February 16, 2018

 The Athletic, Anthony Rizzo takes Parkland tragedy personally and calls for gun control: 'Something has to change' https://theathletic.com/243303/2018/02/15/anthony-rizzo-takes-parkland-tragedy-personally-and- calls-for-gun-control-something-has-to-change/

 The Athletic, Kris Bryant feels Anthony Rizzo's pain after Parkland, Fla. shooting https://theathletic.com/242972/2018/02/15/kris-bryant-feels-anthony-rizzos-pain-after-parkland- fla-shooting/

 The Athletic, In wake of Florida school shooting, talks gun laws https://theathletic.com/242871/2018/02/15/in-wake-of-florida-school-shooting-joe-maddon-talks- gun-laws/

 Cubs.com, Tearful Rizzo speaks at vigil for Florida victims https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/anthony-rizzo-goes-home-after-school-shooting/c-266472200

 Cubs.com, Darvish 'focused' in first side session for Cubs https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/yu-darvish-focused-in-first-session-for-cubs/c-266508816

 ESPNChicago.com, How does Mike Montgomery feel about losing his rotation spot to Yu Darvish? http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/46401/how-does-mike-montgomery-feel- about-losing-his-rotation-spot-to-yu-darvish

 ESPNChicago.com, Anthony Rizzo at Parkland vigil: 'We're all grieving with you' http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22458775/anthony-rizzo--cubs-speaks-candlelight- vigil-victims-parkland-florida-high-school-shooting

 NBC Sports Chicago, Brandon Morrow hasn't closed in a decade, but he pitched in every game of the World Series: High leverage enough for you? http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/brandon-morrow-hasnt-closed-decade-he-pitched-every- game-world-series-high-leverage-enough-you

 NBC Sports Chicago, Albert Almora, Cubs won't settle for anything less than another World Series title http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/albert-almora-chicago-expectation-world-series-2018

 NBC Sports Chicago, Anthony Rizzo leaves Cubs spring training for Florida after mass shooting at alma mater http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/anthony-rizzo-leaves-cubs-spring-training-florida-after- mass-shooting-alma-mater

 NBC Sports Chicago, Another Cubs superstar deals with aftermath of hometown mass shooting http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/another-cubs-superstar-deals-aftermath-hometown- mass-shooting-florida-parkland-anthony-rizzo-high-school-kris-bryant-las-vegas-joe-maddon

, A breakdown of Yu Darvish’s 6 pitches — their effectiveness and usage http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-yu-darvish-pitches-20180216- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs plan to unleash starter Yu Darvish's full repertoire http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-yu-darvish-variety-notes- 20180215-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Anthony Rizzo offers support at vigil in Florida in wake of shooting http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-anthony-rizzo-school-shooting- 20180215-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, 'Antsy' Brian Duensing happy to return to Cubs after waiting for new deal http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-brian-duensing-20180215- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Joe Maddon is Chicago’s most colorful and confident manager http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-haugh-joe-maddon-art- motivation-20180215-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Albert Almora Jr. on Florida school shooting: 'You think twice about going somewhere' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-albert-almora-school-shooting- 20180215-story.html

 Chicago Sun-Times, Joe Maddon says he might have his best rotation since becoming Cubs manager https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/joe-maddon-says-he-might-have-his-best-rotation-since- becoming-cubs-manager/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs after shooting: ‘We’re all here for Anthony [Rizzo] and all those families’ https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-after-shooting-were-all-here-for-anthony-rizzo-and-all- those-familes/

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The Athletic Anthony Rizzo takes Parkland tragedy personally and calls for gun control: 'Something has to change' By Patrick Mooney

MESA, Ariz. — Anthony Rizzo understands the power of his platform, the responsibilities that come with being this generation’s Mr. Cub.

Rizzo couldn’t be more than 2,000 miles away from home after a gunman killed 17 people at his high school in South Florida. He didn’t simply offer the empty “thoughts and prayers” you hear from NRA- backed politicians.

Rizzo — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School class of 2007 — flew from Arizona on Wednesday night and posted a message on his Twitter account calling for tighter gun control. He then attended a

Thursday night vigil in Parkland, delivering an emotional speech that expressed the simmering frustration after yet another massacre.

“We see this on TV too often,” Rizzo said. “I feel like it’s all the time. There’s a cycle to it. We get horrified that this violence is inflected [on] our kids. We get angry that there’s nothing we can do and nothing’s done about it. And then we ultimately get immune and move on to something else.

“But then it happens in our own town, in your own school or the movie theater or a nightclub or a church. And we realize it could happen to us, in our safe and tight-knit community.

“In fact, there are a lot of communities out there that know exactly what we’re going through right now and have to relive these moments again and again.

“Look, I’m a baseball player, but I’m also an American. I’m a Floridian and I’m a Parklander for life. Though I don’t have all the answers, I know that something has to change before this is visited on another community and another community and another community.”

This is personal for Rizzo, who donated $150,000 last year to install a state-of-the-art lighting system for the high school’s baseball and softball fields. Anthony Rizzo Field followed him winning both the Roberto Clemente Award and the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, two prestigious honors from and the players union.

Rizzo’s older brother, John, played football at Stoneman Douglas and Florida Atlantic University, overlapping with Aaron Feis, the coach and security guard who heroically died while shielding students from bullets.

Spend any significant amount of time around the Cubs and you’ll bump into Rizzo’s parents, John and Laurie, outside the clubhouse or on a flight back to Chicago or in the middle of a playoff celebration.

“Rizz is kind of like the rock that everything builds off of,” manager Joe Maddon said. “And then you take his work off of the field, the fact that he’s a cancer survivor. His community work, his charitable work is staggering.”

The devastation hit home in the Cubs clubhouse because this is a baseball hotbed. Albert Almora Jr. grew up in Miami and graduated from Mater Academy in Hialeah Gardens, roughly 40 miles south of the Parkland crime scene. The young outfielder remembered playing on the Stoneman Douglas field.

“There’s got to be something done,” Almora told reporters. “I don’t know what that is. It’s not my place to say because I have no idea what they have to do, but something’s got to be done. I saw something that there’s been 18 mass shootings in the first two months of this year. That can’t happen.

“I don’t care what you believe in, what political beliefs you have, that just can’t happen. There’s a lot of innocent lives taken for [no] reason.”

Even if the statistic Almora quoted is wrong, ongoing Washington Post research has found that “more than 150,000 students attending at least 170 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.”

Even within the insular baseball world, this is more of a pattern than random acts of violence. Five years ago, the Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers played an exhibition in Tucson to benefit ’s granddaughter, who died in the mass shooting that wounded then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Last year, the Cubs drafted Chris Singleton, who sent the “love is always stronger than hate” message after his mother died in the mass shooting at a historic African-American church in South Carolina.

Last October, while preparing for a playoff series against the Washington Nationals, Kris Bryant processed his now-sister-in-law and friends escaping the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas.

“It’s just been so great to see our community come together,” Bryant said. “I know Anthony will have a big influence on that in Florida. But it’s so sad. I can’t imagine what some of those people are going through.

“Especially at a school, you’re supposed to feel safe there. But it’s just a crazy world we’re living in nowadays.”

This is the new normal at a time when a Quinnipiac University poll released last November showed 95 percent support for universal background checks for gun purchases, 65 percent support for a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, and 60 percent support for stricter gun laws.

This is Rizzo promising to never forget his roots.

“I grew up in Stoneman Douglas,” Rizzo said. “I am only who I am because of this community. I just want all of you to know how proud I am to be part of this community. I want you to know that you’re not alone in your grief. We’re all grieving with you. The entire country is grieving with you.

“So whatever cover I can give, I will give. Whatever support I can offer to our students, teachers, coaches and families and first responders, you’ll have it.”

