Cactus League report: Our Cubs and White Sox Cactus League MVPs — and what we learned about managers Tony La Russa and David Ross

The Kansas City Royals won the mythical Cactus League championship with a 16-8 record, while the Chicago Cubs finished one game back at 15-9.

This concludes our month of Cactus League reports — and now it’s on to The Show.

Thursday’s season openers

White Sox at Los Angeles Angels, 9:05 p.m. in Anaheim, Calif.","type":"text

Forecast: Sunny with a high of 36 in Chicago. Clear with a high of 88 in Anaheim.

Forecast: Sunny with a high of 36 in Chicago. Clear with a high of 88 in Anaheim.

Cactus League leaders

Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, former teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers, tied for the Cactus League lead with eight home runs. Pederson, now with the Cubs, led in RBIs with 19, while Seager was tops in OPS at 1.265. Oakland A’s third baseman Chad Pinder led all hitters with a .356 average, while Cincinnati Reds infielder Eugenio Suarez had the most Cactus League strikeouts with 16 in 33 at-bats.

Cubs starter Zach Davies led all pitchers with four wins, going 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in five starts. San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb won the ERA crown with an 0.53 ERA in five starts. Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer and his former Cleveland Indians teammate, Zach Plesac, led in innings pitched with 23 1/4 u2153, followed by the White Sox’s Lucas Giolito at 23.

Giolito led in strikeouts with 30. Plesac served up a league-worst nine home runs while compiling a 6.98 ERA.

Biggest Cubs surprise

Nico Hoerner seemed like a shoo-in for a roster spot at the start of spring training after he was a Gold Glove finalist at second base in 2020. But despite a productive spring offensively (.364, 11 RBIs), Hoerner was demoted to Triple-A Iowa in the final days of the Cactus League season and will begin the year at the satellite camp in South Bend, Ind.

“It’s a little less about Nick and more about David Bote,” manager David Ross said, adding Hoerner needed more at-bats after Bote was named the starter.

But actually it appeared to be more about the late signing of veteran Eric Sogard, who also can play short, taking away Hoerner’s chance of being Javier Baez’s backup even if Bote got the starting job at second.

Biggest White Sox surprise

While there were no big battles for positions, the Sox went into spring training with the idea rookie Andrew Vaughn would get the bulk of the at-bats as designated hitter.

That plan went awry when Eloy Jimenez suffered a ruptured left pectoral tendon that the team said would force him to miss 5-6 months. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported Monday that Jimenez will miss four to five months, which should mean he won’t miss the entire season.

Still, the Sox had to audible, and a decision to give Vaughn a shot in left field meant they would need another DH candidate. Signing Jake Lamb could be a quick fix while they try out Vaughn, but Lamb has been trending down the last few years and may be the first of several moves to try to fill Jimenez’s void.

Cubs’ Cactus League MVP

Pederson is the hands-down winner after coming to the Cubs as a free agent with a reputation as a platoon player who couldn’t hit left-handers. That’s still to be determined, but Pederson was not only the best hitter at camp but arguably the best of any player in the Cactus League. Against right-handers, he went 13-for-36 and hit six of his eight home runs — along with 13 RBIs and a 1.856 OPS.

Davies, acquired in the Yu Darvish deal with the San Diego Padres, was runner-up with a dominant spring. Ross sometimes mistakenly called him “Kyle” before catching himself, though Davies’ reputation as “Kyle Hendricks Lite” seems apropos.

White Sox’s Cactus League MVP

Giolito compiled a 1.17 ERA in six starts, with 30 strikeouts in 23 innings and an 0.87 WHIP. Being reunited with his old high school pitching coach, Ethan Katz, can only pay dividends for a talented, young starter who has back-to-back strong seasons under his belt and appears ready to take it to another level in 2021.

Yoan Moncada was a close second and perhaps the best story of the spring after struggling to perform in 2020 following his bout with COVID-19.

What we learned about Tony La Russa

The notion that La Russa is set in his ways took a hit at the start of Cactus League play when the 76-year-old said he liked the idea of stopping play with less than two outs and “flipping” innings when pitchers’ pitch counts got too high. After Sox fans booed at Camelback Ranch when a few rallies were cut short, La Russa changed his mind.

“There’s all kinds of professional reasons why it makes sense,” he said of the rule. “But fans are paying to come in games, I know they were disappointed, they voiced it several times, so from the White Sox side, we’re going to do everything we can to avoid doing it.”

We probably won’t know for sure until we see how La Russa reacts to the first Tim Anderson bat flip, but those expecting to see a manager who refuses to change might be disappointed.

What we learned about David Ross

After managing tentatively in his first season and admitting he followed the lead of then-President Theo Epstein, Ross appears to be more comfortable making decisions under new President Jed Hoyer, who has given Ross more leeway.

Ross pledged to be less patient in 2021 after sticking too long with Kris Bryant in the leadoff spot and Craig Kimbrel as closer last summer. Whether that’s the case remains to be seen. But giving Bote a shot at being the starter at second and Kimbrel another chance at closing are gambles we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Quotable

“That’s real. There’s no reason to not talk about it. If we don’t anticipate there will be a hiccup on the way, we’re probably not being realistic.” — Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona on the lack of experience in the rotation outside of Cy Young award-winning Shane Bieber

This Day in Cubs/White Sox history

March 31, 2004: After the NLCS collapse to the Florida Marlins in 2003 and the offseason signing of pitcher Greg Maddux, Sports Illustrated picked the Cubs to win the World Series in its season preview issue.

Starter Kerry Wood graced the cover with the headline “Hell Freezes Over.”

“I wouldn’t mind if hell freezes over,” manager Dusty Baker said. “That means I have a better chance to get into heaven.”

Wood said he was not concerned over the so-called SI cover jinx.

“It didn’t jinx Michael Jordan, and he was on it quite a bit,” Wood said. “I’m not comparing myself to Michael Jordan by any means, but my jinx was my elbow (injury) after being on it the first time (in 1998).”

Sports Illustrated took photos of Wood and Mark Prior together for the cover but changed direction after Prior’s Achilles tendon injury forced him onto the opening-day DL. The 2004 Cubs blew a wild-card spot in the final week of the season and missed the postseason. Wood retired in 2012, and his 20-strikeout game is celebrated every May 6, while hell theoretically froze over in 2016 when the Cubs finally won the World Series.

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