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Made me some banana bread yesterday with praline pecans mixed in and crunched up on top. I did a good thing.
I know it might seem easy to chide the Cubs for losing 9-4 to Team Italy yesterday, but (1) it’s all exhibition anyway, (2) the Cubs aren’t putting their best group out there to win the game, (3) Team Italy actually has a lot of name players (Jac Caglionone, Vinny Pasquantino, Kyle Teel, Dan Altavilla, Jakob Marsee, old friends Jon Berti and Miles Mastrobuoni, and hey, even Cubs prospects Owen Ayers, Christopher Paciolla, and Parker Chavers!), and (4) it’s actually more fun to see the country win a World Baseball Classic exhibition game anyway. To that end, by the way, countries actually won more games yesterday against MLB teams than the other way around. I like it. As for the Cubs’ performance, what really matters is the usual Spring Training stuff, which primarily means no one got hurt. Cade Horton threw all his pitches (42 total), got in three clean innings of work, and continues to ramp up safely (not that we were worried about the rib injury that ended his season a little early last year, but it’s still good to see it truly is all normal stuff for him this spring). Matt Shaw played center field in the game, as he continues to expand his exposure all over the diamond. The Cubs also practiced stranding 11 runners on base, better understanding what they don’t want to do. Two things I learned from the game: (1) Cubs pitching prospect Kenten Egbert is pitching for Team Italy, which, together with the group of positional prospects mentioned above, I suppose I did know at one point now that I say it out loud, and (2) the Cubs retained reliever Ben Heller in the organization after he signed a minor league deal last year but was injured and did not pitch in 2025. That wasn’t known or discussed, so it’s kinda like a new minor league signing. I’ll have to get into that later. Cubs relief prospect Jack Neely continues to work at a dramatically lower velocity this year, but he’s not walking guys. Maybe there was a conscious trade off after last year’s injury-and-wildness-marred lost season. Also, hey, one of the dingers he gave up was to a guy who might catch him at some point this year, Owen Ayers, so that’s kinda fun, right? Heck, Ayers may have been catching Neely at the back fields these past few weeks. Luis Martinez-Gomez, I see you throwing 97 mph and working five different pitches. Big-time breakout potential this year. He wasn’t turning quite as many heads as Ayers in the Arizona Fall League, but LMG was definitely getting some attention. Meanwhile, Team USA whooped the Giants, getting contributions from all over their version of the dream team, including an Alex Bregman homer, a Pete Crow-Armstrong RBI double, and 2.2 scoreless innings from Matthew Boyd. That last bit matters most, of course, as Boyd is healthy and stretched out to 49 pitches in the outing."Being able to wear this uniform and represent our country is such an honor."—@ABREG_1 joins SportsCenter after a dominant 15-1 Team USA exhibition debut ?? pic.twitter.com/1t8wJpaDrF
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 3, 2026 Pat Murphy was not happy about his team’s losing performance against Great Britain:Pat Murphy was not particularly impressed today. pic.twitter.com/ZQz3RWiE4h
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 3, 2026 Weird, sure, but also pretty cool:Might be one of the weirder sights I've ever seen on a baseball field.(Red Sox made some players available to help Puerto Rico get through the game. Erik Rivera was also born in Puerto Rico and has played in their Winter League) pic.twitter.com/xhL7IcYH4V
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) March 4, 2026 Fun with the family:Text from Dad: pic.twitter.com/DoD50C1NsJ
— Katie (@sdjonesy) March 4, 2026 It is actually kind of funny to think about what if the WBC was all the countries and then just one plucky MLB team that just keeps showing up. Jesse Rogers hopped on Kap & Hood to talk a little more about the Cubs’ spring, including the moment where Craig Counsell was uncharacteristically hot and yelling at the team during baserunning drills (per Rogers). It sounds like Counsell was already frustrated with some mistakes, and then a trio of gaffes from Kevin Alcantara sent him over the edge. I don’t think that would exclusively make the decision on Alcantara making the team, for example (with an option year available, he was already on the outside looking in for the bench competition), but it probably doesn’t help. But also, it’s not just about Alcantara, anyway. There’s a message being delivered overall to probably a whole lot of players that putting in the real, focused work even in practice does matter in the months ahead. No wonder Counsell got upset. Half these guys aren’t even moving:A post shared by cubs (@cubs)
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— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@bn-blackhawks.bsky.social) 2026-03-02T13:16:24ZSGA-Less Thunder Hand Chicago Their 1st Loss in March: Thunder 116, Bulls 108 – March 3, 2026 t.co/b7jhCpM9Z3
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