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The Athletic Kris Bryant feels Anthony Rizzo's pain after Parkland, Fla. shooting By Patrick Mooney

MESA, Ariz. – Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant have relatively carefree, balanced personalities. Cubs players already live in a bubble and spring training is supposed to be the most relaxed time of the year.

But these mass shootings keep shattering any illusions that you can somehow distance yourself from the tragedies, or any thought of: “Oh, that would never happen here.”

Because when this violence touches two of Major League Baseball’s biggest superstars – less than five months apart and some 2,500 miles away – this feels more like a way of life than anything random.

Bryant had heard about a shooting in Florida when he texted Rizzo on Wednesday, but didn’t make the connection, simply asking what the workout plan would be on Thursday at the Sloan Park complex.

Rizzo left Arizona that night and flew home to South Florida in the wake of the attack at his alma mater Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day.

Rizzo graduated from that high school in 2007, his charitable foundation has a presence in Parkland and his strong family bonds there helped him beat cancer and become an All-Star first baseman and a World Series champion.

“It really just speaks to who Anthony really is,” Bryant said. “Yeah, we’re baseball players and the season’s about to start, but something like that happens in his community and he’s right there with them.

“Anthony’s just a role model for everybody on this team, in Chicago, the whole country. He’s just such an amazing person that he’s going down there and doing anything that he can do to help.”

Bryant and Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper felt helpless last October before the start of a highly anticipated playoff series that suddenly didn’t seem quite as important.

Bryant’s now sister-in-law escaped the Oct. 1 massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival where a gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds of victims.

“It’s just so gut-wrenching,” Bryant said. “You don’t really even know what to think, especially when you start to hear stories of people you knew and how people got away.

“A lot of friends – just hearing stories of them running over people, trying to get out in any way they can, just jumping in anybody’s car, knocking on any hotel room. People were scared. Just to hear those stories, I could not imagine being in that situation.”

An “ongoing Washington Post analysis” has found “at least” 170 school shootings since Columbine in 1999.

There can be a numbing effect, seeing the same nightmarish images on cable news over and over again, but Las Vegas and Parkland hit too close to home for two players so close that they are known simply as “Bryzzo.”

“Of course, they happen to live in those spots, but the entire nation is feeling the brunt of all this,” manager Joe Maddon said. “When you heard about that, you felt awful. That hollow feeling. You just imagine your own kids or your family or anybody that you possibly know being involved in that. It’s getting way too familiar.

“We just have to do something. We have to come together as a group somehow to formulate some opinions or method or plan to put this to an end.”

Bryant spoke thoughtfully about a difficult topic for 10 minutes in the media room, but he declined to go as far as Rizzo, who called for stricter gun control – “our country is in desperate need for change” – in a message on his Twitter account.

“I’ve never been the type to get into the whole political side of these situations,” Bryant said. “I just want to see good people. That’s something that personally I strive to do every day – just to be a good person – and it’s not that hard to do. I just see too much of that in the world today where there’s a lot of bad people out there. I don’t know how to change it. But I think there is a way and it starts with the actions of each human being in this country.”

The Cubs are giving Rizzo time and space, expecting him to be back in Mesa next week when the team begins full-squad workouts. Bryant’s message to Rizzo will be: “I’m here for you.”

“As sad as it is to say, I’ve been through it,” Bryant said. “I’ve been through it with my hometown and my community. I guess really the only thing I can offer him is just the support system that I’m here to hear him out. I’m here to help in any way I can.

“But for me, it just touches my heart when I saw the Vegas community come together. And I think that’s what we’re going to see here.”

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The Athletic In wake of Florida school shooting, Joe Maddon talks gun laws By Sahadev Sharma

MESA, Ariz. – Joe Maddon isn’t one for rules. When it comes to managing his team off the field, Maddon likes to let the players dictate how the clubhouse is run.

When smokeless tobacco was banned by the Chicago City Council at sporting events in 2016, Maddon spoke of impinging on “personal freedoms.” Last postseason, he compared the confusing home plate rule to Chicago's short-lived “soda tax.”

Maddon isn't one for strong political statements in public. This is a man who fondly recalls shaking hands with President Obama at the 2009 All-Star game and being invited to dinner by George W. Bush. He's the same person who defended visiting the Trump White House last summer by pointing to the need to have “respect for the office.”

But on Thursday, a day after 17 were killed after a mass shooting at Anthony Rizzo’s alma mater, Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Maddon was asked about the idea of whether more regulation on automatic and semi-automatic weapons would be a good thing. It is believed the alleged shooter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that has often been referred to as an automatic one.

“There’s gotta be something to be done about that,” Maddon said. “There has to be. More specifically, I don’t know enough, except that it just doesn’t make any sense that an automatic rifle has to be in anybody’s hands. I don’t understand that. I would need to sit down with the appropriate people and be educated properly as opposed to just what I may read or hear. When you do that, you’re trying to read between the lines constantly to attempt to form your own opinions. It’s easy to formulate the opinion that I don’t understand why those kinds of weapons are necessary in our culture in the hands of just anybody. I don’t understand that. But again, I would want to be more educated.”

This isn’t a pointed Steve Kerr response. This isn’t a Gregg Popovich digging in on a polarizing topic. But that wouldn’t be Maddon, who spoke in less politically heated times about why he's a registered Republican, but generally steers clear of politics on the record.

Unlike the NBA, baseball is a much more conservative sport with many coming from a more conservative and religious base. It's much rarer to hear strong political thoughts in baseball on the record than in other sports.

This is about as strong of a stance as Maddon will take on a political issue, and one that actually goes against his general belief about less is more when it comes to regulations.

Rizzo headed back to Florida Wednesday evening to be with friends and family during this time. Maddon, as expected, said Rizzo would take as much time as needed and had the support of everyone with the team.

“I texted with him and just offered him our support, whatever that means,” Maddon said. “I knew he was going back down there. We are all for that. It’s just one of those things, these moments in our culture right now that’s gotta stop. Nobody has the answers, but we have to figure it out somehow. I told him to get back to us if there’s anything we can do to help. I don’t even know what that means. I definitely want him to go back there and get involved, as he should. It’s just horrible. Horrible.”

Kris Bryant faced a similarly difficult situation after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took 58 lives at a music festival in Las Vegas, Bryant’s hometown, on Oct. 1. Now, less than six months later, another prominent Cubs player has to see his home be afflicted by gun violence. But Maddon was quick to point out it’s not just those who are from these towns who are affected by these tragic moments.

“Of course, they happen to live in those spots, but the entire nation is feeling the brunt of all this,” Maddon said. “When you heard about that you feel awful, that hollow feeling. You just imagine your own kids, your family or anybody that you possibly know being involved in that. It’s getting way too familiar. We just have to do something. I don’t have the answers, but we have to come together as a group somehow to formulate some option, method or plan to put this to an end. Because it’s really a horrible thing for any of us to have to experience.”

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 6,634 incidents involving guns this year alone; 1,840 of them resulting in death. There have been 69 children age 0-11 and 354 age 12-17 killed since Jan. 1 and 30 mass shootings during that time. According to The Washington Post, five times this year there has been a shooting at a school that resulted in injury or death and three other times where there were intentional shootings in which no one was hurt.

Maddon was asked if people in power, famous people with platforms and the ability to amplify their voice and those of others, could help enact the change needed to end the frequency of such tragedies.

“I’ve thought about that, I really have thought about that,” he said. “I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that. You want to feel like you can. You’d like to believe that you can. But the kid who did that, who knows who he’s going to be impressed by or what’s going to prevent him from wanting to do something like that. What’s the motivation in the first place? We have no idea what the motivation was in the first place. All I would say is that yes, the people that are in our position, if there’s anything we can do to be more helpful in regards creating an answer to this situation, we’d all want to be able to participate or become involved in that. Whether you’re famous or not famous, we all have to become involved in the process of trying to solve this problem. It’s horrific.”

