Pitchers and catchers report to spring training, officially, in 11 days. But in the current era of year-round baseball, a whole lot of guys are already at Cubs camp in Mesa, Arizona.
I get geeked to see any baseball I can see this time of year, and I figured many of you were like me.
John Antonoff got some fun slow-mo clips of Cubs players/prospects mashing BP homers:
Seiya Suzuki is already in Arizona getting to work in advance of his second season in the states:
Suzuki is going to be departing for a stretch in March to play in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan, so it’s probably all the better that he got to Arizona early to work with the Cubs.
Rich Biesterfeld spotted Justin Steele also getting in the early work, including throwing the football (which isn’t just fun – my understanding is that it is a decent extra exercise for pitchers):
Nico Hoerner looking strong:
As previously reported, Cubs catching prospect Miguel Amaya is finally back behind the plate doing some catching:
Zach McKinstry has been in camp for quite a while at this point – it’s a big year for him to try to finally cement himself as a big leaguer, rotating among a number of spots:
Some recent Cubs draft picks getting to work, including first rounder Cade Horton:
And two-way fourth rounder Nazier Mulé:
Ah. Looks nice out there. I suppose if I were in the Cubs organization, walking outside my place at -5 degrees windchill, I would probably also hightail it to Arizona as soon as possible.