MESA, Ariz. — Nick Madrigal charged in from third base and fired across his body Tuesday morning as a few raindrops fell on a cool day at the Chicago Cubs spring training complex.
Madrigal spent half of his infield work at the unfamiliar position before shifting to second base for another batch of ground balls off the fungo bat of bench coach Andy Green. Incorporating work at third became part of his routine after the Cubs signed shortstop Dansby Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million contract in December, which moved Nico Hoerner back to second and left Madrigal’s position in flux.
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Midway through the offseason, as the Cubs roster started to take shape, manager David Ross called Madrigal to give him a heads up and let him know where to prepare defensively.
“I appreciate that a lot, rather than showing up this spring and (it be) last second, just so I can get my head around it and start practicing different positions,” Madrigal said Tuesday. “I really don’t care where I’m at. I feel like I can play multiple positions. I haven’t bounced around too much in my life. I feel like I’m fully capable of doing it.
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“And we’re all here to win. … I’m not looking at anything personally — where I want to play, where I’m going to be. I don’t know what the lineup part’s going to look like in a couple months. Whatever they throw at me, I feel like I can help this team in a lot of ways.”
Green flew to Arizona to spend a week working with Madrigal at third base. He helped break down the position and get Madrigal up to speed on the intricacies of the position. Madrigal valued Green taking time during the offseason to better prepare him for such a foreign spot.
Madrigal said he couldn’t remember when he last played third. His experience since high school consists of one inning during a showcase game before he went to Oregon State.
He incorporated more long toss in his offseason regimen as part of his efforts to strengthen his arm and body for the oomph he will need on throws across the diamond.
“Second base, you can kind of get away with just flipping it over there,” Madrigal said, “but third base, you’ve really got to get everything into it.”
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This is an important season for Madrigal, who turns 25 next month and has been plagued by injuries the last three seasons. Once the 2022 season ended, he already was looking ahead to this year.
Three stints on the injured list (back strain, left groin strain and right groin strain) marred his production and limited him to 59 games — after he was hampered during camp by his surgically repaired right hamstring. At one point during spring training, Madrigal had to leave a workout while trying to stretch and warm up on the field because his hamstring didn’t feel right.
“Looking back on it, (my hamstring) probably wasn’t fully ready,” Madrigal said. “As a competitor I wanted to be out there and was hoping it would kind of adapt to it, but it led to other things with my body.”
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Madrigal took one week off in October before starting a strength program ahead of his typical schedule. He trained at THP in Scottsdale, Ariz., with an emphasis on getting back to basics and building his base.
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He spent three weeks working solely on his lower half so it could better support his upper body. Madrigal will need to stay healthy and show in Cactus League games he is capable of handling third base as he looks to secure a utility/bench spot on the opening-day roster.
“As time went on, we started working more laterally and different agility work,” Madrigal said. “I mean, I’ve never done this much agility work in all of my baseball offseasons.
“So I’m moving better than I ever have and my body is so much more flexible right now. I just feel like I’m in a great spot overall.”