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Cubs.com Tearful Rizzo speaks at vigil for Florida victims By Carrie Muskat

Standing on the same stage in the park where he has hosted a charity walk-a-thon, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo tearfully addressed a prayer vigil in his hometown of Parkland, Fla., on Thursday night following the tragic shooting at his alma mater, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Rizzo returned home to be with his family and the community after Wednesday's tragedy, where a gunman shot and killed 17 people.

"I grew up in Stoneman Douglas," Rizzo said to the crowd. "I played on those fields. I went to those classes. I studied in those classrooms, the same ones we saw in all those videos yesterday for all the wrong reasons."

During his nearly five-minute speech, Rizzo said he was impressed at how the students are coping with the loss of their classmates and how they're taking care of each other. He praised them as well as the teachers, coaches and first responders. Rizzo also made a plea to end gun violence.

"I'm a baseball player, but I'm also an American," Rizzo said. "I'm a Floridian and a Parklander for life. While I don't have all the answers, I know something has to change before this is visited on another community and another community and another community."

The candlelight vigil was held at Pine Trails Park, which is where Rizzo has hosted his walk the past six years.

"I am only who I am because of this community and I want you to know how proud I am to be part of this community," Rizzo said. "I want you to know that you are not alone in your grief. We are all grieving with you. The entire country is grieving with you. Whatever cover I can give, I will give. Whatever support I can offer to our students, teachers, coaches and families and first responders, you'll have it."

The Cubs offered their support to their teammate before he left camp.

"What are the proper words now except that we're there for you, whatever you need let us know, we'll try to help," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of his message to Rizzo.

"The entire nation is feeling the brunt of all this," Maddon said Thursday. "When we heard about this [shooting], you felt awful and that hollow feeling. You just imagine your own kids or your family or anyone you know being involved in that, and it's getting way too familiar."

On Wednesday, Rizzo posted on Twitter: "Parkland and Coral Springs please stay strong! This is out of control and our country is in desperate need for change. I hope in this darkest of times back home this brings everyone together and we can find love. You're all in my prayers"

Rizzo, 28, grew up in Parkland and has maintained close ties with his hometown. He donated $150,000 to the high school to install modern lighting at the baseball field, and in January helped raise more than $100,000 to finish the project.

Over the past six years, he's hosted a "Walk-Off for Cancer" event at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, which this year raised $960,000 for the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation to fund cancer research and provide support to children and their families battling the disease.

At the walk, Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky presented Rizzo with the first Mayor's Medal of Charitable Service, created to honor Parkland residents or those whose deeds have heavily impacted residents.

"It could happen to anyone," said Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr., a Miami native, who played against Parkland while in high school. "Nowadays, you think twice about going somewhere, because things like that can happen at any time. It's really unfortunate. My prayers go out to all the victims and the families affected. Just to experience that, it'll change your life forever."

When the shooting happened, Almora's parents called him immediately.

"They said, 'There's a shooting at the school in Broward [County],' and I said, 'What school is it?' They told me Douglas. I said, 'Oh my God, that's where Riz went,'" Almora said. "I personally don't know anybody there, but it's part of the South Florida family."

Almora, who has a young son, said he can't imagine being a parent of one of the victims.

"There's got to be something done," Almora said. "I don't know what it is -- it's not my place to say, because I have no idea what they have to do. I saw something that there's been 18 [gun-related incidents] in the first two months of the year. That can't happen. I don't care what your beliefs are or what political beliefs you have, that just can't happen. There's a lot of innocent lives taken for no such reason. That doesn't fly with me."

Third baseman Kris Bryant was driving from his home in Las Vegas to Phoenix on Wednesday night and sent Rizzo a text, asking what his teammate's plan was for Thursday in camp.

"He said, 'I'm going home,'" Bryant said. "I was completely unaware of where [the shooting] was. I was super sad. I found out today he knew some people [who were killed]. It's a terrible situation, especially when it happened so close to his hometown. It happened in my hometown. It's just a scary, sad situation."

Bryant's sister-in-law and several friends were at the Oct. 1 concert in Las Vegas when a gunman killed 58 people and injured more than 800.

"Oct. 1 in Vegas was a terrible day," Bryant said. "A lot of my friends and family were involved in that. Obviously, you wish those things did not happen but the community coming together after that and me being there this offseason and seeing 'Vegas Strong' everywhere, it's made me so proud to be from Las Vegas.

"I know Anthony will have a big influence in Florida. I can't imagine what some of those people are going through."

This offseason, Bryant heard more details about what happened to friends at the Las Vegas concert.

"I heard stories of them running over people trying to get out in any way they can and jumping in anybody's car and knocking on any hotel room door," Bryant said. "Just to hear those stories, I could not imagine being in that situation. I just couldn't imagine being there [in Parkland] yesterday. Just hearing that terrible news, especially at a school. You're supposed to feel safe there. It's a crazy world we're living in nowadays."

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Cubs.com Darvish 'focused' in first side session for Cubs By Carrie Muskat

MESA, Ariz. -- The Cubs' plan is to let Yu Darvish be himself.

The newest addition to the Cubs' rotation had his first side session on Thursday, and manager Joe Maddon was pleased with what he saw from the right-hander.

"He's really focused and clear on what he wants to do and how he wants to do it," Maddon said. "I'm getting to know him and it's been relatively easy. I think he's very comfortable already here and that's important. I think it's reflected in conversations, how he feels about being here. You saw his work, he looked really focused. There was nothing for him to worry about except hitting the catcher's mitt. [I've enjoyed] getting to know him."

When Darvish was traded to the Dodgers last year, the team asked him to streamline his pitch selection and throw more sliders and fewer cutters.

"We want him to be him, so we'd prefer to get his input and feedback regarding how he wants to go about it," Maddon said. "I'm aware of what happened with the Dodgers. I think you're going to see maybe more of a complete version than he had been in the past [in terms of] utilizing more of his weaponry.

"We're not going to dictate to him necessarily how he needs to go about pitching, pitch usage, number of pitches, incorporating the variety he has. Let him alone, let him go pitch and we'll watch it. We're not following the plan that he had with the Dodgers."

Darvish did follow the Dodgers' plan in the postseason, which resulted in a win over the Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, when he limited them to six hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-1 win.

• Willson Contreras caught Darvish's first side session, not non-roster invitee Chris Gimenez, who caught the right-hander when they were together on the Rangers.

"I think that's been overplayed a lot," Maddon said of the Gimenez-Darvish connection. "Of course, 'Gimmy' might catch him but Willson is our guy, Willson's our catcher, and I want Willson to catch him. It's never been our plan to match him up exclusively with 'Gimmy.'"

Darvish did joke at his introductory news conference that he liked Contreras better.

• The Cubs are expected to carry 13 relievers this year.

"When you look at the names among the relievers, it's hard to imagine less than 13," Maddon said. "And when you look at the position players, there's so much versatility. I think the combination of versatility and looking for at-bats -- why put another guy on the bench who you're looking for at-bats for?"

• Will the Cubs' relievers keep dancing? They started doing celebratory dances in the bullpen at after one of their teammates hit a home run.

"I keep getting asked about that," new Cubs closer Brandon Morrow said.

Reliever Carl Edwards Jr. will take charge of the dance moves.

"I think I'm going to clear this whole place out and have this whole choreography thing and see what we've got," Edwards said. "I might have to put the hitters in it, too."

Edwards wanted to have the batters prepared in case one of them is needed to pitch in relief. Told that Gimenez made six appearances on the mound last year, Edwards perked up.

"I'm going to have to check him out and see what he's got," Edwards said. "He might do a robot or something."

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ESPNChicago.com How does Mike Montgomery feel about losing his rotation spot to Yu Darvish? By Jesse Rogers

MESA, Ariz. -- You’ll have to excuse Mike Montgomery if he wasn’t exactly celebrating the recent signing of Yu Darvish. Although Darvish is taking his spot in the rotation, Montgomery can’t fault the Cubs for grabbing the right-hander when they had the chance.

