4 things we learned from Chicago Cubs spring training, including Pedro Strop still rocking his hat to the left and Willson Contreras being ‘proud’ of trade rumors

Pedro Strop wasn’t hard to miss Saturday when he officially joined Chicago Cubs camp.

Still rocking his hat to the left and a big smile, Strop was a welcomed presence at the complex. He watched Jake Arrieta, Shelby Miller and Tyson Miller’s side sessions next to a fence near the bullpens. Strop later played catch before heading back inside. It wasn’t hard to tell Strop was excited to be back in Cubs gear.

“It’s nice just to have him back walking around the clubhouse; I don’t know, it makes me smile, makes me happy to see him,” manager David Ross said. “I think it makes a lot of guys happy. It’s one of those things that a lot of us around here have anticipated once we knew he was going to be joining us and have been excited about, so today was that payoff of finally seeing Stropy.”

Now that he’s on site in Arizona, Strop officially enters the mix to win a spot in the bullpen. He should throw off the mound in the coming days.

“I told him I have an office now, that if he needed to talk to me he could come in the office,” Ross said. “That was fun to say.”

Here are three other takeaways from Cubs camp Saturday.

1. Willson Contreras isn’t looking too far ahead.

Like a few of his teammates, Willson Contreras wasn’t a stranger to having his name connected to trade rumors in the offseason. It wasn’t the first time the 28-year-old catcher dealt with it, but this time it didn’t bother him.

“Those rumors make me proud because with everything that I’ve done to be where I’m at, it makes me proud,” Contreras said Saturday. “I was going to go through it relaxed because if I got traded, I know that I’m ready to play anywhere in the world.”

Willson even had some fun on social media when trade rumors popped up.

A free agent after the 2022 season, Contreras isn’t thinking about a contract extension but would listen.

“If they want to come to me and want to talk about it, I’m open to it,” Contreras said.

The Cubs likely need to gain clarity on the futures of impending free agents Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez before tackling a potential contract extension with Contreras.

2. The Jake Arrieta-David Ross connection could pay off.

The other pitchers’ scheduled bullpens were finished yet Arrieta kept working.

As the session progressed Saturday morning, Ross stood near bullpen catcher Chad Noble to observe the veteran pitcher work. Ross occasionally offered feedback while Arrieta tinkered on the mound. Afterward, Arrieta and a group that included Ross, associate pitching coach Mike Borzello and bullpen coach Chris Young gathered on the grass between the mound and plate and chatted for 10 minutes.

Ross caught 12 of Arrieta’s starts in the right-hander’s first stint with the club. He posted a 1.43 ERA with Ross behind the plate, the lowest by any of the 19 catchers who have caught Arrieta during his 11-year career (minimum two starts together). Their connection as teammates can help inform Ross in his manager role.

“I think that’s extremely valuable,” Ross said. “I always enjoyed coaches that I’d been around that knew me, that knew some of the tendencies that sometimes we just forget how we maybe do things. And so being a former teammate of his and now on the same team again, I feel like I was just speaking from a couple of experiences where things that I noticed and saw and what his ball was doing and watching his bullpen and trying to get feedback.”

Ross didn’t provide specifics but said the Cubs have a plan in place for Arrieta. Ross explained they have identified “a couple of areas that maybe he’s gotten off a little bit that he didn’t even know.”

“Jake is a guy that is very aware of what he’s doing, his body, how it’s moving,” Ross said. “So just having conversations, talking, getting him back to who we think he can be.”

Seeing how Arrieta’s adjustments carry over into live batting practices and Cactus League games will serve as the first test.

3. Kyle Ryan moves a step closer to returning.

Left-hander Kyle Ryan was spotted shagging fly balls during Saturday’s workout.

Ryan is still on the COVID-19 list, though. The Cubs put him on the list Feb. 17. Being designated for the list does not necessarily mean Ryan tested positive; players who have close contact with someone who tested positive also can go on the list.

The Cubs will need to make a 40-man roster move once Ryan can be removed from the COVID-19 list. Players do not count against the 40-man while they are on it. The Cubs put Ryan on the COVID-19 list as the corresponding move for Arrieta’s signing.

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