Darvish will make first start Thursday
MESA, Ariz. — Get out the Yu Darvish welcome banners and No. 11 jerseys for the game Thursday at Sloan Park in Mesa. That’s when the $ 126 million newcomer to the rotation makes his Cubs spring debut, against the Rockies.
And he seems ready to go. Darvish threw 28 pitches in another impressive session throwing to Cubs hitters on a practice field Saturday, under the watchful eyes of top front- office officials, field staff and his agent, Joel Wolfe. His fastball topped out at 93 mph.
The Cubs’ projected five starters make their debuts starting Monday, when Tyler Chatwood pitches an inning or two against the Mariners.
Jon Lester starts Tuesday against the White Sox, and if he pitches every fifth day without altering his schedule, it would line him up for an opening- day start March 29 in Miami. That also would mean he’d skip the Brewers, a tough matchup for him, at the end of the opening road trip and he’d start the home opener. Should we read into that? “Of course you should because that’s what you guys do,” manager Joe Maddon told assembled media before pledging to divulge his opening- day decision early in the week.
But the starters will pitch every fifth day this spring?
“Sure,” Maddon said, smiling. “Yeah, they will.”
Other assignments this week: Kyle Hendricks starts Wednesday against the Athletics, and Jose Quintana goes Friday against the Angels. Sixth- starter Mike Montgomery follows Lester in the game against the Sox.
Slow Zo
Ben Zobrist’s balky back could keep him out of games for at least several more days, but the 12- year veteran said that doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm for how good he feels overall.
And he’s not worried about getting enough at- bats, even if his debut is pushed back a week into the Cactus League schedule.
“Overall, I feel really, really good,” said Zobrist, adding that the back tightened up after he flew to Arizona about a week ago but the pain was gone by Saturday. “I feel in great shape.”
Zobrist, who played 128 games last year because of injuries, has hit off a tee since the back flared and expects to start taking batting practice by early in the week.
“I was frustrated that it was tight,” said Zobrist, who had been especially upbeat about how well his offseason work had gone. “But it’s spring training, so there’s a lot less pressure right now to make sure I’m playing in games when we’ve just started games in spring training.
“We’re just trying to be careful and make sure we’re not pushing it when we don’t need to, especially when I’ve got some miles on my body.”
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