Rondon yet to show his best Cubs form
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Three weeks into spring training, the recent decline of Hector Rondon’s career does not seem headed for a turnaround.
The Astros signed the 30-year-old righthanded reliever to bulk up bullpen options, but he has pitched in one game this spring. He is the only pitcher among the relievers presumed to make the opening-day roster to not have made a second appearance.
Rondon gave up four runs and four hits in two-thirds of an inning in his Grapefruit League debut. His sequence went: walk, fly out, double, single, double, strikeout, double.
Manager A.J. Hinch named Rondon, along with starter Dallas Keuchel (who made his debut Monday) and reliever Joe Smith (who made his second appearance Sunday) as pitchers he is intentionally ramping up slowly.
“We’re taking it slow with him,” Hinch said. “The normal hiccups of the spring, and just kind of being very cautious with guys we already know who are on our team. We’re kind of individualizing it.”
Hinch had said Rondon might make his second game appearance between Wednesday and Friday. A day later, Hinch said Rondon will “probably pitch over the weekend.”
At his present rate, Rondon is slowly finding a rhythm and quickly inspiring skepticism that he could regain the effectiveness that made him the Cubs’ closer in 2015 and before they acquired Aroldis Chapman in 2016.
In the last two seasons, Rondon has dropped off during the second halves. His ERA climbed from 1.72 to 6.41 in 2016 and from 3.89 to 4.76 in 2017.
Devenski determined to thwart thievery
Coming off an All-Star second season in the majors, Astros reliever Chris Devenski is focusing in spring training on improving his ability to hold runners.
The changeup and high-leverage-escape artist allowed nine runners to steal a base in 2016 and 12 last season.
“His setup has made it difficult for him to control the running game,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He does have a big leg kick. We don’t want to take away the effectiveness of his pitches, but we do want him to focus forward, as opposed to using a lot of wasted time and energy in his delivery. We’ve quickened him up a little bit.”
Moving Devenski’s hands closer to his body could shave off enough time to speed up his delivery without disrupting his command.
“Things like that are very subtle and won’t impact the pitch quality or his ability to execute but might deter the running game, specifically against him,” Hinch said.
Hinch reiterated plans to use Devenski as a multiple-inning reliever.
Devenski, 27, went 8-5 with a 2.68 ERA and 100 strikeouts against 26 walks in 802⁄3 innings last year, but he lost a feel for his slider and had his workload reduced during a dip in the second half of the season.