Chicago Cubs: Ichiro paved the way in the game; final spring tune-ups

The Chicago Cubs only ever got a taste of Ichiro Suzuki and what he could offer, but that should not diminish what he brought to the game of baseball.

Future Hall of Fame outfielder Ichiro Suzuki spent the majority of his career in the American League, meaning he was rarely a thorn in the side of the Chicago Cubs. I’m pretty thankful for that fact, especially when you consider just how elite he was back in his prime.

Suzuki opened his big league career winning both the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year honors in 2001. That year, he helped lead the Seattle Mariners to a big-league record 116 wins with 56 stolen bases and a .350 average. He racked up a staggering 242 base hits – a total that hadn’t been seen since the 1930s. A few years later, he tallied 262 knocks, setting baseball’s all-time single-season record at age 30.

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People likely won’t ever appreciate how big of a mark Suzuki left on the game of baseball. Despite not beginning his Major League career until age 27, he totaled 3,089 hits in his career and regularly played more than 150 games annually on a pretty regular basis. But he also opened the door to other Japanese stars, including former Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and current Chicago hurler Yu Darvish.

Speaking of Darvish, the right-hander is on track to return from a blister issue that ended his last Cactus League start early. On Friday, he was joking with reporters about how quickly it’s healed, saying, “Yeah. I put pee on it. That’s why. No, no, no, no.”

On the spring Darvish has allowed just eight hits in 12 innings of work, pitching to a 2.25 ERA and .190 opponent batting average. Chicago is hoping that now healthy, he can contribute to the Cubs’ rotation in a big way in 2019. Last season, of course, he made just eight starts and did not pitch down the stretch as the team battled to hold off a surging Milwaukee Brewers club.

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