“I knew we were in the market,” Montgomery said as Cubs camp opened this week. “I wasn’t surprised. He makes our team a lot better. I’m excited.”

Montgomery might be decidedly less excited to return to his job as a long reliever/spot starter. He handled the split role well during the 2017 regular season before running out of gas in the playoffs, when he posted an ERA over 16.62 in just 4.1 innings of work. Then came the offseason, when Montgomery publicly stated he wanted to shed his hybrid role and become a full-time starter. That won’t be happening anytime soon -- at least not with the Cubs. And not with a rotation that includes , Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Tyler Chatwood and now Darvish.

“I don’t regret saying any of that,” Montgomery indicated. “I was very honest with the team, and I’ll be honest with the fans as well. That’s the best way to handle it.

“I know I’m going to get my starts throughout my career.”

Montgomery knows he will get starts again in 2018 because the team has promised him as much. He’s going to prepare as a starter during the spring and expects the Cubs to use a six-man rotation at some point. Injuries may also give him an opportunity.

Last year, Montgomery pitched in 44 games, starting 14 and finishing 11. He had three saves to go along with 130⅔ innings pitched and was the only pitcher in baseball to log at least 130 innings and record multiple saves.

Clearly, there aren’t many hurlers who can claim that kind of workload and, for now, he’ll have to accept that role again.

“He’s caught in a situation right now where that opportunity doesn’t present itself every fifth day,” manager Joe Maddon said.

“We’ve been consistent with our message to him. We haven’t hidden anything. It hasn’t been sugarcoated. We’ve always kept him in the loop, and I think that’s why he can accept it as willingly as he does. No one has tried to pull the wool over his eyes.”

Montgomery said that honesty has helped him, but better rest between appearances might be more important. His manager hears that message as well.

“We have to be mindful of how we piece this whole thing together so we utilize him to maximum ability when he’s starting,” Maddon said. “We can’t beat him up so badly to the point where he does run out of gas. I have to be mindful and careful.”

And Montgomery has to speak up. After a start, he may need extra time before returning to the bullpen.

“It comes from me not wanting to pitch in every possible opportunity,” Montgomery said. “I have to understand my arm and what’s smart so I’m healthy or close to 100 percent in October.”

New teammate Brandon Morrow understands Montgomery’s situation. Their cases aren’t exactly the same, but there was a time when Morrow had to go back and forth between reliever and starter earlier in his career.

“There was one month when I did that, and that was actually the month where I struggled most in my career,” Morrow explained. “It’s tough, especially if your heart is in one place, and you’re in a different role that you want to be. You know you’re going to give your all when you’re out there, but you may not be fully vested into being a reliever or whatever.”

After Montgomery sounded off in December, some may have questioned if his heart was still into being a Cub. Now that spring training is here, Montgomery is saying all the right things about being a good teammate. The Cubs appreciate that as well.

“Winning another World Series kind of trumps every personal goal,” Montgomery stated. “Going through that is bigger than anything.”

Maddon responded: “The fact that he really wants to be here and fits in so well, and understands exactly what’s going on, and is able to put his ego in the back pocket for the good of the team, it doesn’t happen all the time. Give him credit.”

Of course, there is a worst-case scenario for Montgomery, which is a best-case for the team: Their top- five guys are all fresh and pitching well without much need for rest or have a turn being skipped. The Cubs, and Montgomery, will cross that bridge when they come to it.

“My goal is to be a starter and win another World Series,” Montgomery said. “Maybe those two can go hand-in-hand.”

Perhaps it’s the guy who took Montgomery’s place that might go the furthest toward making that second championship a reality.

“My role is what it is right now,” Montgomery said of moving to accommodate the addition of Darvish. “I know what it is.”

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ESPNChicago.com Anthony Rizzo at Parkland vigil: 'We're all grieving with you' By Eddie Matz

PARKLAND, Fla. -- A day after the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, star Anthony Rizzo called for change.

"While I don't have all the answers, I know that something has to change, before this is visited on another community, and another community, and another community," Rizzo, a 2007 graduate of the school, said Thursday night at a candlelight vigil for the victims of Wednesday's massacre.

Seventeen people, including students and school workers, were killed when a gunman opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle at the school in South Florida.

Rizzo left Cubs training camp in Arizona on Wednesday and was one of about two dozen speakers who addressed a crowd of thousands who came out to show their support at the Parkland Amphitheater.

"I come home to Parkland to what should be everybody's first concern, and that's showing our kids out there -- the students at Stoneman Douglas and of Broward County and from all over the country -- that we care about their lives and about their future," Rizzo said. "I've been very impressed with talking to the students and how they're taking care of each other and how they're coming together. I'm so grateful to the teachers, the coaches, the administration and all the first responders that tried to protect them."

Wearing a black polo shirt with a red ribbon pinned above his right chest, Rizzo was seated on the amphitheater stage along with spiritual leaders, government officials and family members of the deceased.

Rizzo took part in a moving candle-lighting ceremony as the names of the 17 victims were read aloud. Shortly after that, he took the podium and spoke for four minutes, pledging his support to an emotional crowd that included his mother, father and fiancée.

"I am only who I am because of this community," Rizzo said. "And I just want all of you to know how proud I am to be a part of this community. I want you to know that you're not alone in your grief. We're all grieving with you. The entire country is grieving with you. So whatever comfort I can give, I will give. Whatever support I can offer to our students, teachers, coaches and families and first responders, you'll have it."

Rizzo showed his support during Thursday's hourlong ceremony by rising to his feet several times to join thunderous ovations as Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and others made impassioned pleas for "common sense gun laws."

"I promise you we're going to be mourning, grieving and a bit broken for a while," Rizzo said during his speech. "We're human. But I promise the cameras are going to move on. The demands of everyday life will intrude again. Classes will start again. The seasons are gonna change, and the sun is going to rise. And all we'll have left is each other.

"We don't know who's hiding their sadness or feelings of guilt and loneliness, or who needs help and is too proud or afraid to ask. So we have to be there for each other, we have to cope with our pain, and we have to live each other's pain. We have to be the best possible versions of ourselves."

After the vigil concluded, Rizzo declined to speak with reporters. It's unknown how long he'll remain in Parkland before rejoining the Cubs in Arizona.

Manager Joe Maddon exchanged text messages Wednesday night with Rizzo in the aftermath of the nation's deadliest school attack in five years. He said the team was "all for" Rizzo leaving spring training to offer support in Parkland.

"Told him to get back to us if there's anything that we can do to help," Maddon said earlier Thursday. "I definitely want him to go back there and become involved, as he should. It's just horrible. ... What are the proper words right now? I don't even know what the proper words are except that 'we're there for you.'"

Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr., who is from outside Miami, recalled Rizzo hitting at his old high school a couple of times last season, noting, "I'm sure he still has a lot of connections there."

Before starting drills, the Cubs huddled together on the grass under cloudy skies following more morning rain.

"It's an awful situation," Almora said. "The only thing we can do is come together. Obviously we're all here for Anthony and for that school and all those families."

Maddon called Rizzo "the rock on the field" for the Cubs.

"Please go. Please take your time," was the manager's message to Rizzo. "Please do what you think you need to do and let us know is there some way that we can become involved and help."

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NBC Sports Chicago Brandon Morrow hasn't closed in a decade, but he pitched in every game of the World Series: High leverage enough for you? By Vinnie Duber

MESA, Ariz. — Brandon Morrow pitched in every game of the World Series.

Is that "high leverage" enough for you?

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Morrow will be the Cubs' new closer on Opening Day, the team's fourth in as many seasons. Wade Davis was sensational in 2017, living up to the hype of being one of baseball's best relievers by converting 32 of his 33 save opportunities, being selected as the Cubs' lone representative at the All-Star Game and striking out Bryce Harper to send the Cubs to their third straight National League Championship Series. But he got a record-setting contract from the Colorado Rockies, meaning Morrow is now the guy on the North Side.

