Young climbing the ladder with Cubs
It was 26 C and sunny Wednesday afternoon in Mesa, Ariz.
Perfect baseball weather for Jared Young.
He’s been swinging a hot bat lately in spring training with the Chicago Cubs and he kept that going in the game Wednesday against the Oakland A’s young prospects with a home run and a double on the way to 9-3 win.
“It was just spring training game but I’ve had a pretty good spring so far and things are going well – we’re just getting our at-bats and getting ready for the season,” said Young.
“I’ve had a few (home runs) this spring training but I don’t want to look to much into it, it doesn’t count for anything, it’s just spring training.”
The 22-year-old from Prince George has shown the Cubs organization enough over the past month to earn him his next assignment – playing for Chicago’s ClassA affiliate in South Bend, Ind.
Young will head to Indiana on Monday to get ready for a 140game schedule which starts with a road game next Friday against the West Michigan Whitecaps.
Several of Young’s teammates last year with the Everett Emeralds have also been assigned to South Bend, which should make for a smooth adjustment.
“It wasn’t unexpected,” Young said. “I didn’t have many expectations going into my first spring training, I was just coming in here to get my work in, regardless of where they wanted to put me, but it is nice to move up a level.
“I’ve gotten to know everybody in the organization now because we’ve been down here for a few months now, but it’s definitely cool getting back and getting the team together. It’ll be nice to have a bunch of familiar faces.”
Young’s push for the pros started to take off after he finished high school in Kelowna, where he was based for two years while playing in the B.C. Premier League. In three years of college ball at three different schools he got into a habit the scouts could not ignore; he pretty much hit the cover off the ball.
At Minot State in North Dakota he hit .398 with five home runs in 2015, then went to Connors State in Oklahoma and batted .480 with 11 home runs, finishing up at NCAA Division 1 Old Dominion in Virginia, where he put up a .384 average with seven home runs.
The Cubs drafted him last July in the 15th round and signed him to his first pro contract shortly after, assigning him to Everett to play rookie ball in the Northwest League.
Young struggled at first facing pro pitching for the first time but by his second month his swing was sweet again. He went on a tear in August, hitting .323 with a .357 on-base percentage and was chosen the Northwest League player of the week in early September, finishing the last 23 games of the season with 11 RBI and one home run.
“I’ve been hitting very well in spring training and I’m hoping to carry that into the season,” Young said.
The South Bend Cubs are one notch above the Everett Emeralds and fourth steps down the ladder in calibre from the major league Cubs.
The Cubs have a triple-A team in Des Moines, Iowa (Iowa Cubs), a double-A team in Knoxville, Tenn. (Tennessee Smokies) and a Class-A advanced affiliate in North Carolina (Myrtle Beach Pelicans).
The six-foot-two, 185-pound Young spent last September in Arizona in the instructional league and was back there for the month of January, after spending a couple months in Prince George.
He also went back to Virginia in February to work with his college team trainers on his conditioning.
In spring training, the rookies don’t cross paths very often with the major leaguers, who play at adjacent parks at the Cubs’ facility in Mesa.
“It’s a good separation, they really push you to become a major leaguer,” he said.
“I think I was prepared, I think I was ready.
“Spring training may seem like a long grind but everything happens fast here and I was ready to go into my first one.
“I think experience changes how you look at the game a little bit. You have to play the game relaxed and confident or things are not going to go your way. I’m pretty comfortable (defensively) now, I’m not worried about it and I think that shows. They’re putting me at new positions and really trusting me out there.”
Young is slotted in at second base but lately has been playing at first base and in the outfield and he’s also been used as a designated hitter while training with the Cubs.
“They’re trying to make me a more versatile guy to keep my bat in the lineup,” Young said.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and you just have to keep going. I’m glad I’m moving up, though.”