How pitchers and catchers report date, start of spring training has changed for Cubs
MESA, Ariz. — On Sunday, pitchers and catchers will officially report to open Cubs camp.
At this point, though, that’s more of a significant event for fans and others than it is for the team.
“We’ve had guys out here basically since right after Cubs Convention,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said in an exclusive, one-on-one interview with Elise Menaker at the Nike Performance Center. “It’s been fun to kind of see that progression and get back out here.”
On the eve of the first day of camp, four pitchers reported — the last of the 34 arms that will be in camp with the Cubs. That speeds up the process, allowing coaches and the team to have a baseline of where they’re at when things ramp up.
Of course, they have a general sense throughout the offseason — modern technology helps in that.
“They text and they send videos constantly and so many pitchers live out here in Arizona … so you can use the facility full-time. They use it year-round,” Hottovy said. “So, you feel like you have eyes on guys for a while.”
That speeds things up in an already unique spring training.
With the Cubs’ season opener in Japan next month, they’re the first of all 30 MLB teams to open camp. Having so many players at the complex and with a baseline of where they’re at with the season starting allows them to map out a course so that they are ready to go on March 18 against the Dodgers.
[MORE: Ian Happ explains why Cubs Tokyo travel is ‘way better’ than London trip]
“For us, just being able to kind of hit the ground running and know that we have schedules for Shota [Imanaga] and Justin [Steele] and [Jameson Taillon] and those guys built out for the next three weeks already, that’s a good place to be in, a good feeling to have,” Hottovy said. “We understand going to Japan 10 to 12 days sooner than when the season starts normally is going to put us in a little different threshold in terms of workload. But guys have responded great. They’ve come in a really good place.”
Pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz., Sunday. Tune in for live coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Marquee Sports Network.