With their departure to Japan for the season-opening Tokyo Series only eight days away, the Cubs are entering an important evaluation stretch as they determine who will be part of the initial opening day roster.
The Cubs and Sox meet for the second time this spring on Friday, this time at Camelback Ranch. The Cubs won the first meeting 7-3 on Feb. 22 at Sloan Park.
Every Monday during the spring training, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
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Seiya Suzuki gets game action in center field
Expect to see Seiya Suzuki play center field at some point this season for the Cubs.
With how the Cubs’ roster is constructed, the Cubs will need someone to get innings in center field when Pete Crow-Armstrong isn’t in the lineup. Suzuki will find himself playing center field, manager Craig Counsell said, regardless of how comfortable he looks in Cactus League games.
“You’re doing that for the player, so that it’s like, ‘I know this isn’t the norm, but I’ve been out here and I can do it,’” Counsell said.
Suzuki got his first start in center field this spring Saturday at Sloan Park, cleanly handling both fly balls hit to him in the second inning. Counsell added that Ian Happ could also get time in center field this season. He started there Sunday against the Reds. Happ last played a regular-season game at center in 2022 and made 101 starts at the position between 2020-21.
Suzuki only appeared in one game in center field when he played in Nippon Professional Baseball, back in 2014 when he was 19 years old.
“I had a lot of fun (playing center field Saturday), seeing a lot of other players move — it’s just a completely different view,” Suzuki told the Tribune through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “And I think just having that flexibility if during the season, if somebody goes down with an injury or somebody needs a day off, I can move to the other positions in the outfield.
“It’s nice to be able to get those reps in during spring training instead of just right during the season or batting practice. I had fun, it was a good experience.”
As for whether he will show off the same range as Crow-Armstrong in center field, Suzuki laughed.
“That’s impossible, he’s a special player.”
Downers Grove North product George Wolkow makes most of ‘unbelievable’ opportunity
Sox prospect George Wolkow appreciated the moment traveling with the team as a minor-league extra for Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.
“I was saying in the dugout to our mental skills coach, it’s cool just being on the field, seeing Ichiro (Suzuki) across the field,” the outfielder said Saturday. “Playing left field with Julio Rodríguez up to bat. The kid in me loves that. Just never take that for granted.”
The Downers Grove North product made the most of the opportunity, going 1-for-2 with a run in the 18-9 victory at Peoria Stadium.
“Having the chance to put on the White Sox uniform and potentially play for Chicago, to me, that means the world,” Wolkow said. “So being able to go out there today, and even just having the opportunity to go out there today, it means everything. Unbelievable.”
Photos: An inside look at 2025 Chicago White Sox spring training
Wolkow showcased the ability to use all the fields at the plate, going the opposite way with a single left-center in the seventh inning.
“Trying to go up there and put the bat on the ball,” Wolkow said. “(Facing) a sinker/slider guy (in Jesse Hahn) and I was probably going to see something away. (I) set my sights high and then kind of got a pitch to hit and blacked out from there.”
The left-handed hitting Wolkow, 19, is listed at 6-foot-7, 239 pounds. The Sox selected him in the seventh round in the 2023 draft. He hit .257 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs in 91 games for the Arizona Complex League White Sox and Single-A Kannapolis in 2024.
“It’s obvious to look at my flaws and see what I need to work on,” Wolkow said. “That’s where my goals are set. But wherever I start the year, wherever I end the year, I want to be the same player every day.
“Go out there, don’t get too high, don’t get too low, continue to play baseball hard. Play the game the right way.”
Number of the week
18
The Sox scored a combined 19 runs in their first seven Cactus League games. They exploded in their eighth game, scoring a spring-high 18 runs Saturday against the Mariners. They also had spring highs in hits (17), walks (seven), home runs (four) and doubles (six).
Week ahead: Cubs
- Monday: at Diamondbacks, 2:10 p.m.
- Tuesday: vs. Padres, 2:05 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: vs. Royals, 7:05 p.m., Marquee
- Friday: at White Sox, 2:05 p.m.
- Saturday: vs. Mariners, 2:05 p.m., Marquee
Right-hander Javier Assad has been officially ruled out for the start of the season.
Counsell said Assad is on track to throw his first bullpen by the end of the week, but it won’t be enough time to adequately build up before the Cubs return from Japan and resume their regular-season schedule at the end of the month. Assad is working back from a left oblique injury he sustained shortly before camp started. The Cubs want to ensure Assad builds up properly and does not rush back as they keep the full-season picture in mind.
Without Assad in the fold, right-handers Colin Rea and Ben Brown and left-hander Jordan Wicks are the main options on the 40-man roster to be their fifth starter. Right-hander Brad Keller is also an intriguing option and has flashed the type of upper-90s fastball velocity this spring that would be ideal to add to the rotation, if he can sustain it. Keller threw 46 pitches in 2 1/3 innings Saturday.
The Cubs must make a decision soon whether to stretch Keller out to a starting-pitcher level as the number of available innings dwindles over the next week as the other starters continue to build their workloads.
“As we put the schedule together, we’ll have to figure out what’s next for Brad,” Counsell said Sunday. “We obviously got a couple days for that, but we’ll probably keep him at multiple innings.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Monday: vs. Athletics, 2:05 p.m., whitesox.com
- Tuesday: Off
- Wednesday: vs. Brewers, 2:05 p.m.; at Brewers, 2:10 p.m. (split squad)
- Thursday: at Giants, 2:05 p.m.
- Friday: vs. Cubs, 2:05 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: vs. Dodgers, 2:05 p.m., whitesox.com
- Sunday: at Guardians, 3:05 p.m.
Shane Smith had his mind set on being “as aggressive as possible” during his second spring start Saturday against the Seattle Mariners.
The right-hander, who the Sox picked up in the Rule 5 draft in December, had two 1-2-3 innings in the 18-9 victory at Peoria Stadium.
“I’m still working on some things, sequencing and executions,” Smith said after the outing. “But other than that, stuff felt good.”
After allowing four runs and walking three in 1 2/3 innings on Feb. 24 against the Texas Rangers, Smith bounced back with three strikeouts and no walks in two innings against the Mariners.
“Just probably more jacked up than anything,” Smith said of the first start. “But finding a way to slow down, make one pitch at a time.”
Smith made the types of adjustments from his first start to his second that the Sox would like to see out of all of their pitchers this upcoming week.
What we’re reading
- Chicago Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw made his Cactus League debut Sunday. Will he be ready for Japan?
- Chicago White Sox: Catching up with the catchers at camp, including Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss
- For Rule 5 pick Gage Workman, the infielder is trying to force the Chicago Cubs into a tough roster decision
- How is the Chicago White Sox rotation shaping up? Pitchers offer a progress report following 1st spring starts.
- Column: Can a Chicago White Sox investor actually buy the team — or is it just a pipe dream for angst-ridden fans?
- Japanese artist Takashi Murakami lends artwork to exclusive MLB collaboration ahead of Tokyo Series
- Sammy Sosa makes a big impression in his return to the Chicago Cubs as a guest instructor: ‘He’s an icon’
Quotable
“I’m a good communicator, I’m a likable man. So sometimes when you have that, you don’t have that ego. People pretty much listen to you and numbers don’t lie anyway. So every adjustment, or everything that I say to them, they’re going to take it because it’s coming from me.” — Sammy Sosa on Cubs players welcoming feedback from him while he’s been at camp as a guest instructor.
