junichi Tazawa sure has been good at it this Spring. He hasn’t allowed a run yet, and in this one he faced three batters: he struck out Kiké Hernandez, he struck out Cody Bellinger, and he struck out Chris Taylor. Dude wants a job.
Lefty Kyle Ryan also wants a job, and he struck out two in his scoreless inning. Interestingly, he might be competing with righty Tazawa for a job in the bullpen (depending on injuries) thanks to Tazawa’s strong reverse splits in his career.
Love it:

Barnes skies a pitch up right-field line, where it drops between Rizzo, Zobrist and Happ for a single. Contreras hustled to first and was there for Happ's throw to nab Barnes, who took two steps too many after rounding.

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 21, 2019

With my bro:

https://twitter.com/pstrop46/status/1108527008223420419

Apparently parcero is a Colombian slang term for “bro”, and Strop is offering that about his Colombian teammate Jose Quintana. Just a nice little touch.
On prospect Cole Roederer’s homer from the game before:

Maddon, on Roederer's home run: "We were all very happy for him. That was really ripped, man. That might've been the farthest one all spring, where it was hit, too. Loud. Real loud from the bench. Real loud."

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 20, 2019