It's not like Morrow is some consolation prize, though. He was terrific as a late-inning man for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season and logged some really important innings during the playoff run that went all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Morrow turned in a 2.06 ERA during the regular season, then he shut down the Cubs in the NLCS and pitched in all seven games of that epic Fall Classic against the Houston Astros.

It wasn't all pretty, of course. He gave up four runs and two homers without recording an out in that bonkers Game 5. But in his six other outings, he surrendered just one run on four hits over 5.1 innings of work.

No, he hasn't been a go-to closer in a decade. But he's pitched in plenty of important moments and is ready to take on the bullpen's most high-profile role.

"I've closed before. It's been 10 years, but there's so many different places to pull experience from. And I think all the playoff experience last year helps a lot in pressure situations," Morrow said Wednesday at Cubs camp. "That was something that I didn't have before. I pitched in almost every other situation besides a playoff situation and World Series games and coming in with bases loaded, two outs in the World Series and everything like that. I've pretty much seen it all.

"You'll see somebody that is pretty even-keeled. Ups and downs don't really get to me. I'll be out there competing on a daily basis."

Last year was Morrow's lone campaign with the Dodgers after spending his first 10 big league seasons with the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres. But that was his first postseason, and those experiences pitching for a World Series contender were mighty valuable. Not only did he pitch — and succeed — on the game's biggest and brightest stage, he also got into a closer's mentality, looking at the eighth inning like it was the ninth ahead of the virtual lock of a scoreless frame from Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, one of the league's best.

"I was treating it like I was pitching in the ninth last year," Morrow said. "From a mindset point of view, you've got Kenley behind you, if you get through the eighth, the game's basically over. He's one of the best. So I was thinking, 'If I close out the eighth, we've got Kenley in there and finish it off.' That kind of mindset, trying to prepare myself that way.

"In the playoffs, maybe there's that little bit of butterflies at first, and then it's just baseball at a high level. I think those games definitely prepare you for some tough spots throughout the regular season that you can pull experience from and know that you can keep yourself calm. Over the last 10 years, I've kind of seen it all. I've got a much lower heart rate than I used to."

According to Morrow, the Cubs pitched an important role to him when they signed him, not yet guaranteeing the closer's role should Davis have decided to return to the North Side. But that job is Morrow's now.

If you're still not sold on Morrow as a Davis successor, allow Carl Edwards Jr. to calm your fears with this ringing endorsement.

"Morrow's a great guy. I talked to him, and it's kind of like me talking to Wade Davis all over again," Edwards said. "I'm just looking forward to getting to pick his brain."

Despite a lack of recent closing experience, Morrow was one of the biggest names on the relief-pitching market this winter. Just like they did with Morrow's teammate in Los Angeles, Yu Darvish, the Cubs made the splash they needed to accomplish the only goal that matters these days: winning the World Series. And while Morrow, and Darvish for that matter, didn't do that last season, they came darn close. They've been on that stage, like the rest of these Cubs who won it all in 2016.

For a team seeking championships, that experience is invaluable.

"That was one of the things in free agency that I was looking forward to was 'Are we going to compete?' And obviously the Chicago Cubs are in that small group of teams that you think have a really good chance to win a World Series," Morrow said.

"I'm sure that's high on their list, guys with experience in those situations and guys that have shown that they can handle the pressure and continue to throw strikes and compete."

Playoff tradition? Sign Morrow up. Bullpen dancing? Maybe not so much.

"I keep getting asked that," he said about those post-homer dance parties under the left-field bleachers. "Is that going to continue?

"I might be the awkward one in the corner just bobbing my head."

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NBC Sports Chicago Albert Almora, Cubs won't settle for anything less than another World Series title By David Kaplan

With Major League Baseball players getting ready for the 2018 season in Arizona and Florida, this is the time that predictions start to grab the headlines. While the defending world champion Houston Astros are everybody's choice as the clear favorite, the 2016 world champion Cubs are acting like Ricky Bobby from the movie Talladega Nights, living by the motto "If you ain't first you're last."

The 2016 season took so much out of the team that the 2017 season began in the throes of a World Series hangover. The Cubs struggled out of the gate and spent the first half of the season trying to stay in the National League Central race. Despite a sub-.500 record at the All Star break and a 5 1/2 game deficit to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs steadied themselves and won the division to advance to the National League Championship Series for the third consecutive season. However, 2017 never felt like a championship run was in the cards. When the Cubs were eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, no one was surprised and it almost felt like a sense of relief to those around the team.

After a very active offseason that saw the Cubs overhaul their pitching staff both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen, expectations are sky high. Las Vegas oddsmakers set the Cubs expected win total at 93 1/2 and multiple prognosticators see the Cubs as one of the favorites to win the World Series.

But do the players feel that way? Or are they simply embracing the mantra "One Batter, One Pitch, One Out at a Time?" Despite the one day at a time approach that most professional athletes employ, Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. exercises no such caution.

In fact, he believes that only one result is acceptable.

"The expectation for this group is to win the World Series," Almora said. "We know the group in here can do it and we expect nothing but that. No matter how old or young we are, we have a great mix of players and we can do it. We've done it and our mindset is to do it again."

So while so many in professional sports repeat the standard line that "we just play them one day at a time and let the chips fall where they may" one of the youngest members of the 2018 Cubs is all in on what he believes can be accomplished.

Chicago Cubs, 2018 World Series Champions. Almora likes how that sounds and he expects it to happen.

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NBC Sports Chicago Anthony Rizzo leaves Cubs spring training for Florida after mass shooting at alma mater By Vinnie Duber

MESA, Ariz. — Anthony Rizzo departed Cubs camp to be with his community in the wake of the mass shooting Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas is Rizzo's alma mater, and he tweeted out a message of support, voicing an opinion in line with many who are demanding action in the aftermath of yet another tragic instance of gun violence in the United States.

According to ESPN, Rizzo played football at Marjory Stoneman Douglas for coach Aaron Feis, one of the 17 people killed Wednesday. Another one of those killed was a relative of Rizzo's agent.

Rizzo, well known in Chicago for his foundation and charitable efforts, recently donated $150,000 for new lights on the baseball field that bears his name at the school.

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NBC Sports Chicago Another Cubs superstar deals with aftermath of hometown mass shooting By Vinnie Duber

MESA, Ariz. — An example of just how prevalent gun violence is in the United States?

In the last few months, the hometowns of both faces of the Chicago Cubs have been rocked by mass shootings.

The Cubs’ roster is just 25 names long, and yet the two highest-profile of those names, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, have found themselves joining the national conversation about gun violence as their hometowns became some of the latest scenes of these shockingly common tragedies.

Rizzo left Cubs camp after Wednesday’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He attended high school there and left Arizona to be with his community. According to ESPN, among the 17 people killed in the shooting were Rizzo’s former high school football coach and a relative of his agent.

Rizzo joined many online in sharing the opinion that action needs to be taken.

Rizzo, who is well known in Chicago and around baseball for his charitable efforts — he won last year’s Roberto Clemente Award — surprised no members of his Cubs family by opting to return to his hometown.

“It really speaks to who Anthony really is,” Bryant said Thursday. “Yeah, we’re baseball players and the season’s about to start. But something like that happens in his community, he’s right there with them. Anthony’s just a role model for everybody on the team and in Chicago and the whole country. He’s just such an amazing person that he’s going down there and doing anything he can do to help.”

Bryant had to answer similar questions not five months ago after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history struck his hometown of Las Vegas on Oct. 1 of last year. Bryant and Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper, also a Las Vegas native, appeared together in messages of support as the postseason began and the Cubs and Nationals played against one another in the National League Division Series.

Bryant recalled the emotions he felt at the time, though he didn’t join Rizzo in voicing much of an opinion in his comments to the media Thursday.

