The Triple-A season does not get underway for a month, and given the unpredictable needs of the big league team, MLB had to put together a plan for April. Thus the return of the alternate site squads.
At alternate sites, teams can have a Triple-A-ish roster at the ready to call up/send down players as necessary, where they can be a little better safe-guarded against COVID issues. There, the teams will practice, play intrasquad games, and periodically travel locally to play games against other alt site teams. The Cubs will once again be at South Bend.
A question I’ve had is, when the Cubs’ roster was finalized, how far would they stretch on sending “prospects” to the alt site, versus keeping them in Arizona to participate in minor league spring training, which is now underway. From the look of the now-released Cubs alt site roster, it looks like the Cubs really tried to keep things pretty traditional in this non-traditional time. That is to say, the roster is mostly legit
First Impressions of the Cubs Prospects in Big League Camp bleachernation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bleachernation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Cubs 8, Rockies 6: Joc pop!
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Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Kyle Hendricks was supposed to become the first Cubs starter to complete four innings Thursday afternoon, but his outing didn’t go well. He wound up removed one batter into the fourth inning after 53 pitches and allowing seven hits and four runs.
I’ve buried the lede here, because Hendricks’ not-so-great outing was overshadowed by yet another great day at the plate from Joc Pederson, who appears to be a man on a mission to prove he’s worth the faith that Jed Hoyer placed in him. Pederson slugged two homers and also singled, helping lead the Cubs to a 7-5 win over the Rockies.
Pre-Gamin': Cubs at Giants (2:05 CT) - Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread bleachernation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bleachernation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.