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Home , Jim Deshaies, Len Kasper, Ron Coomer, WSCR

January 28, 2016

Tribune, Cubs announce spring training TV, radio schedule http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-spring-training-broadcasts-20160127- story.html

 Cubs.com, Most Cubs spring games to be broadcast http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/162959316/cubs-spring-games-on-tv-radio-internet

 CSNChicago.com, Cubs prospect Dan Vogelbach can't worry about the DH or Anthony Rizzo http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-prospect-dan-vogelbach-cant-worry-about-dh-or-anthony-rizzo

 CSNChicago.com, Cubs release spring broadcast schedule; CSN to air six games http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-release-spring-broadcast-schedule-csn-air-six-games

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Chicago Tribune Cubs announce spring training TV, radio schedule By Tim Bannon

The Cubs will make their WSCR-AM 670 debut on March 5, when they host the Reds at .

The team announced its 30-game spring training broadcast schedule Wednesday. All are either available on cubs.com, WSCR, WGN-TV, or CSN. Two games (March 17 vs. Diamondbacks and March 24 vs. Giants) will also be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Len Kasper will join Mick Gillispie, radio broadcaster for the team's Double-A Tennessee affiliate, for most of the cubs.com radio casts.

In November, CBS radio announced this season's Cubs radio broadcasts would move to WSCR. Games last year were on WBBM-AM 780. White Sox games are moving to WLS-AM 890, after a 10-year run on WSCR.

Here are some of the key dates (all times are 2:05 p.m. Chicago time unless otherwise noted).

March 5: Cubs-Reds, WSCR March 6: Cubs-Diamondbacks, WSCR March 12: Cubs-White Sox, WSCR March 13: Cubs-Athletics, WSCR March 19: Cubs-Indians, WSCR, 8:05 p.m. March 20: Cubs-Royals, WGN, WSCR March 23: Cubs-Rangers, CSN March 25: Cubs-Brewers, CSN.

March 26: Cubs-Giants, WGN, WSCR March 27: Cubs-Mariners, CSN, WSCR March 29: Cubs-Athletics, CSN March 31: Cubs-Mets, CSN April 1: Cubs-Mets, WGN April 3: Cubs-Angels, WSCR

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Cubs.com Most Cubs spring games to be broadcast By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Cubs fans will be able to watch or listen to nearly every Spring Training game this year via television, radio or Internet broadcast.

The Cubs announced Wednesday that a Cubs game will be available every game day of the spring schedule via one or more broadcast mediums, and 30 of the 32 games are scheduled to be available overall. The only games not available are road split-squad games, March 7 against the Rockies and March 12 against the Dodgers.

Fans can watch more than 250 Spring Training games with an MLB.TV offseason subscription. The Cubs schedule features nine games to be televised by Cubs broadcast partners, including six by Comcast SportsNet Chicago and three by WGN-TV. Nine games will be broadcast on 670 The Score Cubs Radio Network, and 21 will be available via broadcast on cubs.com. Fans can access the Cubs on cubs.com and MLB.com for free by registering for an account with the website.

Two games will be broadcast on ESPN: March 17 against the D-backs from Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., and March 24 against the Giants from Scottsdale.

670 The Score, the team's new radio rightsholder, will broadcast its first game March 5 when the Cubs play host to the Reds. Pat Hughes and return as the radio voices of the Cubs.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago's first game will be March 16 when the Cubs play in Surprise against the defending champion Royals. WGN-TV's first game will be March 20 when the Cubs play host to the Royals in Mesa. and return to call all Cubs TV games.

Kasper will join Mick Gillispie, radio broadcaster for the Cubs' Double-A Tennessee affiliate, for most of the cubs.com Internet radio broadcasts. They will start the Cactus League season March 3 when the Cubs travel to Maryvale Baseball Park to face the Brewers.

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CSNChicago.com Cubs prospect Dan Vogelbach can't worry about the DH or Anthony Rizzo By Tony Andracki

You know the baseball world is going stir-crazy when a new story pops up almost hourly about whether or not the designated hitter will - or should - come to the National League.

With less than a month until and catchers report to spring training, the DH debate rages on, with commissioner Rob Manfred clarifying his comments this week and admitting pitchers will still be hitting in the NL for the foreseeable future.