“Oct. 1 in Vegas was such a terrible day with so many of my friends and family being involved in that,” Bryant said. “My sister in law was there, just a lot of people I knew. Obviously you wish those things did not happen, but the community coming together after that, being there this offseason and seeing ‘Vegas Strong’ everywhere, it’s made me so proud to be from Las Vegas that everybody in the community came together.

“It’s just been so great to see our community come together, and I know Anthony will have a big influence in that in Florida. But it’s so sad for it to be so new and for it to be just yesterday. I can’t imagine what some of those people are going through.”

Cubs manager Joe Maddon, however, took more of a stance when asked about the need for gun control legislation.

“Of course, there’s got to be something done about that, there has to be,” Maddon said. “More specifically, I don’t know enough except that it doesn’t make any sense that an automatic rifle has to be in anybody’s hands. I don’t understand that. ... I don’t understand why those kinds of weapons are necessary in our culture in the hands of just anybody. I don’t understand that.”

While the shooting in Florida has become a topic of conversation across all walks of life in this country over the past 24 hours, it’s domination of the discussion at Cubs camp Thursday stemmed from the guy who wasn’t present. It allowed Rizzo’s teammates and manager to paint a picture of the kind of person Rizzo is and the kind of support he’s hoping to bring to his community back in Florida.

“He is the rock on the field, there’s no question about that,” Maddon said. “Of course we’ve got KB and some other really good players, but for the most part Rizzo is kind of like the rock that most everything builds off of.

“And then you take his work off of the field, the fact that he’s a cancer survivor. And his community work, his charity work is staggering to me. The fact that he won the award last year was well deserved. When he won the award, I texted him and said, ‘beyond anything you could’ve accomplished on the field, this is the most impressive thing, to me, that you’ve ever done.’

“He encompasses everything. The other day, he walked in the office smiling, loose, confident, shares his confidence with everybody else. He’s on the verge of becoming a very good leader, and he’s got all the intrinsic qualities to be that kind of a person. I think it was a matter of playing long enough, having enough life experience in order to be that guy. But he wants to be that guy, and he’s on his way.”

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Chicago Tribune A breakdown of Yu Darvish’s 6 pitches — their effectiveness and usage By Mark Gonzales

Justin Grimm can validate Yu Darvish’s wide array of pitches.

“I’m sure he has eight but only throws six,” said Grimm, who became reunited with Darvish with the Cubs after playing with him in 2012-13 with Rangers.

“We’ll wait and see.”

Here is a breakdown of Darvish’s six pitches, their effectiveness and usage.

Four-seam fastball

“That’s his power pitch,” said Chris Gimenez, who caught 12 of Darvish’s starts with the Rangers in 2015. “He does a great job of staying behind it. His spin rate is incredible. It’s very heavy. It has the feeling like you know it travels at 95-96 mph, but it really gets on you. He gets a lot of bad swings or takes because the ball jumps on you.”

Two-seam fastball

Gimenez believes that Darvish should throw this pitch more because of its ability to break into right- handed hitters with some sink.

“Every sinker is different,” Gimenez said. “His (moves) more side to side and starts early but bores into righties. I think it’s a pitch he can definitely use more.”

According to the Bill James Handbook, Darvish threw his fastball 52 percent of the time in 2017 with an average velocity of 94.2 mph.

Slider

“This is his best pitch, in my opinion,” Gimenez said.

Darvish’s slider has an exceptional spin action to both sides of the plate with a sharp slope when he feels the need. He also can make the break tighter or later, resembling the action of a cut fastball. “But it’s an 89-mph power wipeout breaking ball,” Gimenez said.

Curve

Darvish actually throws two types of curves at different speeds. The first version comes from an overhand release with the same hard arm action that produces a sharp break and produces a “fall off a table” effect, Gimenez said.

The slower version causes many opposing hitters to buckle their knees because of they’re often trying time his mid-90 mph pitches. Darvish threw the curve only six percent of the time and sometimes throws the slow curve every other start.

Changeup

Darvish already started working on the pitch with Gimenez this week and believes the off- pitch will get even sharper with more fade action as spring progresses.

Darvish hadn’t thrown the pitch in past years but has become more of a weapon because of its ability to disrupt the timing of opposing hitters.

“It has kind of that fade, like a two-seamer but six to eight mph slower,” Gimenez said. “It’s just a pitch to get guys out in front, give them a different look. If he’s having trouble sticking his fastball inside to a righty, he can throw that. It a pitch that someone is going to either beat off their foot or swing over the top of.”

Split-finger fastball

Darvish was advised not to throw the pitch after missing all of 2015 because of Tommy John surgery and the stress that the grip causes on the elbow.

The pitch is regarded as his most inconsistent pitch, although it still produces a tumbling effect and occasionally float like a knuckleball.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs plan to unleash starter Yu Darvish's full repertoire By Mark Gonzales

Catcher Willson Contreras will need a special set of signs to signal to Yu Darvish.

That’s because the Cubs have no plans to restrict Darvish’s array of pitches.

“You’re going to see more of a complete version of what he has been in the past, using more of his weaponry,” manager Joe Maddon said Thursday after Darvish threw his first bullpen session with the Cubs to Contreras.

“We’re not going to dictate how to pitch, pitch usage (or how he’ll be) incorporating the variety he already does have. We’ll leave him alone, let him pitch and watch it, talk about it. But we’re not following the plan he (had) with the Dodgers (after his trade July 31).”

Maddon was aware of a reporter’s question regarding reports the Dodgers wanted Darvish to become more selective.

“We really want him to be him,” Maddon said, adding that he and his staff will continue to solicit input from Darvish.

Starting at the top? Maddon believes his pitching staff, and his rotation in particular, could be his best since taking over as Cubs manager in 2015.

“We’ve had some good (rotations), and I think this one — one through five — has a chance to exceed what has happened the last three years,” Maddon said. “Beyond that, the depth and talent in the bullpen is really impressive.”

The lowest ERA for a Cubs rotation under Maddon was 2.96 in 2016 — when the team went on to win the World Series.

Maddon also liked his bullpen’s ability to match up well against right-handed and left-handed hitters, no matter from which side the relievers throw.

“It’s a very interesting group,” Maddon said. “But one through 13, yeah, it might be the most talented group we’ve had out there.”

What a relief: The Cubs are leaning toward carrying 13 pitchers and 12 position players because of the depth of their bullpen and versatility of their position players. In addition, Maddon prefers to ease his starting pitchers into a regular season.

If the Cubs carry two catchers, it could mean that Ian Happ, Tommy La Stella and Peter Bourjos will compete for two spots.

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Chicago Tribune Anthony Rizzo offers support at vigil in Florida in wake of shooting By Mark Gonzales

While his teammates lent their support 2,330 miles away, Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo assisted in the healing of his Parkland, Fla., community in grief over Wednesday’s mass shooting that left 17 dead.

"I grew up at Stoneman Douglas (High School)," an emotional Rizzo said Thursday night at a vigil remembering the victims. “I played on those fields. I went to those classes. I studied in those classrooms — the same school we saw on videos yesterday for all the wrong reasons."

Rizzo took batting practice and donated $150,000 this winter for lights for the baseball field. Teammates confirmed Rizzo knew some of the victims, and he left late Wednesday night to support his community, where he has an annual walk to raise money for pediatric cancer victims and their families.

"We see this on TV too often,” Rizzo said. “I feel like it’s all the time. There’s a cycle to it. We get horrified that this violence is inflicted on our kids. We get angry that there’s nothing we can do and nothing is done about it. And then we ultimately get immune and move on to something else. But then it happens in our own town — in your own school, or movie theater, or nightclub, or church. And we realize that it can happen to us, in our safe and tightknit community, Parkland."

Manager Joe Maddon said Rizzo will be given as much time as needed before rejoining the team at spring training in Mesa, Ariz.

