The Rundown: Maddon Says Javier Baez Has Not Been Told He Made the Team; Kris Bryant to Play LF Today
Tuesday night, Gordon Wittenmyer reported that Javier Baez had been told he will be on the Opening Day roster.
Well, not so fast.
After speaking with manager Joe Maddon on Wednesday, a number of Cubs media members refuted the report:
Baez made team already? Maddon: “It was not told by me. It wasn’t told by Theo. It wasn’t told by Jed. I have no idea where that came from.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) March 25, 2015
I’m not sure what to make of the situation. I was admittedly surprised to hear the decision to bring up Baez was already made. However, I don’t think Wittenmyer created the report out of thin air.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bruce Levine tweeted this:
Cubs have done a 180 on Javier Baez . He now seems in good shape to open on the 25 man roster .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) March 24, 2015
It’s not as definitive as Wittenmyer’s report, but it sounds like he heard the Cubs are leaning toward bringing Baez to Chicago out of camp.
Late last night, Wittenmyer reiterated that Baez told the Sun-Times he’ll make the roster, and said Maddon would not deny he wants the infielder on the club.
Stay tuned. We’ll hear the Cubs’ final decision in less than two weeks.
Maddon’s reaction to the Google Maps incident
Edwin Jackson was supposed to start Tuesday’s game against the A’s, but got lost after typing “Oakland Athletics Spring Training complex” into Google Maps and being directed to the wrong facility.
In yesterday’s post, I wondered how Joe Maddon would react: Would he back his guy or publicly express disappointment?
As I kind of expected, it was a little bit of both but leaning toward disappointment (from Patrick Mooney):
“You just got to put in the right information, too,” Maddon said. “The computer only knows (so much). That was obviously not good. You have a lot of time to prepare and understand where you’re going as a major-league person speaking the language extremely well and being aware.
“So I wasn’t happy with it, to be honest with you. …
“I believe that will never happen again — I really do — because he’s a great kid,” Maddon said. “He’s not a good kid. He’s a great kid. He’s awesome, and I love the guy. But that just can’t happen.”
Other notes
* Good to see Starlin Castro back in the Cubs lineup in last night’s loss to the Mariners. He had been out since March 19 with a tight groin.
* Some interesting position notes from last night’s game: Junior Lake played a little third base and Arismendy Alcantara played some short. If the Cubs don’t break camp with Javier Baez on the team, Alcantara would probably be the backup shortstop.
* Kris Bryant will be playing left field tonight against the Angels, according to Carrie Muskat.
