Spring training shifts into high gear this week with the Cubs and White Sox meeting on Friday in a cross-desert classic to start Cactus League play.
Before position players officially take the field on Monday in Mesa, Arizona, the White Sox held their first full-squad workout.
Newly acquired Luisangel Acuna was among the White Sox players getting on the field for the first time.
Acuna joins a returning young core, most of whom arrived long before their required report day, including third baseman Miguel Vargas, who battled a couple of minor injury issues last season.
“I wanna be healthy the whole year. I think that’s my main thing. Also, I want to be able to play third base every single day, all 162 games. That’s a big challenge,” says Miguel Vargas, White Sox third baseman.
Vargas also says it was important for everybody to get here early.
“Last year, we got off to a nice stretch after second half. We have new guys in the clubhouse, and we think we can help win a lot of games,” he added.
“We saw Miggy make some adjustments, unlocked some stuff at the plate, and then it went away a little bit there. And, for him to be the player he wants to be, he’s going to have to sustain those adjustments and get his swing to a spot where he’s consistent. You know, I think there’s some things defensively … there’s some technical stuff that we’re cleaning up that he’s attacking and jumping into and excited to improve,” says Will Venable, White Sox Manager
Vargas is also getting used to his new clubhouse neighbor, and superstar of camp, Munetaka Murakami.
Murakami was working a bit with Vargas at third base. Will Venable said he may play some there, but will mostly be a first baseman.
“It’s really nice have a superstar like him next to me and learning how educated he is and how professional he is,” Vargas said.
Over at Cubs camp, Jameson Taillon enters his fourth season with the team, coming off a fantastic second half. But fans apparently forgot about that and were giving Taillon grief on social media after he allowed a home run to new slugger Alex Bregman during live batting practice.
“Last year, I wasn’t on Twitter all year, so it was just a good sign to log off. (It’s) February 11, and I have people, when I open the app, making me feel bad about myself. It’s just a good sign that people’s opinions don’t matter and the work I’m doing is good, so we’ll log off of there. On Instagram, I’ve got it kinda curated to coffee, Pokémon cards, and video games, so we’re safe on Instagram,” says Jameson Taillon, Cubs pitcher.
Taillon said not giving up as many homers and knowing when to challenge (batters) helped him a lot in the second half of the season, and developing a change-up pitch.
“This is my 16th spring training, and last year was my 15th, and I’ve never had a change-up before that I was confident in to get that direction, so to be able to add that really helped me against lefties,” he said.
Taillon, who will pitch for Team Canada, is among the 12 Cubs and White Sox Major League Baseball players who will be representing nine different countries in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
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