Mesa, Arizona – The Chicago Cubs organized their first full Squad training on Friday, position players officially come together for the first time while they start a pivotal season for the franchise. The Cubs have not reached the playoffs since 2020 and have not won an eliminatory match since 2017. The heart of the team which has become a revolutionary champion in 2016 is an affectionate but distant memory. The most recent Baseball era of the Cubs presented its fair share of sympathetic stars, but was mainly defined by mediocrity and disappointment.
The Cubs 2025 are impatient to change this. And in a central division of the NL which appears to be wonIt is time for Chicago to pass forward as a clear competitor, rather than simply an expected team. After an occupied offseason which presented both a huge acquisition to Kyle Tucker and the failed pursuit of another star of Alex Bregman, the Cubs made the headlines of early November until the opening of the camp this week. Some would say that they have gathered a list that describes them as the contenders they endeavor to become. But now they have to get out and prove it.
Here is the last of Sloan Park:
Alex Bregman is not a little – and it’s ok
Friday marking the first full official day of spring activity for the players in the position of the Cubs, almost all key strikers spoke to journalists to think about winter and discuss early expectations for the coming season. But due to the moment of these inaugural spring sessions, there was a coherent questioning line concerning a player who was not near the Cubs complex: Bregman, who recently chose a three -year agreement with the Red Sox Above the reported offers from several other clubs, including Chicago.
“I think everyone thought he would be a very good choice for this team,” said the stop stop inby Swanson. “Obviously, it did not end previous years.
Several Swanson’s teammates have echoed this feeling, now a firm belief that Cubs have definitely improved this winter, regardless of Bregman. They replaced Cody Bellinger with Kyle Tucker, fortified the rotation by left -hander Matthew Boyd and added four veterans to strengthen the enclosure of the Lights in Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier, Eli Morgan and Caleb Thielbar.
“They were really thoughtful and intentional to build this list to give us the best chance of succeeding,” added Swanson.
Matt Shaw is ready to intervene
In the absence of Bregman, there are still many reasons to be optimistic about this list of cubs, as Swanson suggested. Mail Bregman would also have been much more consecutive if Chicago did not boast of one of the best baseball prospects in Matt Shaw, 23, who seems ready to manage the hot corner on the north side. This was a fairly fast increase for Shaw, who was drafted 13th from the University of Maryland only 20 months ago, but he collected 35 triple-A games (.929 OPS) to finish 2024 and has a clear occasion to win Job departure in Chicago off the camp.
Like everyone, Shaw was very aware of the possibility that Bregman came to Chicago and obscured his way to the big leagues, at least in the short term. Curiously, Shaw – Originally from Massachusetts – discovered Bregman’s choice to go to Boston when his friends, many of whom are fans of the Red Sox, alerted him by SMS. And with Bregman now officially directed elsewhere, Shaw does not take what is lightly:
“Obviously, this is my goal for spring,” he said about the manufacture of the camp team. “Being able to do it would be incredible, being a dream come true, something that I have been dreaming of for a long time.
“Having the front office, coaches staff, players believing in me and believing that I can help this team win a division and move forward with it would be incredible.”
The manager Craig Counsell said on Friday that Shaw is currently day by day with a slight oblique problem which appeared in a few recent fluctuations in the cage, but the team does not provide that this will considerably modify its spring. Shaw will have a lot of eyes on him whenever his full participation in training sessions and games will start – and a lot of support from those inside the clubhouse.
“He is such a good -gifted player, and he is a natural baseball player,” said Swanson about the promising perspective that could associate with him on the left side of the inner field of cubs in the future predictable.
“He knows that I am available for him, be it questions, advice or an ear that will listen. But I’m just going to let him do his thing, and I think this experience will be the best teacher for him.
The Cubs missed Bregman but won a star at Kyle Tucker
In the missing awakening on Bregman, another point of comfort for Chicago is the fact that a main character in the recent golden era of Astros Baseball did Report to Cubs Camp Friday: Tucker, the 28 -year -old Star Defender Player who excels in practically everything on a baseball field, his discipline of power and plaque in the box of the striker in his range in the outside field and at speed on basic packages.
“He’s a real superstar, an incredible player,” said the second basic player Nico Hoerner about his new teammate. “It absolutely does all games of baseball, which you do not really see many players. Even guys who are stars year, there are not many guys who really do all the games at a high level .
Offered Swanson: “His work is impressive. If you look at what he may have done during his career at this stage, I think he is a star of our game and someone who will improve our team. “”
A free agent at the end of this coming season – and with speculation already on the question of whether the cubs could obtain an extension before reaching the free market – Tucker was predictable on the forecast when asked If this year would feel different because of its status as a contract.
“You never know how the future will go,” he said. “Trying to take it one day, and whatever happens later.”
Because of its seismic talent, the long -term future of Tucker will remain a point of interest throughout the season, whatever happens. But for him and the Cubs, what matters most is there that he is right now – and what he could bring to a list that has strengthened a star of his caliber.
“Right now,” said Tucker, looking down and making a gesture towards the “Chicago” described in red letters on his blue hooded sweatshirt, “I’m a little from Chicago. And I’m delighted to Being here and trying to win matches for cubbies.
