1000 Words: Rizzo’s rain delay
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo considers wading back into the clubhouse after a particularly bad rain delay in July.
With the help of Cubs photographer Stephen Green, we compiled the photos of the year and put the best of the best into our December issue of Vine Line. All month, we’ll be putting some of the extras here on the blog. To get your issue of the magazine or to subscribe, go to cubs.com/vineline.
Winter League Highlights: Another big day for Sappelt
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Dave Sappelt continued his hot stretch for the Bravos de Margarita of the Venezuelan league, leading his side to a 9-0 win Wednesday. The Cubs outfielder went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, an RBI and three runs scored.
After striking out in his first at-bat, he singled in the fourth inning and scored on a double one batter later. He forced a walk the sixth and would eventually score from second.
Sappelt then led off the eighth with a home run to left and doubled in the ninth, finishing a triple away from the cycle for the second time in the last week. On the winter, Sappelt is batting .314/.364/.514 with 3 home runs, 14 runs scored and 9 RBI.
Other highlights from around the Caribbean:
Jeffry Antigua pitched 1.1 innings, allowing no hits and no runs in a Toros win in the Dominican league.
Esmailin Caridad pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Yaquis de Obregon of the Mexican league.
Cubs acquire Rondon in Rule 5 Draft
(Photo by Mark Cunningham/Getty Images)
The Cubs selected right-handed pitcher Hector Rondon, 24, from the Indians with the second overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft Thursday morning.
Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2004, the six-foot-three, 180-pound hurler has a career record of 36-36 and a 3.88 ERA in 120 minor league games (587.0 IP).
Rondon was one of the Indians top prospects before struggling with injuries in recent years. He had Tommy John surgery in August 2010 and had a second procedure in December 2011, wiping out the majority of the last three seasons.
The Guatire, Venezuela native was named Cleveland’s minor league pitcher of the year and an Eastern League All-Star in 2009 after going 11-10 with a complete game, a 3.38 ERA (55 ER/146.1 IP), and 137 strikeouts in 27 games (25 starts) between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. That season, he ranked first in the Indians organization in strikeouts, third in wins and fourth in innings pitched. In 2008, Rondon went 11-6 with a 3.60 ERA (58 ER/145.0 IP) and 145 strikeouts in 27 starts with Single-A Kinston, and was named a Carolina League All-Star and the ninth-best prospect in the league by Baseball America.
He did pitch seven innings to wrap up the 2012 campaign, posting no record with a 1.29 ERA and nine strikeouts in four games between rookie ball and Double-A Akron. Baseball America ranked Rondon Cleveland’s No. 22 prospect prior to the 2012 season.
Rondon will have to be on the Cubs’ 25-man roster for the duration of the season, or be offered back to Cleveland.
The Cubs lost right-handed pitcher Starling Peralta in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft when he was selected in the first round (14th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks. They also lost outfielder Michael Burgess, infielder Matt Cerda and right-handed pitcher Alvido Jimenez in the Triple-A phase of the draft.
Now Playing: Broadcaster Jim Deshaies makes his Wrigley debut
Say goodbye to Len and Bob, and say hello to Len and JD. The Cubs welcomed new television analyst and former major league pitcher Jim Deshaies to the broadcast booth Wednesday morning in a press conference at Wrigley Field’s United Club. Deshaies, who recently completed his 16th season as an analyst for the Astros, said it was hard to leave Houston but that he couldn’t turn down what he considers the best broadcasting job in baseball.
“It’s going to be so much fun to be in a city where baseball matters no matter how the team is doing,’’ Deshaies said. “This place is a baseball-mad environment. The Astro guy had a hard time leaving Houston, but the baseball guy said this is the place to be.”
From the Winter Meetings: Sveum on the bullpen [Part 2]
Former Cubs reliever and MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac (center) joined Brian Kenny and Tom Verducci for on-site reporting from the Winter Meetings.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Here are more Dale Sveum dispatches from the sprawling Gaylord Opryland Resort, where the halls have been buzzing on this last full day of the Winter Meetings.
• Sveum made it clear the bullpen is getting attention in the Cubs front office. The team already re-signed Shawn Camp, their lone free agent, and may look to add more.
