Yes, there's more to Jokisch than just a no-hitter

MESA, Ariz. -- Eric Jokisch is hoping the Cubs get to know more about the lefty than the fact that he threw a no-hitter last year.

In his first Cactus League start on Monday, Jokisch walked two over three hitless innings and struck out one. His only regret? That he walked Milwaukee's Ryan Braun.

"It felt good to have a lot of their big league players in there," Jokisch said. "I was a little upset to walk Braun. I wanted to see if I could get him out. I attacked the strike zone and kept him off balance and got a bunch of uncertain swings."

Jokisch, 24, was 11-13 with a 3.42 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) at Double-A Tennessee last year, including his no-no on Aug. 6 against Jacksonville. This is his first big league Spring Training.

"Any time I can go out there and prove that I can pitch and make pitches and get outs and eat up innings, that's what I'm here for and hopefully I can show them now that I can do that in the future," he said.

His teammates are well aware of his historic feat last August.

"That's kind of what I'm known as around here is the guy who threw the no-hitter, but I'm trying to be more than just that no-hitter," said Jokisch, who was an 11th-round pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Northwestern. "I'm trying to be a legitimate guy who they can use on the big league level."

On Tuesday, his Tennessee teammate, Kyle Hendricks, who was the Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2013, started against the Athletics. Do the lefty and right-hander compare notes?

"We talk a lot about how to pitch certain guys and obviously, lefty, righty there's a little difference but we have similar stuff and like to go at hitters in similar ways," Jokisch said. "We talk a lot about how to pitch."

And also about what it's like in big league camp.

"We definitely watch what other guys are doing and try to learn some things from them and try to learn how to do things on and off the field," Jokisch said. "It's been a good experience so far and hope to stay here as long as possible."