Chicago Cubs: Big early takeaways one week into Cubs camp

Chicago Cubs: One week into “spring training 2.0”, a lot of stories are coming out of Cubs camp as the team prepares for the season.

On Friday, July 3rd, the Chicago Cubs held their first official day of preseason camp at Wrigley Field. Already one week of camp down, with two more to go. Rookie manager David Ross has been able to see his players participate in inter-squad scrimmages. This is in addition to team workouts and drills that are a normal part of the training.

Ross is going to be working to see how he will put together the initial 30-game roster over the next two weeks, but only one week in there is already a lot to take away from camp. It is fair to say Ross has dealt the situation with the pandemic and overall uncertainty very well as the Cubs so far are overall healthy and have kept focus. The team is taking the position very seriously and are strictly enforcing COVID-19 protocol.

Looking at how the players began to prepare for the season and other happenings within the organization, here are some of the other big takeaways from Cubs camp one week in.

Chicago Cubs: The team leader looks like he is in the best shape of his life, but there is one nagging issue that is already being managed with caution

A week into summer camp, we are already seeing first baseman Anthony Rizzo sitting out scrimmages and is a day-to-day status with back problems. This has been something that has nagged Rizzo in the last several years. It is clear that despite being in really great shape, the back issues are not going to go away.

Ross told 670 the Score his back is, “moving in the right direction.” Like seasons past, it looks like something that will end up being okay after a short period of time but is still nonetheless a nagging issue. This is (pun intended) a painful reminder of the team leader’s biggest obstacle he will likely have to deal with in a given season. It is smart the Cubs are not taking chances with him in preseason activities while his back is tight and risking him making it worse.

This situation could open the door to Rizzo playing some DH this year to help keep him in the lineup and not having to strain his back too much in the field. It would stink to not have his spectacular glove at first, but better to have him at least in the lineup than not playing at all.

At least Rizzo sitting out gave us the gems of him enjoying a scrimmage game in bleachers by himself like a casual fan.

Chicago Cubs: The veteran All-Star closer has some adjustments to make

This past week closer Craig Kimbrel pitched in a scrimmage game at Wrigley Field and gave up two runs and struck out two. The two runs were driven in by a Willson Contreras opposite-field home run.

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Typically a scrimmage is not something to think twice about, and it still probably does not mean much. However, Kimbrel giving up home runs has been an alarming trend since joining the Cubs last year.

Kimbrel, in just 20 2/3 innings last year, gave up a career-high nine home runs with a 6.53 ERA and 1.6 WHIP. He then gave up two home runs in 2 2/3 innings of work in spring training playback in March. It is much easier to “overreact” to a scrimmage home run ball with everything that has happened the past year.

Kimbrel is slated strictly as the Cubs closer, and he is going to have to perform at least at a solid level if the team is going to contend. The 32-year old veteran is making some adjustments to his repertoire, including adding a changeup. Kimbrel should get the benefit of the doubt going into this season with his great resume, but it is clear he will have to work hard to get back to being productive, even if that means adapting a new approach.

Chicago Cubs: As he looks to build off 2019, Yu Darvish is dazzling his teammates early

Outfielder Ian Happ described on this podcast, The Compound, what it was like facing Yu Darvish during a scrimmage match last week. Instead of being fastball heavy early on, Happ said Darvish threw him sliders with wicked movement that he swung and “missed it probably by six feet.”

Darvish has been working not only the breaking stuff he normally throws but another new pitch of his own. He calls it “The Supreme,” which is a mix of a two-seam fastball and a splitter/forkball. So imagine the speed of a two-seamer and the movement of a splitter. He had been working on the pitch for some time this year as he continues to perfect it as he has thrown it during the scrimmages.

He has a double-digit number of pitches in his repertoire, and he is not afraid to fire them as much as possible early on. If he can locate these pitches, then hitters are going to have a heck of a time trying to hit them. The sky is the limit for Darvish in the upcoming season.

There will be much more news to come in the next two weeks before the season begins. The formation of the roster will soon take shape, and hopefully, there are no positive COVID cases or further injuries.