“Upgrading the ‘pen is something we wanted to do. … Whatever happens from here on out—we’re talking to a lot of people, and hopefully things work out. But [Carlos] Marmol is our closer, and we’ve got to get better at the back end. We signed Shawn Camp back, James Russell, so that’s a start. But we have to get better in that seventh, eighth inning.”
Sveum wouldn’t directly comment on Japanese pitcher Kyuji Fujikawa, though the Cubs’ pursuit of the reliever attracted plenty of Japanese reporters to the manager’s press conference. Fujikawa, a free agent who saved 220 games over 12 years with the Hanshin Tigers, clearly intrigues Sveum.
“I think he can fill any kind of role. He’s got that kind of stuff. Those numbers and that ability to do things with three, four different pitches just doesn’t come around very often. So he can set up, he can close, do anything he wants with the baseball. He’s got four quality pitches and can add and subtract with his fastball. Yeah, I mean, he can pitch in the seventh, pitch in the eighth, pitch in the ninth, he can get left-handers out—so he can pitch in any kind of situation.”
• Sveum spent about a week in Arizona to see Cubs prospects, including highly regarded shortstop Javier Baez, who just turned 20 last week. Many have compared Baez’s bat speed to Gary Sheffield’s.
“Incredible bad speed. Didn’t get to see any results, but the bat speed was pretty good. I didn’t go to his best games. But he had a heck of a minor league season—the combination of the home runs and everything. He was a bigger kid than I thought when I saw him in person. I saw him without a shirt on one day, and I was like, wow, he’s a pretty big kid. But a lot of tremendous, tremendous tools at that age. That kind of bat speed just doesn’t come around at 19 years old.”
Winter League Highlights: Campana capitalizes on opportunity
(Photo by Stephen Green)
Cubs outfielder Tony Campana might not pass the eye test of most major league scouts. At 5-foot-8 and no more than 170 pounds, Campana doesn’t possess a lot of raw power—and his two career professional home runs back that notion.
But in 89 games with the Cubs last season, he put his speed and defense on display, stealing 24 bases and taking away numerous hits in center field. In just 37 minor league games last year, the 26-year-old swiped 18 bases and posted a .280 average.
Campana has continued his base stealing exploits this winter for Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan league. He’s played in only 11 games, but he has managed to steal six bags. And he hasn’t been caught yet.
Although he’s hitting only .214 so far, he made the most of his start Tuesday, going 2-for-5, driving in a run in the fifth inning and scoring a run in the eighth in a 10-7 win over the Bravos de Margarita.
Other highlights around the Caribbean:
Dave Sappelt finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs in a losing effort for his Margarita team in Venezuela.
In the Dominican league, Junior Lake went 1-for-4 with two runs scored in an Estrellas de Oriente win.
Cubs introduce new broadcaster Deshaies
Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney and play-by-play announcer Len Kasper helped the team welcome TV analyst Jim Deshaies to the Friendly Confines Wednesday morning. Deshaies, a 12-year major league pitcher who spent seven seasons with the Houston Astros, retired from the game in 1995. Two years later, he became the TV analyst for the Astros, a position he held until signing with the Cubs earlier this week.
In the press conference Wednesday, he noted how difficult it was to leave Houston but how excited he is for his new role.
“A lot of good people down there, so it was tough to leave. You don’t leave that situation easily,” Deshaies said. “You leave it when you get the best opportunity that there is in the game for guys that do what I do. And I’ve received a lot of messages from colleagues, who work for other clubs or I’ve worked with in the past, and frankly they’re really, really jealous.”
The 52-year-old Deshaies replaces Bob Brenly, who left to become the TV analyst for the Diamondbacks after eight seasons with the Cubs. Kasper and Brenly were known to have a strong relationship in the booth and were well liked by fans. While Deshaies and Kasper haven’t previously worked together, they have spent plenty of time getting to know each other around the majors.
“I think Lenny and I are going to have a blast,” Deshaies said. “I’ve gotten to know Len over the years because of our time together in the National League. We’ve spent a lot of time in the press lounge, sharing meals, swapping stories, talking about the game.”
Having spent more than 25 years visiting Wrigley Field as a player and analyst, the former starting pitcher understands the magnitude of his new position and is excited to get the season started.
