Chicago Cubs: Early takeaways from Spring Training

What are some of the early storylines for the Chicago Cubs coming out of Spring Training?

It was a fairly disappointing offseason for the Chicago Cubs for a variety of reasons. First, after ending their 2017 season in disappointment, much of the offseason talk was about Addison Russell‘s 40-game suspension for domestic violence which began on September 21st.

Second, the team inked a fairly controversial television deal with a media conglomerate that has been under much scrutiny recently.

Finally, absent a miracle (which is incredibly unlikely) they will miss out on the two biggest free agents of the offseason. In fact, they failed to make any kind of splash in free agency.

Needless to say, the team was likely looking forward to getting to Spring Training and back to playing baseball. Now that they’re four games into the spring stanza, let’s take a look at a couple of early takeaways.

Bryant feeling feisty

Perhaps the biggest takeaway thus far is that the Cubs’ All-Star and MVP third baseman Kris Bryant appears completely healthy. He is showing no ill-effects from last season’s shoulder injury. Looked just fine on this swing:

However, Bryant seems to have brought a new attitude with him to 2019. First, he made it clear that all the offseason criticism and calls for him to be traded on Twitter has motivated him to prove the haters wrong. Second, he was very outspoken in his criticism of how clubs will keep players in the minor leagues to manipulate their service time. While the latter doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Cubs’ chances of re-signing him, a fiery Bryant could be just what they need in 2019.

Bote beaned

David Bode got his bell rung when he was beaned in the head by a Madison Bumgarner pitch on Sunday. While it doesn’t appear serious, the Cubs would be wise to take their time in getting Bote back to action. Concussions are nothing to take lightly and can have lingering effects for quite some time. Just ask former Minnesota Twins slugger, Joe Mauer.

The team will need Bote to provide not only quality depth but perhaps even an occasional spark off the bench. He will certainly get all the time he needs to resume baseball activities.