How Cubs helped infielder Zach McKinstry optimize his strong arm

MESA, Ariz. — Cubs infielder Zach McKinstry’s arm garnered attention in a relay that saved a run against the White Sox last week. But it had already caught manager David Ross’ eye in the team’s first infield-outfield fundamental workout of the spring, and the work to make it more consistent started as soon as he got to the Cubs.

“My joke was always that they really drafted me because I had a good arm,” McKinstry said in a conversation with the Sun-Times.  

“They” was the Dodgers, in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB Draft. The Cubs traded for McKinstry before the deadline last year, and in his first spring training with Chicago, he has a shot to make the Opening Day roster. 

“I’ve been seeing a lot of good pitches, just a little off of them,” said McKinstry, who was 2-for-22 in spring entering play Tuesday. “I’m going to try to just keep having good at-bats. … Just got to keep staying with the process of it and keep doing good work in the cage. And playing good defense and showing them that I can save runs that way. The swing will come — the timing, all that, will come back.”

Using his legs more effectively while throwing has been a part of saving those runs on defense. It’s also something he started  working on with assistant coach Jonathan Mota last season. 

When the Cubs traded for McKinstry, sending veteran reliever Chris Martin to the Dodgers, Mota and other members of the staff combed through video and noticed an adjustment they could target in the field.

“The times when he was consistent, he was very powerful with his back leg,” Mota said. “He was gaining ground towards the target, whether it was first base or second base.” 

That’s not quite how he presented it to McKinstry in the first month of the utility player’s Cubs tenure. Mota pulled up the video and asked McKinstry to tell him what he thought. Then, McKinstry remembers Mota saying, “Stop trying to do carioca and get your feet underneath you.”

For McKinstry, that lighthearted take was a perfect way to get the point across. 

“My thing is, these guys are busting their butt,” Mota said. “And this game’s hard. And so what we do is find ways — sometimes a silly way, it might be a comment, it might be just a word that we use. And then it’s like, oh, that’s what resonated with them. OK, we’re going to run with it.” 

Mota told McKinstry to slow things down — he doesn’t always have to throw out baserunners by 30 feet — and be aggressive with his first step toward first base. After about five days of practice, Mota said, McKinstry was comfortable enough with the adjustment to consistently translate it into games.  

“He’s a quick learner,” Mota said. “That kid, he will put in the work.” 

McKinstry won’t always be perfect. Playing shortstop in late innings against the Rockies Tuesday, McKinstry appeared to get sped up on a ground ball up the middle and threw wide to first base. But Mota has already seen more consistency. 

The Cubs have also benefited from highlights like McKinstry’s relay to throw out the White Sox’ Andrew Benintendi at the plate last Friday, which Ross called “impressive.”

With two outs in the first inning of a scoreless game, left fielder Ian Happ fielded Yasmani Grandal’s double off the wall and fired to McKinstry, who was lined up in shallow left field. McKinstry put his body into the throw and bounced a perfect long hop into catcher Tucker Barnhart’s glove. 

The ball beat Benintendi home by a step and an awkward dive, ending the inning.