Cubs News

"I could've started Opening Day today," the Cubs' Jake Arrieta said Saturday after a Spring Training tune-up against Minor Leaguers.

The RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) Junior All-Star team from Chicago was treated to a Spring Training weekend. The players and coaches arrived Friday night, then played against an Arizona RBI team on Saturday at Sloan Park. They were to work out with the Cubs' players later Saturday, then watch the Cactus League game in Goodyear against the Indians.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks kept up his fine spring, allowing one run in five innings while lowering his ERA to 1.29 in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

If the whole baseball thing wasn't working out so well for Kris Bryant, perhaps he'd have a career as an undercover agent. We say that because as big a star as he already is for the Chicago Cubs, he seemingly has no trouble going incognito. And that ability to blend in has now led to a couple hilarious pranks that should only prove to make Bryant more popular. [ 2016 Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is open for business. Sign up now ] The first took place last year in Chicago when Bryant posed as a driver for the Youtube series "Undercover Lyft." Not one person recognized Bryant, even though he was enjoying a Rookie of the Year season in Chicago on one of baseball's best teams. Perhaps motivated by the success of that venture, Bryant, with some slight urging from Red Bull, decided to test his acting skills and his level of anonymity again by pranking the baseball team at Mesa Community College. The concept of the prank was pretty simple: Bryant was posing as a European transfer named Roy, and he was there to t ake some jobs and ruffle some feathers. At least that's how T hunderbirds coach Anthony Cirelli described it. And yes, Cirelli was very much involved in the prank. In fact, he was key in selling it to his players. It all worked quite well. Not too many players were thrilled about the possibility of losing at-bats to a midseason transfer, but the conversations immediately changed once Bryant entered the cage. After watching several swings and listening to several thunderous connections, those who had gripped among themselves and then offered a handshake to "Roy" quickly realized something was up. It was obvious they weren't watching a transfer from Europe, they were watching a highly skilled hitter ready for the major leagues. That's when speculation began circulating around the team that the man in the cage might actually be Bryant, and then the big reveal took place.

Kyle Hendricks didn't keep up the strikeout pace he had in his previous outings, but he did get the results he wanted. The right-hander had struck out 11 over nine innings in his three earlier spring outings, and in Friday's 3-2 loss to the White Sox, he fanned three over five innings.

The date was March 18, with still two weeks remaining in Spring Training. But in the White Sox 3-2 victory over the Cubs on Friday at Camelback Ranch, both starting pitchers -- John Danks and Kyle Hendricks -- looked regular-season ready.

The Cubs assigned 11 players to Minor League camp on Friday, including pitchers Carl Edwards Jr., Pierce Johnson, Jeimer Candelario and Willson Contreras, all of whom rank among MLB.com's list of Top 30 Cubs prospects.

Hector Rondon has given up the most runs of any Cubs pitcher this spring, which is not a good sign, yet the right-hander isn't worried. A bullpen session on Friday was encouraging, as was a video review of his last outing, which confirmed he wasn't tipping his pitches.

They weren't buying it.

Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer off Archie Bradley, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-4 at spring training on Thursday night. Soler capped Chicago's five-run first with a drive to right-center for his second spring homer. Chicago right-hander Jason Hammel struck out six while pitching four innings of one-run ball.

Jon Lester has David Ross as his personal catcher. Could Jason Hammel be paired this season with Kyle Schwarber? The Cubs are considering a Hammel and Schwarber match, and on Thursday, the two gave manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Chris Bosio more reasons to consider it.

Jorge Soler smacked a two-run homer and an RBI double, and Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward each added RBI triples to spark the Cubs to a 15-4 victory Thursday over the D-backs.

It is an interesting managerial philosophy: If you treat baseball players as adults, then they, in response, will act like adults.

Javier Baez's head first sliding has led to another injury, as he has a swollen left thumb after he slid head first into first base.

One of the reasons David Ross is retiring at the end of the season is to spend more time with his family, and having his 6-year-old son, Cole, in the Cubs' clubhouse the past two days has been special. Ross also recalls being on teams when there were too many children in the clubhouse.

Paul Goldschmidt had three hits and two RBIs, and Jean Segura extended his torrid spring with three hits that helped the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-6 on Wednesday night. ''It comes from good preparation and staying focused every game and I feel the results have been good,'' Segura said in Spanish, adding that he is having fun again after coming to the Diamondbacks in a trade with Milwaukee. Socrates Brito added two hits and scored twice, and Welington Castillo hit his sixth and seventh doubles of the spring while driving in two.

Brett Gardner went 0 for 2 in his first spring training game of the year, Starlin Castro hit a two-run homer and made a nifty defensive play and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 Wednesday night. Castro hit an opposite-field drive to right off Drew Hutchison and made a running grab in shallow right on Kevin Pillar's pop fly. Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in December, Castro moved from shortstop to second base last season and played 38 games at the position.

Chicago is knocking chewing tobacco out of the ballpark. The city joined a growing list Wednesday when aldermen approved a ban on chewing tobacco at professional and amateur sporting events. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf voiced his support in a letter to the city's finance committee last week.

Ryan Braun had an RBI single in his first at-bat of the spring and scored in his second as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 on Wednesday. Braun, who had off-season back surgery, followed a walk to Eric Young Jr. and a hit-and-run single by Jonathan Lucroy in the first inning with an opposite-field single to right field to drive in Young. It was the first run allowed by Chicago's Carlos Rondon, who pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed only three hits in his first two starts.