“The Astro guy had a tough time leaving Houston, but the baseball guy says this is the place to be.”
From the Winter Meetings: Sveum talks accountability, Jackson and Barney [Part 1]
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Cubs manager Dale Sveum met with the media today at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and shared a number of interesting tidbits in his first full availability in several months. No topic—from starting pitching, to the back end of the bullpen, to offseason work, to offensive needs—was off limits. We’ll cover them all in a few posts this week.
• While Sveum said he appreciated the front office’s praise of the job he did this season, he also said his staff holds the entire clubhouse, including themselves, accountable. He echoed recent comments by Theo Epstein that clubhouse character and reputation matters around the league.
“We have to be better and do a better job. We knew going in we were changing the culture of an organization, changing the culture of the 25 guys on the baseball field every day. I think we accomplished a lot of things like that. To get the people that come to this organization, the kids that come up, very comfortable knowing that myself and my staff are guys that are going to hold guys accountable—and to get character-type, good players in the organization—it makes a big difference when free agents can find out that a manager and staff are doing the right things.”
• Brett Jackson and Darwin Barney were among the Cubs players who recently got targeted work with the coaching staff in Arizona.
“It’s obviously not a major league pitcher out there, but [Jackson] made huge strides in his batting practice. [He] completely overhauled his swing, changed a lot of things. It was a completely different swing. Using his hands much, much more, staying behind the ball—a lot of things that are definitely going to help going into the season. I think he has a good base to work with going the rest of winter into Spring Training to understand the art of hitting, so to speak, that sometimes gets lost or taught the wrong way.”
Sveum offered praise for Barney’s glove work and said the second baseman didn’t need to make any major swing changes.
“He didn’t have to make huge, drastic swing changes or anything like that. A few things we brought up—with him, it’s more about driving the ball. I think his on-base percentage is going to gradually get better just with experience. We all know the glove he has, the Gold Glove, but we have to get that OPS up, and he realizes that. He’s capable of both.”
Winter League Highlights: Valbuena tough in losing effort
(Photo by Stephen Green)
With the leagues in Mexico and Puerto Rico off Monday, there was limited Cubs action in the Caribbean. But a familiar name was in the highlights again.
Despite his team taking a 2-1 loss, infielder Luis Valbuena came to play for Cardenales de Lara of the Venezuelan league. The 27-year-old led off the second inning with a double to center but was left stranded. He then drew a walk to load the bases in the third and drew another in the sixth. In the eighth inning, he singled, advanced to second on a bunt and swiped third base.
Valbuena finished the day 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks. His .468 on-base percentage still leads the league, and his .336 batting average and 12 doubles both rank second.
Other highlights around the Caribbean:
Arismendy Alcantara came in as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning for Licey of the Dominican league and scored the game-tying run in a 5-4 win.
Deshaies set to join Kasper in Cubs broadcast booth
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Monday night, WGN-TV and the Chicago Cubs announced that former Houston Astros broadcaster Jim Deshaies has agreed to a four-year contract to join Len Kasper in the booth as the television analyst for Cubs broadcasts on WGN-TV, Comcast SportsNet and WCIU-TV.
Deshaies, who pitched 12 years in the major leagues and seven with the Astros, joins the Cubs broadcast team after serving as an analyst for Houston since 1997.
“After spending the last 16 seasons with the Houston Astros, it will be a very tough organization and fan base to leave. However, I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather move than with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field,” Deshaies said. “My family and I look forward to meeting the great, passionate fans of the Cubs and we’re excited at what lies ahead in Chicago.”
Deshaies has a good reputation in the business as a strong analyst with a good wit, similar to former announcer Bob Brenly. Although Deshaies has no direct ties to the Cubs organization, he did announce for a former division rival, which means he is very familiar with the team.
“We’re very fortunate, along with our fan base, to welcome Jim as the next television analyst of the Chicago Cubs,” said Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations. “Jim expressed an incredible appreciation for Cubs baseball, the history of Wrigley Field, the strength of our fan base, his predecessors in the broadcast booth and [wanted the] opportunity to carry the tradition forward. He is a student of the game who incorporates his firsthand knowledge, stories and humor into the broadcast, and we’re excited to see him in the booth with Len.”
