In a spare moment over the weekend, I had a chance to see part of the Cubs-Angels exhibition game. The Cubs were playing mostly with their projected opening day line up. Edwin Jackson was the starter. The Angels were playing with a minor league split squad team. And the Angels were cruising to a victory.
A few observations:
The Angels minor league system is more advanced than the Cubs. Their hitters were much more patient and ready to hit major league pitching. The Cubs have a long way to go to catch up.
The Cubs television booth is going to take a while to gel. It could be painful to listen to when the Cubs start poorly.
The organization raves about Anthony Rizzo's play at first base. I came away not very impressed by his defense. On one pick off play, instead of having his right foot on the nearest corner to the pitcher he had it on the back corner (which blocked the umpires view of the tag). Because of poor foot positioning, the umpire could not see the tag and called the runner safe. That was a mental error on Rizzo's part.
Also, Rizzo does not have very good range fielding his position. On a slow chopper to his right, he could not make the play. And on a high bouncer down the line, he could not move two feet to the line to get it before it landed on the skirt of the infield dirt on the line.
He also showed that he had trouble with high throws. When he had to leave his feet, he had trouble coming back down on the bag.
One could explain that he is a young player and experience will make him better over time. But he is not now a gold glove caliber first baseman.
From a hitting perspective, Rizzo is going to struggle. The other teams now have the book on his weaknesses. Joe Blanton threw him four straight off speed pitches down and away and he made Rizzo look a clueless t-baller. It was only when a breaking ball did not break that Rizzo looped a weak single to left center. Again, one could explain that he is young player and experience will make him better with in-season adjustments. But he is slotted third in the order. That is reserved for the team's best hitter. People hope he has the repetitious line drive .300 swing of a Mark Grace, but people fear he could be another Micah Hoffpauir.