That can't be the news Dan Vogelbach wanted to hear. Not if he still has dreams about breaking into the big leagues with the Cubs.

Vogelbach has to keep improving and would need either a trade or an Anthony Rizzo injury to eventually find his way into a big-league lineup spot. There's no other way around it until the DH comes to the NL.

"Quite frankly, I can't worry about that type of stuff," Vogelbach said during Cubs Convention earlier this month. "I'm just going to continue to play first base and be the best first baseman that I can and learn from Rizzo.

"Obviously, Rizzo is the first baseman of the and that's not going to change. So I can't worry about what he does or how he performs. I can only worry about what I do. So if [the DH] opens up, that's another chance and another bat in the lineup. But right now, I'm just going to continue to try to be the best first baseman I can be."

Rizzo is only 26, a two-time All-Star and under team control through the 2021 season. And Vogelbach hasn't forced the issue yet, reaching the Double-A level for the first time in 2015 before missing a month-and-a-half with a torn oblique.

Vogelbach said he's 100 percent healthy and ready for what figures to be a pivotal year in his development. Now 23, he hasn't really shown off the kind of power the Cubs expected when they drafted him in the second round in 2011, 59 spots after Jim Hendry's front office took Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick.

In five minor-league seasons, Vogelbach has hit 60 home runs, or roughly one every 25 at-bats. It hasn’t quite been the light-tower power he was known for during his high school days in Florida.

But Vogelbach has proven he’s more than just a power hitter, putting up a career .382 on-base percentage in the minors with 239 walks and only 292 in 411 games.

In some ways, Vogelbach resembles Rizzo as a left-handed hitter. That's by design.

"The way Rizzo hits, he's not scared to go to two strikes," Vogelbach said. "He knows when he needs to hit and when he can let it go to hit a .

"That's the stuff that I look at. Everybody hits differently, but when it comes down to it, approach-wise is how you're going to hit and how you're going to be successful."

Vogelbach talked about understanding the situation, how swinging for the fences in a tie game with a runner on second and two outs is silly when a single can give his team the lead.

Vogelbach is an intense competitor, the type of guy who hates to lose and won't try to hide it. But he prefers a quiet approach when putting in the work.

"I'm not big on asking questions," Vogelbach said. "I just like to watch [Rizzo], how he battles with two strikes, how he doesn't do too much. That's why, every single year, he hits for a high average and his on-base percentage is so high.

"And that's what I pride myself in. I get to watch him and the way he takes pitches the other way. He doesn't chase pitches and that's the way I like to be."

It would make sense if Vogelbach returned to Tennessee to begin this season before making the jump to Triple-A Iowa. He is listed at 6-foot, 250 pounds on his Baseball-Reference page but looks more streamlined now. He also heard all the Kyle Schwarber comparisons throughout Cubs Convention weekend.

"Coming out of high school, I was obviously overweight and I wasn't in shape," Vogelbach said. "In high school, you can get away with anything. So coming here, they had a plan for me and basically told me I didn't have a choice.

"So I took that to heart. I have to do whatever I can to play. That was the first step. I had to change my eating habits. I worked out a lot more and kind of made it a lifestyle.

"Since losing weight that year, it's really helped me in every aspect of the game. I'm healthy, I feel good and I'm ready for the season."

Stay tuned to see if that means wearing a Cubs uniform or becoming part of a bigger trade for pitching.

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CSNChicago.com Cubs release spring broadcast schedule; CSN to air six games By Tony Andracki

Spring training is right around the corner and the Cubs reminded everybody of that fact Wednesday when they released the 2016 spring broadcast schedule.

Comcast SportsNet will air six spring games, including March 16 against the world champion Kansas City Royals and an NLCS rematch with the New York Mets in Las Vegas on March 31.

CSN will also air games on March 23 (Rangers), March 25 (Brewers), March 27 (Mariners) and March 29 (A's).

Every game but two split-squad contests will be broadcast either on TV, radio or Cubs.com internet radio broadcast.

Mick Gillispie, Double-A Tennessee broadcaster, will join Len Kasper in the booth again for most of the Cubs.com broadcasts.

Kasper and Jim Deshaies will call all nine games on TV while Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer will have the call on the radio broadcasts.

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