MESA, Ariz. – New Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is scheduled to make his spring training debut on Friday, when the Cubs play the Rockies at Sloan Park.
Cubs manager David Ross made the announcement Wednesday, adding that Suzuki will start in right field.
“He looks really good,” Ross said earlier this week. “I think the main thing is, you don’t have access and have live pitching and real reps [in the offseason]. You hit in the cage, he’s looked in great shape, worked out really hard. I think he just likes to hit a lot, it’s just his personality.”
Friday will mark a week from Suzuki’s arrival in Cubs camp, after he signed a five-year, $85 million contract. Paired with the posting fee the Cubs owe to Suzuki’s Japanese club, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, his deal was the fifth-largest financial commitment in Cubs history.
“He’s a power hitter who makes really good swing decisions and doesn’t swing and miss a lot,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said during Suzuki’s introductory press conference last week. “So, that’s a really good place to start. He also plays really good defense in right field, with a strong arm. He’s a good base runner.”
Suzuki jumped into live batting practice from Day 1, even as the Cubs made it clear that they wouldn’t rush him.
“The live BPs, it looks like his timing’s getting ready, getting in these drills,” Ross said Tuesday. “We’re ready to see some action here shortly.”
Arbitration reaction
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras said he talked with his agent twice Tuesday, the deadline for teams to exchange salary figures with any unsigned arbitration-eligible players.
“I was pretty satisfied with what he said,” Contreras said. “That’s their job, they’re going back and forth. I’m doing my job, that is, come here, be happy, enjoy everything that I can the most that I can. That’s one thing I can control.”
The two partiesdid not come to an agreement, with a $1.25 million gap between the salaries they filed. The next step is to schedule a hearing. Though the system allows for teams and players to strike a deal between the exchange deadline and the hearing, the Cubs are not expected to go against the norm to do so.
Outfielder Ian Happ, the Cubs’ other arbitration-eligible player, did settle on Tuesday.
“It was good to go through the process and come to an agreement,” Happ told the Sun-Times. “I don’t have to go back to a courtroom. Just being able to have that clarity going into the season was good.”
