Earlier this spring, John Lackey made a surprise guest appearance at Cubs camp to instill appropriate levels of terror in the rookies that haven’t yet made the tea…okay, he was just there lending a hand how and where he could.
And today, he’s joined by another member of the 2016 World Series Cubs (and you might remember this guy if you think hard enough) BEN ZOBRIST!
Ben Zobrist is at Cubs camp today. Just visiting but he’ll be in uniform helping out.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) March 3, 2020
Ben Zobrist here, getting hugs all around. A guest of the Cubs at camp.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 3, 2020
Zobrist in camp. Guest influencer, kind of like Lackey.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) March 3, 2020
Zobrist in camp. He’ll be in uniform as guest instructor. Has not officially retired.
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) March 3, 2020
Zobrist is in camp today – in uniform as an instructor, even though he hasn’t officially retired yet – to help out David Ross and the gang. And like Brett pointed out when Lackey dropped by, I really do think it does some good to have recent former players around. He knows a lot of these players pretty intimately. And if there’s even a tiny chance he notices something, mentions something, or catches something other coaches don’t, it can prove invaluable. And if not, having him around is fun and you’re supposed to have fun in the spring, so why not?
And just for fun, while we’re on Zobrist, here’s what he did in 456 games as a member of the Chicago Cubs: .269/.362/.411 (109 wRC+); 12.5% walk rate, 13.0% strikeout rate, 40 HRs, 201 RBI and 8.2 fWAR.
Oh, and this:
We’ll update this post as soon as we get some images/videos from his visit.