Ailing Cain hopes to be ready for opener
PHOENIX – On the day their second Gold Glove centerfielder showed up in camp, the Milwaukee Brewers’ first Gold Glove centerfielder was still trying to get on the field.
Manager Craig Counsell revealed Monday morning that Lorenzo Cain still wasn’t ready to play despite taking the previous week off with a right quadriceps strain. It was a frustrating setback for Cain, who was eager to get back on the field after opting out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season one week into play.
“The base-running got me,” Cain said of how he incurred the injury. “I came out too hot, too early. At the same time, it’s something that just crept up. I’m going to manage it right now. I see me back on the field real soon.
“It’s been tough. I’m the type of guy that has trouble easing into things. I want to get my work in – running, throwing, hitting, all that. I’ve got to back off sometime, learn how to back off and not go as hard.
“I’m trying to get caught up and doing everything possible to do that. Right now, it’s coming along real well as far as the quad. I see myself out there very soon.”
Both Counsell and Cain admitted it might be close but thought there was enough time remaining in camp for the 34-year-old veteran to get ready for opening day. If it doesn’t work out that way, a marvelous insurance policy, Jackie Bradley Jr., reported for duty after signing a two-year, $24 million deal and clearing virus intake protocols.
Cain, who has two years remaining on his five-year $80 million deal – the largest free-agent contract in franchise history – said he welcomed the addition of Bradley, 30, who had played his entire career with the Boston Red Sox.
“Great player; unbelievable defensive player who can swing the bat,” Cain said. “Overall, just a solid player. Definitely a welcome addition to this team. He’s definitely going to help us improve. I’m excited to meet him, get to know him and talk to him. Just kind of go from there.”
Asked if he considered the addition of Bradley a threat to his job status as the regular centerfielder, Cain said, “It’s not a challenge to me. I feel like I’ve shown what I can do, day in and day out, year in and year out, what I can do as far as center field. If what I’ve done in the past is not enough, then what can I say?
“We’ll make it work. I’m not really worried about it. The defense just improved that much more. We’ll figure it out and make it work. We’re going to have a pretty good outfield team.”
Counsell said he did not anticipate Cain playing in a Cactus League game before the team’s second scheduled off day of camp on March 17. That would leave just under two weeks to get ready for the April 1 season opener against Minnesota at American Family Field, which will be cutting it close.
“I think the schedule starts to get important but I wouldn’t say (it’s not going to happen),” Counsell said. “The foundation, we took a step back last week. Playing in games after missing a year, seeing live pitching. He got a start seeing live pitching for three or four days, so
Lorenzo Cain came out “too hot, too soon” trying to work himself back into baseball shape.
we did get a start on that but you want him to be able to play in games. That’s important after you’ve missed the amount of time he has.
“I’m still comfortable with him appearing after that off day and things being fine. I think we still have plenty of time after that off day so I would just kind of lean in that direction.”
Under normal circumstances, Cain said he preferred to get “50 to 60 atbats” during exhibition play to get ready for the season. He knows that’s not going to happen now but said he will try to make the best of the situation.
“As far as getting on the field and seeing live pitching, that’s the only setback I see,” Cain said. “I think I’ll get caught up to speed real quick. I’m doing everything possible to get back on this field as soon as possible. I think I’ll be ready to go.
“I was hitting a lot of live pitching on the back fields. I’ll get back out there and see a lot of live pitching and hopefully get in a lot of games as well. I don’t have any choice. I’ve got to go out there and get it done, regardless of my circumstances.”
Despite the setback, Cain said he thought he prepared as best he could during a pandemic over the offseason after sitting out most of the 2020 campaign.
“Yeah, 100%. My wife made me go out and buy a treadmill this offseason,” Cain said. “That’s something I thought I’d never buy. I ran a lot on the treadmill; I worked out as much as I could as far as the offseason.
“I know I came in, in pretty good shape. The baseball shape is something I need to hone in on, and get a feel for again. I’m up for the challenge. I’ll be on the field as soon as this quad is ready to go.”
Brewers President David Stearns noted that Cain had to back off training just before camp after getting wisdom teeth pulled and said he had no concerns about offseason conditioning.
“We’re not disappointed at all,” Stearns said. “We knew he was going to be a little slower to start getting his legs back under him. Look, this is part of what can be expected when you have a player who relies a great deal on his lower body, who wasn’t in a competitive environment for a long time. So, we knew we needed the entirety of the spring to get him going.
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost a chunk of that at this point. We’ll see how the next couple of weeks go. We’re all on the same page. I know ‘Lo’ wants to be out there. We also have to be smart about this. We don’t want to rush things. The goal here is keep ‘Lo’ healthy and productive for 162 games and not put an artificial deadline on anything.”
Woodruff makes first start
Brandon Woodruff, who had a slight setback at the outset of camp because of back stiffness, made his first Cactus League start of the spring against a stacked Los Angeles Angels lineup. He surrendered back-to-back home runs to Anthony Rendon and Justin Upton in the second inning but retired the other six hitters he faced in routine fashion.
“I was telling ‘Couns’ and (pitching coach Chris) Hook, if you can draw up a first outing (that was it),” Woodruff said. “Obviously, not the two home runs, but I just had the back stuff and came back and had a super quick first inning, then I had a 30-minute delay thrown in there (as the Brewers scored four runs in the bottom of the first).
“Then give up two homers but get three quick outs and have 25 pitches in two innings. I look at the positives in that. In terms of cleaning up stuff, I need to clean up getting ahead and not being so predictable. That’s what I did with those back-to-back homers. That’s something going forward that’s an easy fix.”
Woodruff, who struck out Mike Trout on a “back-up slider” in the first inning, faced a lineup that also included Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols as well as Rendon and Upton, who hit two homers over the batter’s eye in center during the game.
“I take it as a compliment because they want to get ready and they want to see some good pitching,” Woodruff said. “I was excited they were bringing their ‘A’ team over and it was a good little test, just to show me where I’m at.”
Woodruff said his back feels “great” now and vowed to be ready should Counsell give him the ball on opening day for the second consecutive season.
“It was just a minor little back issue and I haven’t had any issues with it since,” he said. “That was a positive thing. I’m working on some stuff in my delivery and I think that’s been showing up for me in terms of some of the pitches. I just have to keep that moving forward.”
With the wind blowing out briskly, it was a day for the hitters and the Brewers rallied late for a 10-9 victory in a game stopped in the seventh inning by design. Avisaíl García went 3 for 3 with two RBI, and Omar Narváez and Manny Piña collected a pair of hits each.
Top prospect Brice Turang popped his first spring homer as a Brewer and catching prospect Mario Feliciano delivered what proved to be the winning blow with a two-run triple to center in the sixth.