MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Daniel Palencia are wearing Cubbie blue again. Their Team USA and Venezuela uniforms are in storage now that the World Baseball Classic is over, although Palencia proudly wore a Venezuela jersey walking into the Cubs\u2019 clubhouse Friday after the team\u2019s day off.<\/p>\n
Even though Venezuela defeated the USA in the title game Tuesday, Crow-Armstrong won\u2019t forget the experience anytime soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was some of the more fun baseball I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cI really enjoyed playing in front of the different crowds. American fans can take something from the joy and passion, the energy that is put out by these fan bases. It\u2019s a really fun game, and they add to the excitement. I\u2019d do it 10 times out of 10 if asked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bummer that we came up short. It was a good experience with all those guys, but ultimately it didn\u2019t end the way we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was Armstrong happy for his teammate Palencia, who nailed down a 3-2 win in his fifth scoreless appearance of the tournament?<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Danny, but we lost, so … ,\u201d Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Crow-Armstrong said that, Palencia walked past in his Venezuela jersey, making sure Crow-Armstrong saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny now,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t funny then.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pitched out of his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manager Craig Counsell said Palencia, who was in midseason form, will probably pitch in one game before camp breaks Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Dan can do<\/p>\n
Palencia was so filled with emotions in that moment Tuesday that he had tears in his eyes before he threw the last pitch of the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was crying. I knew that moment was mine. \u2018I can do it, and he\u2019s going to swing and miss,\u2019 \u2019\u2019 Palencia said. \u201cI just knew it, you know? You have to be romantic with baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Bryce Harper\u2019s home run tied the game, Palencia said he prayed that Venezuela would take the lead so he could be put in the save situation he was dreaming of the night before.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so happy, I have no words to describe it,\u201d Palencia said.<\/p>\n
Notes<\/p>\n
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki (sprained right knee) didn\u2019t play Friday but hoped to add some work to his routine Saturday. A decision on his availability for Opening Day on Thursday is expected in the next day or two. Suzuki could land on the 10-day injured list Sunday but have the stint backdated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll make a decision at some point this weekend, but I think we\u2019re making a short-term decision here,\u201d Counsell said.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Left-hander Justin Steele has thrown live batting practice twice in his comeback from elbow surgery. He is expected to join the Cubs in late May or June.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ben Brown had been getting starter\u2019s innings for all of camp, but his one-inning outing Wednesday indicates a bullpen role might be in the works, as opposed to a starter\u2019s role at Triple-A Iowa.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Top Cubs prospects playing in the Spring Breakout game Saturday night against the Padres include shortstop Jefferson Rojas, first baseman Jonathan Long and infielder Pedro Ramirez. The Spring Breakout will expand to single-elimination tournaments in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Right-handers Ethan Roberts and Gavin Hollowell were optioned to Triple-A Iowa, reducing the spring-training roster to 44 with five days left in camp.<\/p>\n
Reds 8, Cubs 6; Athletics 6, Cubs 2<\/p>\n
Left-hander Matthew Boyd was roughed up for eight runs on three homers, two doubles and four singles in five innings at Sloan Park, not the final tuneup for his Opening Day start that he was looking for. Boyd (8.68 spring ERA) walked two and struck out five. He got stretched out to 87 pitches. \u201cFelt physically good, a little out of rhythm, just wasn\u2019t as sharp as I wanted to be today,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cI missed in a few times and gave up the home runs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 At HoHoKam Park, righty Jameson Taillon pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts before giving up home runs to Max Muncy and Lawrence Butler in the fifth, ending his night at 78 pitches. Taillon, fifth in the rotation, entered with a 22.18 spring ERA and finished at 17.55.<\/p>\n
\u2022 In his first game after the World Baseball Classic, Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-3, and his throw from center field skipped past third baseman Alex Bregman and out of play, allowing Sal Stewart \u2014 who was not challenging Armstrong\u2019s arm \u2014 to score from second. Bregman was 1-for-3 in his first game back from the WBC.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Catcher Miguel Amaya hit two homers against the A\u2019s, and second baseman Jefferson Rojas homered against the Reds.<\/p>\n
\u2022 On deck: Padres prospects at Cubs prospects, 8:05 p.m. Saturday, Mesa, Marquee. Cubs at Mariners, 8:10 p.m. Saturday, Peoria, Marquee app, 670-AM, 104.3-FM, Colin Rea vs. TBD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Daniel Palencia are wearing Cubbie blue again. Their Team USA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-550461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}