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, who exchanged text messages with his teammate before Rizzo left, understands the emotional stress Rizzo is experiencing. Bryant’s hometown community endured similar emotional trauma after a shooter killed 58 and injured more than 800 at an outdoor concert Oct. 1 in Las Vegas.

“When something like that happens, it’s so gut-wrenching and you don’t really know what to think,” said Bryant, recalling that his sister-in-law and several friends attended that concert.

“You’re just there and especially when you hear stories of people you knew and how they got away and stuff like that, it makes it that much more real and sad. It’s just so hard to even think about it, honestly.”

The situation was so raw that Bryant delicately addressed the debate over gun control.

“I just want to see good people,” Bryant said. “That’s something I strive to do every day, be a good person. And it’s not that hard to do. I just see too much of that in the world. There’s a lot of bad people out there. And I don’t know how to change it, but there’s a way.”

Bryant and Nationals slugger Bryce Harper participated in a public service video shortly after the Las Vegas shooting to support their fellow residents.

“I guess really the only thing I can offer (Rizzo) is the support system to hear him out,” Bryant said. “I’m here to help in any way I can. But for me, it just touches my heart when I see the Vegas community come together. That’s what we’re going to see here.”

But after hearing stories of Las Vegas concert-goers jumping in automobiles and trying to get into hotel rooms just to elude gunfire made Bryant cringe at the thought of the latest shooting at a high school.

“You’re supposed to feel safe there,” Bryant said. “But this is just a crazy world we’re living in nowadays.”

South Florida native Albert Almora Jr., 23, also was shaken by the shooting, as he recalled playing at Douglas a few times while attending Mater Academy Charter School in Miami.

“Now having a son and putting yourself in parents’ situations, it’s miserable, miserable,” said Almora, whose parents first informed him of the shooting. “There has to be something done. I don’t know what it is, It’s not my place to say. I have no idea what they have to do, but something has to be done.”

Bryant, 26, believes that Rizzo will have a big influence in helping his community heal in the same way Bryant witnessed his community become ‘Vegas Strong.”

“But it’s so sad for it to be so new and for it to happen (Wednesday). I can’t imagine what some of those people are going through.”

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Chicago Tribune 'Antsy' Brian Duensing happy to return to Cubs after waiting for new deal By Mark Gonzales

Brian Duensing admitted he got “a little antsy” before agreeing on a two-year, $7 million contract with the Cubs three weeks ago.

“We just had our fourth kid in November, so it’s a good thing I’m signed for another two years,” Duensing joked.

Despite a 2.74 ERA in 68 appearances with the Cubs last season, Duensing had to wait longer than many relievers on the free-agent market. Duensing remains delighted he re-signed with the Cubs but said he was “a little curious” as to the slow developing free agent market.

“It was one of those years, I guess,” Duensing said. “I don’t know how to describe it. We had a lot of teams saying they were interested, but they weren’t able to make an offer yet.”

Duensing believes teams prioritized starting pitching, with and Alex Cobb still on the market.

“Teams had a certain focus they wanted and wanted to fill that before going in a different direction,” Duensing said.

A previous experience helped Duensing prepare for this tedious winter.

“I signed with Kansas City a day before the first workout (in 2016),” Duensing recalled. “I’ll take this timing.”

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Chicago Tribune Joe Maddon is Chicago’s most colorful and confident manager By David Haugh

Baseball history always will laud manager Joe Maddon for changing the culture with the Cubs.

Now Maddon supplies it.

Creating a bizarre backdrop for the start of spring training in Mesa, Ariz., Maddon revealed his theme for the 2018 season Wednesday by displaying two pieces of art he commissioned back home in Florida.

And you thought the Dodgers were the artful ones to watch in the National League.

While the rest of baseball debated Arrieta, Darvish or Cobb over the winter, Maddon apparently researched da Vinci, Dali and David. A day after the Cubs introduced Yu Darvish to the assembled media, Maddon quoted the Bible and interpreted Michelangelo. He spoke of wanting to promote the arts to students. He compared players to artists, the point of all this. He could announce today the Cubs will pipe nothing but classical music from Bach and Beethoven into the clubhouse and nobody would be surprised.

Not to paint with too broad a brush, but Wednesday’s authenticity confirmed Maddon as the most colorful manager in baseball. Maddon also risks reaffirming himself as a baseball elitist by mixing aesthetics with analytics, but that small concern is nothing a glass of Big Smooth can’t cure.

After landing the top free-agent pitcher on the market, do the Cubs face such few issues that their manager can show up for spring training sounding as if he spent as much time in the offseason commissioning art as configuring his lineup? Looking at a roster with so few holes, the answer is, yeah, probably.

Welcome back, Joe Maddon, the only manager or coach in Chicago who operates like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Maddon’s odd but entertaining 25-minute opening news conference could be summed up simply with one sentence inspired by Mad magazine cover boy Alfred E. Neuman: “What, me worry?” And say hello to the pink flamingos Maddon brought to camp, Ron and Ernie.

“The flamingo on one leg indicates balance,’’ Maddon told reporters.

Of course it does, Joe. Surely, Maddon has planned a joint news conference with the birds in the near future, maybe at a bar or outside his new tricked-out RV. Expect a T-shirt and a charity to be involved. Under Maddon, the Cubs lead the league in fun and philanthropy. It strikes quite a contrast to Maddon’s peers in our sports city who have been reduced to construction foremen overseeing their respective rebuilding projects.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville looks like a guy who hasn’t smiled since his team last won a playoff game, which was almost two years ago. White Sox manager Rick Renteria exudes optimism about 2018 but privately must know his team remains at least a year away from contending. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg needed the All-Star break even worse than fans who witnessed Wednesday’s lineup, which included NBA stalwarts Noah Vonleh, Cristiano Felicio and Ryan Arcidiacono. New Bears coach inherited a five-win roster and won’t be a household name anybody pronounces correctly until he can beat the Packers.

Meanwhile, you can imagine Maddon happily plotting to unveil the Andy Warhol-inspired artwork the first time a bench player is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. Intentional or not, Maddon painted a picture Wednesday of a relaxed, confident Cubs team feeling no pressure returning to work after three straight National League Championship Series appearances.

Framing the season that way makes sense for a Cubs team that reasserted itself as a World Series contender by signing Darvish. Nobody would buy it if Maddon tried selling an Us-against-the-World message. Everybody knows the Cubs are leading the world by nine runs in the second inning. Nobody dares to disrespect or underestimate a team with their starting rotation and everyday lineup.

Yet the Cubs still have issues that linger from last season, a 92-win slog that felt longer than six months. They still lack an ideal leadoff hitter, with Albert Almora Jr., Ben Zobrist and Willson Contreras better possibilities than revisiting Maddon’s failed Kyle Schwarber experiment. They aggressively added quality depth to the bullpen, but newly signed reliever Brandon Morrow hasn’t been a full-time closer in 10 years. They have a new pitching coach, Jim Hickey, and hitting coach, Chili Davis, eager to help produce results that uphold their reputations.

They maintain faith in light-hitting Jason Heyward but, remember, Cubs President Theo Epstein promised after last season the $184 million outfielder only would play if he earned the right in a “meritocracy.’’ They could use a bounce-back season from shortstop Addison Russell, Zobrist and Schwarber. They need their stars to play like stars again and their starting pitchers to stay healthy.

Pulling it all together likely will involve as much science as art, but don’t tell Maddon, whose bold strokes also involve preventing complacency from creeping in for a team already thinking October in mid-February. Motivation and execution obviously go hand in hand for Maddon. And if he can get Cubs players to respond like starving artists with something to prove, their work will be easy to interpret.

