Cubs News

Seven, possibly eight, regulars are expected in the lineup against the D-backs on Thursday night in Mesa, prompting a lineup construction discussion with Cubs manager Joe Maddon before Wednesday's Cactus League matchup against the Royals.

Chris Young pitched four scoreless innings and Christian Colon snapped a 0-for-23 skid with his first two hits of the spring as the Kansas City Royals topped the Chicago Cubs 10-0 on Wednesday. Colon, who had not had a hit since his go-ahead RBI single in the 12th inning of Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Mets, doubled in the fifth and singled in the seventh. ''Really the mentality was, don't think about yourself,'' Colon said.

Cubs catcher Miguel Montero believes Chicago's new ordinance banning chewing tobacco at baseball stadiums could help him quit the habit.

Cubs right-hander John Lackey took the mound Wednesday on track to pitch only four innings, but things went so well that he stayed out there for another frame.

Right-hander Chris Young breezed through four shutout innings and Reymond Fuentes logged four RBIs in the Royals' 10-0 win over the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon at Surprise Stadium.

Someone needs to make a movie of Taylor Davis' life. It no doubt will include the time the Cubs catcher came off the bench for Class A Daytona after three weeks on the disabled list and crushed the second pitch he saw off the scoreboard for a pinch-hit home run.

Kris Bryant grew up in Las Vegas, which gets an average of four inches of rain per year, and zero inches of snow. Imagine his surprise at being in New York in January when the city was pummeled with two feet of snow.

A look at what's happening all around spring training in Florida and Arizona today:

Jason Heyward went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI in the Chicago Cubs' 11-1 win over San Diego on Tuesday. The Cubs struck for five runs in the first inning off Padres pitcher Tyson Ross, who's been named the opening day starter. Javier Baez drove in two with a single and Tim Federowicz doubled in a run, as did hot-hitting prospect Jeimer Candelario.

Days like this will go a long way toward justifying the Cubs' $184 million offseason investment in Jason Heyward. The right fielder's bat came to life Tuesday with two doubles and three RBIs in an 11-1 victory over the Padres at Peoria Sports Complex.

Matt Murton finally got in a game on Tuesday. The Cubs outfielder, who had been sidelined since he had his appendix removed on March 2, got four at-bats against Jon Lester in a simulated game.

Jorge Soler misplayed two balls in left field in Monday's 10-2 loss to the Padres, but manager Joe Maddon took the blame for the one hit by Jon Jay because the Cubs had moved the outfielder in prior to the play. Still, Soler has looked a little rough out there. Does Maddon trust him in the outfield?

The Cubs put a runner on first base to start the fifth inning of Jon Lester's simulated game on Tuesday. Lester saw that, and threw to first. His second pickoff attempt sailed and prompted an expletive from the Cubs left-hander. And then Lester asked that a runner stay on first base so he could continue to work on his defense.

Spring is almost official, and that means the other season about to start is baseball season. Author Dirk Lammers examines the history of a pitcher's dream to throw a no-hitter in ''Baseball's No-Hit Wonders: More Than a Century of Pitching's Greatest Feats.'' A perfect game, when no players reach base for the full nine innings, is even rarer, and he looks at those as well. Lammers, an Associated Press journalist, goes all the way back to the beginning to find the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter, who officially was George Washington Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings, who achieved that distinction on July 15, 1876.

Joe Maddon wants to help Jake Arrieta repeat his strong finish of 2015 in 2016, with a little more shelf life for October, and he vows to pull Arrieta from games quicker this season than he did a year ago.

The Cubs' Jake Arrieta struck out five batters in four innings of work and left with the game tied 1-1 before San Diego got to Chicago's bullpen for a 10-2 win Monday. San Diego starter Colin Rea also went four innings, giving up one hit, one earned run and three walks. ''I felt like I needed to get in those situations because you are not going to be at your best every time out,'' Rea said.

Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber is very loyal to Indiana, and hoping the Hoosiers go far in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Jabari Blash and Alexei Ramirez hit two-run homers in the sixth inning, and the Padres took advantage of Jorge Soler's misadventures in left field to defeat the Cubs on Monday at Sloan Park.

In case you missed it, Ryne Sandberg rejoined the Cubs this week for Spring Training after a six-year hiatus, and the whole thing triggered a thought. Try as they might, none of the other professional sports surpasses baseball at keeping its old legends visible and relevant.

Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark said Monday there was no update regarding the grievance filed on behalf of the Cubs' Kris Bryant regarding service time. Bryant is just happy it's not the hot topic of Spring Training.