MESA, Ariz. — Cubs top prospect outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong found veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman at his locker after live batting practice. Overall, Crow-Armstrong was happy with his swings, but he wanted to pick Stroman’s brain about a cutter he’d fouled off his back foot.
“Just being a sponge,” Crow-Armstrong said of his goals this spring. “I want to leave here feeling like I’m wiser for it, better for it.”
The Cubs’ top three prospects are all outfielders, and they’re all in big-league camp. Crow-Armstrong is a non-roster invitee. The Cubs added Brennen Davis and Kevin Alcántara to the 40-man roster in November to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Because of their ages, roster statuses and development trajectories, they’re all taking different approaches this spring.
“I’m not out here not to make a team,” Davis said. “I’m out here to compete and give them a tough choice to make at the end of spring. And that’s all I can do.”
Davis, 23, was expected to make his MLB debut last season, but a back surgery last June altered his timeline. He returned to play the last month of the Triple-A season and then headed to the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost at-bats. But after five AFL games, a stress reaction in his back sidelined him.
“I wasn’t at a point where I was strong enough to really endure that kind of length of a season,” Davis said. “And it caught up to me. And I think it was good to take a step back and really not let that hinder my offseason. Because the outlook was for 2023. Those [AFL] at-bats weren’t going to do anything other than just develop me. So, I wanted to be healthy going into this year, and I think I think I made the right choice.”
He said he’s up to between 215 and 218 pounds.
“I would definitely say this is my heaviest,” David said, “and I’m still putting up my speed numbers. So I’m in a good spot.”
The Cubs’ starting outfield spots are claimed by left fielder Ian Happ, center fielder Cody Bellinger and right fielder Seiya Suzuki. But the bench will make for an intriguing battle. It’s unclear how many outfielders the Cubs will carry into the season, versus utility players who can also play multiple infield positions.
“I know when my time is called, I’m gonna be ready — whether that’s now, or in a month, or in two months, or whenever,” Davis said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to be the best version of myself.”
Alcántara, 20, has taken note of the focus Davis brings to the ballpark and said he’s learned from working alongside him.
“I’m just super excited, super proud of where I’ve been and what’s to come,” Alcántara said of his first big-league camp through an interpreter, Cubs education coordinator Jose Menendez.
Alcántara has picked up adjustments quickly, his swing already looking more direct to the ball compared to a year ago, when they made simplifying his mechanics a priority. He launched 15 home runs last year in Class A Myrtle Beach, and in August and September he hit .291.
“My focus over the offseason has been really to just get stronger and get faster,” he said.
Building up the strength to eventually hold up through a full MLB season will be key for his progression through the Cubs farm system.
The Cubs may have set outfield starters now, but Bellinger is expected to test free agency next year; and if the Cubs can’t come to an extension agreement with Happ, he’ll be in the same boat.
This week, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts praised president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer for adding talent this offseason without “blocking future talent.”
“Because we have a lot of good guys coming over the next few years,” Ricketts said. “We want to make sure that there’s opportunities for them when they’re ready.”
