Cubs make second round of roster cuts before win over Diamondbacks
Cubs 7, Diamondbacks 1
There they go
With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the Cubs made their second round of roster cuts on Saturday. They optioned pitchers James Norwood, Duane Underwood and Rowan Wick to Class AAA Iowa. They also reassigned pitchers Christian Bergman, Matt Carasiti, George Kontos, Dakota Mekkes and Mike Zagurski; infielders Ryan Court, Phillip Evans, Trent Giambrone, Zack Short and Jim Adduci; and catchers Fracisco Arcia and P.J. Higgins to minor-league camp.
With the moves, the Cubs have 40 players remaining in camp: 23 pitchers, three catchers, eight infielders and six outfielders.
Saturday’s grind
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks allowed five hits and one earned run, while striking out two batters and walking two over 3⅓ innings. He threw 74 pitchers, 47 for strikes.
“I was hoping to get a few more outs with that [amount of pitchers], just a lot of deep counts,” Hendricks said. “It was a grind, battle, I was a little off early especially fastball command wasn’t very good, but actually settled in better. Just too many deeps counts, just couldn’t get early contact to put it in play.”
Hendricks is expected to make two more outings this spring.
Contreras out
Before the game, catcher Taylor Davis replaced Willson Contreras, who hurt his ring finger Thursday while catching Yu Darvish. Davis went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Bryzzo back in business
Manager Joe Maddon said the top half of the Cubs’ lineup this season is going to be similar to 2018. He expects Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javy Baez to hold the second, third and fourth spots.
The trio showed how potent they can be when grouped together. Bryant, Rizzo and Baez went a combined 4-for-8 with 2 RBI.
On deck
Cubs vs. Rockies, Mesa, 3:05 p.m. Sunday, Jose Quintana vs. Chad Bettis