MESA, Ariz. -- The Cubs’ first official workout of the spring is not scheduled to take place until Wednesday, but the team’s complex is already a hive of activity. It looked like camp was in full swing on Monday morning, as a large number of players moved about the facilities and fields to get their work in.
Shota Imanaga was getting running in on the agility field, while other pitchers played catch or did weighted-ball drills along the side of the new indoor hitting and pitching building at the club’s Mesa headquarters. Seiya Suzuki went through his workout on the agility field, flinging a medicine ball skyward. Alex Bregman, Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch headed to Field 1 for some batting practice.
“It’s exciting,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “Obviously, Spring Training is always symbolic of the beginning of the journey together. It’s a good time to get to know each other and bond and set the standards and expectations for the year, and also just have fun being around a baseball field again.”
Wednesday will mark the first official workout for pitchers and catchers for the Cubs, followed by the first full-squad practice on Feb. 16. The North Siders also have a considerable number of players (eight from the MLB team) who will depart for a period to take part in the World Baseball Classic this spring.
The expectations alluded to by Taillon are pretty straightforward for this Cubs team: Win the National League Central and build on last year’s postseason experience. With the blockbuster signing of Bregman (five years and $175 million), the addition of starter Edward Cabrera and an overhauled bullpen, Chicago has its sights on a run to the World Series.
To get there, the Cubs need their rotation to play a key role all summer and into October.
“There’s a lot of depth,” Taillon said. “There’s probably eight, nine guys that you should feel good about starting a big league game. I think, for us, [the goal] is to have eight, nine guys you feel comfortable pitching in the playoffs and starting in the playoffs.”
As things currently stand, the Cubs’ starting five projects to include Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Imanaga, Cabrera and Taillon. Colin Rea (second in innings on Chicago’s staff in 2025) is next in line, but an option for the bullpen. Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks also offer depth, with Top 100 prospect Jaxon Wiggins down the road. Justin Steele is aiming to return in the first half after undergoing left elbow surgery last April.
Really, the only rotation “competition” in this Cubs camp is who will take the ball on Opening Day. Beyond that, Chicago has to determine if Assad, Brown and/or Wicks should be bullpen candidates or continue starting at Triple-A Iowa in the name of depth.
The old adage that is repeated across all 30 camps every spring and all season long is that there is never enough pitching. Case in point, by the time the Cubs reached the NL Division Series last year, their rotation was thinned by injuries and other issues.
“Every year, you leave Spring Training with what you think is the team,” Taillon said. “And then, by the end of the year, you laugh looking back. … I said it last year: I think pitchers roll their eyes when you talk about depth, because that means someone’s getting hurt, but that is the nature of the beast. We’ve got a lot of guys we should feel good about.”
Even so, the Cubs have remained listed as potential suitors for some of the free agents still on the board (Zac Gallen, among them).
“I feel amazing about the crew we have here,” Taillon said. “But obviously, if there’s a deal that makes sense, they’d be crazy not to look at it and see if they can make us better. I know [the front office is] always doing that, but I feel pretty good about what we have here. This is the deepest crew we’ve had since I’ve been here, and we were a playoff team last year. So we have to feel really good about it.”