Tuesday, February 25

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

MESA, Ariz. -- As part of a five-run outburst by the Cubs’ offense in the second inning on Saturday afternoon, Kevin Alcántara ripped a pitch through the infield and into left for an RBI single. When the Cubs’ outfield prospect reached first base, he looked at the dugout and clawed at the air with his right hand.

It was a glimpse into how “The Jaguar” likes to play the game with flair.

• See the Cubs at Wrigley: Single Game Tickets are on sale now!

“Kevin wants to be great,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s a young man. That’s the biggest thing. He’s a very young player. And that’s the thing you really have to keep in mind. He’s still very young.”

The 22-year-old Alcántara is ranked No. 90 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list -- one of seven Cubs prospects in the rankings -- and is in camp trying to convince Counsell that he can be a part of the Opening Day bench.

Alcántara got a taste of the Majors down the stretch last year and will be in Chicago this summer as one of the next-man-up candidates for the outfield. What the team has to weigh is whether regular at-bats in Triple-A Iowa is the best approach to the start of his season, as opposed to a sporadic bench role.

“I hope I stay in the big leagues this year,” Alcántara said. “I’m working a lot and working hard with the Cubs staff. I’ll continue to keep working, because that decision is coming. I’m focusing on what I need to do right here. Prepare my body and everything. The older guys here have good advice for me.

“I think I’m prepared for playing in the big leagues for a lot of years. I’ll continue working hard.”

Last year, Alcántara hit .278/.353/.428 with 14 home runs, 21 doubles, 61 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in his 111 games spent between Double-A and Triple-A. Following a 35-game stint with Iowa, during which the outfielder hit at a .292 clip with an .848 OPS, he appeared in three games as part of a season-ending stop with the Cubs.

Alcántara said his biggest takeaway from that brief stint in the big leagues was watching the routines behind the scenes of veterans like Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger. The prospect said he has also spent time this spring learning from how Seiya Suzuki goes about his daily work.

Through his first three Cactus League games, Alcántara has gone 5-for-8 with one double, one stolen base, three RBIs and three runs scored. When his helmet flies off on the basepaths, his animal-print headband is revealed (another nod to his nickname).

“So much happens from just another year of Kevin having experiences,” Counsell said. “Yeah, the week in the big leagues was an experience for Kevin that we hope helped him. I think he comes in here in a second big league camp just more experienced from that end, too.

“And hopefully that all makes him just able to focus on, ‘Just go get better. And then good things will happen.’”

• In Thursday’s spring opener against the Dodgers, Michael Busch sent a line drive up the middle that struck pitcher Bobby Miller in the head. Busch, who knows Miller from their days in L.A.’s system, took a knee on the field as the Dodgers’ staff checked on the pitcher.

“Scary moment, for sure,” Busch said. “Just knowing Bobby and the guy he is, how hard he works, the competitor he is -- we spent a little bit of time together for a few years -- yeah, super scary moment. I was just praying for him on the field. Hopefully he's healthy and I'm just going to continue to pray for him and continue to hope that he trends in the right direction."

Here is the latest on Miller, who is in MLB’s concussion protocol.

• Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has debuted No. 4 as his new jersey number for this season. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer sealed the switch with a basketball shot. Seriously. Read more >>

• Plenty of Cubs fans remember Justin Turner’s walk-off homer for the Dodgers against the North Siders in the 2017 postseason. He’s hoping to create fonder memories for Chicagoans this October. Read more >>

• Cubs lefty Jordan Wicks has “something to prove” this year after a rough ‘24. He came into camp with a renewed focus to get back to the basics of what fueled his rapid climb to Chicago. Read more >>

Crow-Armstrong’s season turned a corner on July 27 last season, when he tripled against the Royals after going 0-for-20 in the previous six games. From July 27 through the end of the campaign, the Cubs rookie posted 2.2 wins above replacement (per FanGraphs), ranking 19th overall in the Majors. For perspective, Orioles star Gunnar Henderson also had 2.2 fWAR in that stretch, while superstar Juan Soto was just above them at 2.3 fWAR in that same period.

Single-game tickets for the Cubs’ home slate at Wrigley Field are now available. Click here to check out the schedule and this is where you can snag your tickets. The Cubs have also released their 2025 promotional schedule. And for fans coming to Spring Training, click here to learn more about tickets at Sloan Park.

“He loves the fast-guy numbers, so he thinks I need a fast-guy number. He was just talking [smack] and in a great way. He’s really good at that. I think the player-front office relationship can maybe be weird sometimes. Not with us, specifically, but in the game of baseball. But Jed’s good at being around us. He’s just good at the mingling portion of our days. He could be upstairs, but he’s down here interacting with us. I’ve always appreciated that about him.” -- Crow-Armstrong, on Hoyer

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