Chicago Cubs reliever Mychal Givens’ process to prepare for the season meant his next step entailed the mental approach of seeing hitters in game action.
Givens was supposed to make his Cactus League debut Wednesday but threw a bullpen instead. Givens has been dealing with some soreness, said manager David Ross, who didn’t specify where. Givens’ first spring outing arrived Saturday, and he pitched well, tossing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and a walk.
“I’m letting my body tell me how it goes, and yes, opening day is coming up real quick,” Givens told the Tribune before his outing. “But we’re just going to try to maintain and, like you do in baseball, you make adjustments. So just make an adjustment to the time frame and getting ready for opening day.”
The big question: Will Givens be ready for opening day Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field?
“That’s a hard question to answer,” he said. “Not just for me, but everybody. Whatever your body allows, you can’t deny what your body tells you. So you’re just trying to adjust and continue progressing to get your body right.”
Givens is part of a collection of veteran relievers the Cubs have in camp in an effort to put together a more experienced bullpen. One piece of the pitching staff puzzle is in place after Saturday’s 5-4, walk-off win against the Los Angeles Angels. The Cubs selected the contract of right-hander Jesse Chavez. Their 40-man roster is now full.
Despite coming into camp as a non-roster invitee, Chavez, 38, was expected to make the team. He pitched well this spring, allowing two runs in seven innings (2.57 ERA) with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Nick Madrigal not alarmed about hamstring tightness
Perhaps if it happened in the regular season, Nick Madrigal would have tried to play through it.
However, the Cubs are taking precautions as Madrigal returns from right hamstring surgery. That meant not pushing and playing Friday as scheduled.
Madrigal felt tightness in his right glute/lower back going through his warmup progression Friday morning, and it lingered during base-running drills. He was pulled from the drill when it became noticeable he couldn’t go 100%. Madrigal has experienced this type of tightness before and said the discomfort wasn’t located at the site of the surgical repair.
Madrigal added that he felt great Saturday and the tightness “wasn’t anything alarming, wasn’t anything too bad.” He went through a workout and is expected to play in a minor-league game Sunday. The Cubs likely will need to monitor Madrigal’s playing time as he returns from his season-ending injury.
“I think there’s going to be some talks throughout the season,” Madrigal said. “You have to be smart about it. My ultimate goal is to be out there every day, but it was a big surgery. There’s a smarter approach to it, but we’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
Adrelton Simmons and Wade Miley express optimism with injuries
Friday represented an encouraging day for shortstop Andrelton Simmons and his return from what he described as a mix of soreness and tightness in his right shoulder.
Simmons has felt better throwing from distance and can get more zip on his throws. He worked up to 70 feet Saturday and will continue his throwing progression. Simmons said he the ailment initially emerged during the offseason, but the minor issue resolved itself. It reemerged after reporting to Cubs camp and became more tight after an intense day of throwing.
While Simmons has been taking light swings, it still seems unlikely he will be ready for the opening-day roster. Players can be put on the 10-day injured list at the start of the season and get the IL stint backdated to Tuesday.
“It’s possible, but I also want to be game-ready,” Simmons said. “I don’t want to come and have to catch up, so hopefully I’ll work with the staff and they’ll give me a good plan on when a good time to start is.”
Left-hander Wade Miley said Saturday that he dealt with elbow inflammation before in his career, and it typically goes away with rest. But with a shorter spring, he couldn’t afford to be down for two or three days. So the inflammation didn’t improve and eventually became worse.
When Miley’s hands went above his head during his delivery, it put pressure on the back of his left elbow. He believes rest will eliminate the discomfort.
“I could have dealt with it, no doubt about it,” Miley said. “I probably could go pitch, but it just doesn’t make sense to deal with that and affect other things.”
He doesn’t believe he will be starting back from the beginning of his ramp-up because he will continue his shoulder program while not throwing for 10 days. Miley didn’t want to speculate on a time frame for his return.
“I’m going to keep my my body in the best shape I can and just try to build up to the throwing part again,” Miley said. “I want to throw without anything hurt first and then we’ll talk about it.”
