Team USA's Boyd embraces high stakes of Classic

MESA, Ariz. -- One of the reasons Matthew Boyd was confident that joining Team USA in the World Baseball Classic would not disrupt his spring was his experience with the Cubs in Japan last March.

During Chicago’s trip overseas for the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers, Boyd faced the Yomiuri Giants in an exhibition game at the Tokyo Dome. It was a raucous environment and the veteran lefty saw his fastball velocity tick up in those conditions. And that mid-March adrenaline rush did not hinder the rest of his preseason or impact his year.

“That’s part of the reason why it was such an easy yes to go do the WBC stuff,” Boyd said after his start in the Cubs’ 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Saturday. “It’s very similar to what we did. It’s not a change in what we did the year before.”

In his Cactus League debut, the 35-year-old Boyd logged 36 pitches against Texas at Sloan Park, generating five whiffs and ending with four strikeouts and no walks in 1 2/3 innings. Per Statcast, Boyd averaged 92.6 mph with his fastball (topping out at 94.3 mph). He averaged 93.3 mph overall in ‘25 (up from 92 mph in ‘24).

Those numbers were a great early sign for Boyd and brought last March’s outing in Japan to mind. In his four-inning stint that day, the lefty averaged 92.9 mph and topped 94 multiple times, even reaching 95. The atmosphere undoubtedly played a role in that uptick, as the Classic could do this spring as well.

“The intensity, I think, you worry about, if you worry about anything,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We had that last year [in Japan] a little bit, too. That was kind of our guide for that.”

Boyd said the lesson he learned from the experience in Tokyo was to prioritize workload management in the days following those heightened moments.

“You just get up there and you pitch just like you would [normally],” Boyd said. “And whatever kind of comes, [if] the numbers end up creeping up a little bit, you go, ‘OK, that’s where it’s at.’ And I think it’s not as much as those moments, because we’re trending towards that point, but when you hit those points, it’s the days after. It’s, how are you recovering?”

Shaw gets first outfield action
A key to Matt Shaw’s transition to a super utility role will be racking up as much playing time as he can in the outfield. That is the only way to push beyond the routine plays and get Shaw experience with more unpredictable elements.

“You want the plays that don’t happen as much,” Counsell said. “The fly ball that goes straight up and that he catches, and we go, ‘Oh, he can play right field,’ that tells us nothing. We’re looking for more than that. So, you want action. You want weird plays. Those are the experiences that make you better and cause growth.”

Well, during Shaw’s first start in right field on Saturday, he managed to reel in the one routine fly ball hit his way. That was the extent of the action in his initial five-inning taste of the outfield, but Shaw enjoyed roaming right for the first time.

“Definitely a lot of fun,” Shaw said. “I hope that I can play some outfield, for sure, and kind of play there often. And any time there’s a spot open in the infield where I need to play, obviously I can do that as well. I look forward to kind of the utility-type role.”

Ballesteros arriving soon
Counsell noted that Moisés Ballesteros was in the United States on Saturday morning after missing the early portion of Spring Training due to visa issues in Venezuela. The 22-year-old prospect (Cubs No. 1/No. 55 on Pipeline’s Top 100 list) was delayed in his travel to Arizona, but was expected to be in camp Sunday.

“In the end, this is a small blip here,” Counsell said. “You’re not going to see him for another week in a game, I can tell you that, for sure. But he’s not going to miss much time. We’ve got plenty of time. And this will be an afterthought here in about two weeks. We’ll get him to work and he’ll be itching to go. We’ve just got to do it wisely here.”

Long exits due to injury
First baseman Jonathon Long (Cubs No. 6 prospect) exited Saturday’s game against the Rangers in the fourth inning due to a left elbow sprain. He sustained the injury when a throw pulled him off the bag and his left arm was hit by Texas’ Mark Canha as he ran up the line. Long (currently slated to play for Chinese Taipei in the Classic) will be evaluated further in the coming days.