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Chicago Tribune Albert Almora Jr. on Florida school shooting: 'You think twice about going somewhere' By Mark Gonzales

Outfielder Albert Almora Jr. was visibly rattled Thursday morning in the wake of the mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

“I had played there,” said Almora, who starred at Mater Academy Charter School in Miami. “I personally didn’t know anyone there, but you’re part of the South Florida family. Now having a son and putting yourself in parents’ situations right now, it’s miserable, miserable.”

Almora was informed of the shootings Wednesday night by his parents and immediately remembered teammate Anthony Rizzo was an alumnus of the high school where 17 people were killed.

“It can happen to anyone,” Almora said. “Nowadays, you think twice about going somewhere because things like that can happen at any time. It’s unfortunate. My prayers go out to the victims and families and those who were affected. Just to experience that, that will change your life forever. It’s very unfortunate.”

Almora was aware of Rizzo’s involvement in that community, from conducting charity walks to taking batting practice at the school to donating $150,000 to fund the baseball field’s lights this winter.

“The only thing we can do is come together, and we’re all here for Anthony and for that school and their families,” Almora said.

Almora called for action.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “It’s not my place to say. I have no idea what they’ve got to do, but something has to be done.

“Eighteen mass shootings in the first two months of this year. That can’t happen. I don’t care what your beliefs (are), what your political beliefs you (have). It just can’t happen. There are a lot of innocent lives taken for no such reason. That doesn’t fly with me.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Joe Maddon says he might have his best rotation since becoming Cubs manager By Gordon Wittenmyer

MESA, Ariz. — Two days into pitchers’ workouts — including a first “really clean” day in the bullpen for newcomer Yu Darvish — Cubs manager Joe Maddon is starting to get visions of the best rotation he has had in Chicago.

“It’s a very talented group,” he said about the five-man crew of Darvish, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood. “We’ve had good ones, and I think this 1-through-5 has a chance to exceed what’s happened over the last three years.”

That’s an especially high bar, considering those playoff seasons were built largely on a three-year run by the rotation that included a major-league-best 3.44 ERA, a Cy Young season by Jake Arrieta (2015) and an ERA title by Hendricks (2016).

Darvish and Chatwood are new to this year’s group, and Quintana is back for his first full season with the Cubs after being acquired at the All-Star break in a trade with the White Sox.

Maddon’s optimism for his rotation is partially rooted in a potentially deep bullpen that includes newcomers Brandon Morrow and Steve Cishek and the return of lefty free agent Brian Duensing.

With more experience, a strong left-right balance and the return to the bullpen of swingman Mike Montgomery after the Darvish signing, Maddon said he expects to be able to have more options for controlling workloads.

Maddon said he plans to carry eight relievers on a 13-man staff.

“It’s hard to imagine less than 13; there’s so many great candidates,” he said. “And if you look at the position players, there’s so much versatility. Why put another guy on the bench.”

Joe likes Contreras better, too

After starting catcher Willson Contreras caught Darvish in his bullpen session Thursday, Maddon quickly dispelled any possible lingering speculation about Darvish’s onetime personal catcher, Chris Gimenez, being signed to catch him.

“That’s been a contrived conversation,” Maddon said. “Of course [Gimenez] might catch him, but Willson’s our guy. Willson’s our catcher. It’s never been our plan to match [Darvish] up exclusively with [Gimenez].’’

Besides, Darvish said Tuesday, “I like Contreras better.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs after shooting: ‘We’re all here for Anthony [Rizzo] and all those families’ By Gordon Wittenmyer

MESA, Ariz. – When Kris Bryant got into town Wednesday night for the start of spring training, his first text was to Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo.

But not because he had any idea what his friend might be dealing with at the moment.

“I asked him, `What’s the plan tomorrow?’ “Bryant said. “He’s like, `I’m actually going home.’

“I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ ”

Bryant’s heart sunk with the realization of what that meant, that those news reports he’d just heard about a school shooting were suddenly a lot closer to home than he’d assumed.

“It’s just a terrible situation, especially when it happens so close – especially his hometown,” Bryant said of the high school shooting that claimed 17 lives at Rizzo’s alma mater in Parkland, Fla. “As sad as it is to say, I’ve been through it.

“When something like that happens, it’s just so gut wrenching, and you don’t really know what to think,” said Bryant, whose hometown of Las Vegas was the site of the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in at least a century. “Especially when you start to hear stories of people you knew and how people had to get away, it just makes it that much more real and more sad and … It’s just so hard to even think about it.”

Bryant and teammates pledged support for Rizzo and the community around Stoneman Douglas High School.

Manager Joe Maddon said he texted with Rizzo Wednesday night and told him to take as much time as he needed, even if it means remaining in Florida beyond Monday’s first day of full-squad workouts in camp.

“I just told him to get back to us if there’s anything we can do to help,” Maddon said. “I don’t even know what that means. …It’s just horrible. Horrible.”

Bryant said he learned that Rizzo knew some of the victims. One was Aaron Feis, the football coach who was killed as he used his body to shield students from gunfire. The school’s athletic director also was killed.

Another victim was a student related to Rizzo’s agent.

Cubs teammate Albert Almora Jr., a South Florida native who was taken under Rizzo’s wing soon after being drafted in 2012, said he learned of Wednesday’s shooting when his parents called him with the news.

“I go, `What school is it?’ They told me Douglas,” he said. “And I go, `Oh, my God, that’s where Rizz went.”

Almora said he played baseball games on that campus and that Rizzo – who makes his offseason home there – used the school facilities for batting practice during the winter.

“My prayer goes out to all the victims and the families that were affected,” Almora said. “Just to experience that, man, that will change your life forever.

“The only thing we can do right now is just come together,” he added. “We’re obviously all here for Anthony and for that school and all those families.”

Rizzo had spent mornings over the past week working out informally at Cubs camp, including Wednesday morning. But he left Thursday morning to return home.

“It really just speaks to who Anthony is,” Bryant said. “Yeah, we’re baseball players, and the season’s about to start, but something like this happens in his community, and he’s right there with them.

“Anthony’s just a role model for everybody on this team, and Chicago, the whole country.”

Rizzo, a three-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, was recognized for his off-the-field charitable work with the prestigious Roberto Clemente humanitarian award last year.

Before he left, Rizzo tweeted Wednesday night:

“Parkland and Coral Springs, please stay strong! This is out of control and our country is in desperate need for change. I hope in this darkest of times back home this brings everyone together and we can find love. You’re all in my prayers.”

At a Thursday night vigil in Pine Trails Park, Florida, the town directly south of Parkland, an emotional Rizzo said, ‘‘I want you to know you’re not alone in your grief. I grew up in Stoneman Douglas. I played on those fields. I went to those classes. I studied in those classrooms.

“The same school we saw in all those videos yesterday . . . for all the wrong reasons.”

Rizzo was not alone among the Cubs in his call for action on what has become an increasingly common reality over the past decade.

“There’s got to be something done,” Almora said. “I don’t know what that is. … I saw that there’s been 18 mass shootings in the first two months of this year. I don’t care what your political beliefs are, that just can’t happen.”

Wednesday’s shooter, a former student at the school, used a semiautomatic assault rifle.

“It just doesn’t make any sense that an automatic rifle has to be in anybody’s hands,” said Maddon, who did not take a political position when asked about gun control as a possible solution. “It’s easy to formulate the opinion that I don’t understand why those kind of weapons are necessary in our culture in the hands of just anybody. I don’t understand that. But I would want to be more educated.”

Almora is only 23 but seems to sense a changing reality around him.

“Nowadays, man, you think twice about going somewhere just because things like that could happen at any time,” Almora said. “Now having a son yourself, and putting yourself in parents’ situations right now, it’s miserable. Miserable.”

As tough as the Vegas shooting was for Bryant, who had friends and loved ones forced to run for safety during that incident, it seemed tougher to picture the setting in Rizzo’s tight-knit school community.

“I just couldn’t imagine being there,” he said. “Especially at a school. You’re supposed to feel safe there. It’s just a crazy world we’re living in nowadays.”

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