Lane Adams

RHSP Javier Medina fired five innings of two-hit shutout ball and Jeff Bohling and Jeff Moberg laced back-to-back RBI doubles to highlight a four-run 2nd inning, as the Rockies blanked the Cubs 4-0 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training games action Tuesday morning on Dust Storm Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort east of Scottsdale, AZ.  

Cubs CF Jose Gutierrez suffered a left knee or ankle injury while running the bases in the top of the 3rd inning, but he was able to leave the field under his own power (albeit with a slight limp). 

Recently-signed FA outfielder Lane Adams continues to get reps at Extended Spring Training while waiting for a roster slot to open up at AAA Iowa, and he started today's game in LF and then moved to CF after Gutierrez left the game. Adams went 2-4 at the plate, including a double, a single, and a stolen base, and he also flied out to deep left with two runners on base in the 3rd (the Rockies LF caught the ball with his back against the wall). Adams was one of the better "4th outfielders" in MLB last season.   

Speaking of "4th outfielders," Jose A. Gonzalez (not to be confused with Jose M. Gonzalez, a RHP at Cubs EXST) is competing for the "4th OF" gig at Eugene, and he did nothing to hurt his cause today, making the defensive play of the game (an inning-ending run-saving full-extension back-handed diving catch in right-centerield). He isn't much of a hitter, but Gonzalez is a polished outfield defender and is fundamentally-sound in all phases of the game.

Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only):  

Christopher Morel belted a solo HR and singled, stole a base, and scored a run, Richard Nunez hammerd a two-run HR, Lane Adams drilled a solo HR, and RHSP Chi-Feng Lee and four relievers combined to hurl a four-hitter, as the Cubs defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Wednesday morning on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.  

Francis Martinez smacked a solo HR to account for the D'backs lone run. 

Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only): 

Yovanny Cuevas (RBI triple), Cam Balego (two-run single), Jonathan Sierra (RBI single), and Fernando Kelli (RBI single) contributed run-scoring hits and LHSP Brailyn Marquez and four relievers combined to hurl a five-hitter, as the Cubs cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Tuesday morning on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.  

The defensive gem of the game was turned-in by Cubs SS Luis Vazquez, who made a spectacular back-handed diving catch (at full-speed and with full extension) in short LF at the foul line, quickly righted himself, and then threw a laser-strike to 1st base to double-off the shocked/amazed D'backs baserunner to end the top of the 7th inning. (To prove he isn't ready for MLB just yet, Vazquez made a fielding error on an easy grounder to short in the top of the 9th).   
 
Recently-signed OF Lane Adams served as a DH in the game for the Cubs and got three AB, walking and scoring in the 1st, flying out to the warning track in CF in the 2nd, and striking out (swinging) on a 3-2 breaking ball in the 4th. Adams elected free-agency after being sent outright to AAA Gwinnett by the Atlanta Braves on April 25th,.and he officially signed with the Cubs today. He is at Extended Spring Training partly because he hadn't played in a game in about three weeks, and partly because there is not (at present) room for him at AAA Iowa.

The 28-year old Adams was one of the better "4th outfielders" in MLB last year, hitting 275/339/468 in 85 games with the Braves. But his best attribute is base-stealing. He swiped 25 bags last year, ten with Atlanta (no CS) and 15 for AAA Gwinnett prior to getting called up, after stealing 38 in AA in both 2013 and 2014, 31 in AA/AAA in 2015, and 44 in AA/AAA in 2016. 

Adams played in the Cubs organization in 2016 (first at AA Tennessee and then at AAA Iowa) after being released by the Yankees (he was released from AA Trenton to make room for OF Billy McKinney after the Yanks acquired McKinney as part of the Aroldis Chapman trade, so in a way Adams signing with the Cubs in 2016 was indirectly a result of the Chapman deal), and he was actually "on the bubble" for a potential September call-up to Chicago that season as a "5th outfielder" (late-inning pinch-runner and defensive replacement), but he never got the call.

In EXST Cubs roster news, Cubs 2017 5th round draft pick OF Nelson Velazquez (P. J. Education School - Carolina, PR) has been promoted to South Bend.  

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs players only):