Seiya Suzuki powered a long home run, but Cubs pitching struggled in their Spring Training opener against the White Sox.
The Chicago Cubs completed their first Spring Training game on Friday, losing to the Chicago White Sox by a score of 8-1 at Sloan Park.
Now, there shouldn’t be any overreactions to the team’s first Spring Training game. Players aren’t in form yet, and more than half of the regular starters didn’t even play in this game.
However, there are some things to take note of after Friday’s loss.
The big one is that Seiya Suzuki looks poised for another strong power season. The right-handed slugger belted a 95 mph sinker for a statcast-projected 399-foot home run over the left field wall in his first Spring Training at-bat.
Suzuki is coming off his best Major League season, in which he launched career-highs in home runs (32) and RBI (103). The big home run numbers should only continue this season after he ranked in the 95th percentile in barrel rate (16.6%) last year.
Outside of Suzuki’s blast in the first inning, the offense didn’t do much. Alex Bregman went 0-for-2 in his Cubs debut, Miguel Amaya went 0-for-1 with a walk, Dylan Carlson went 0-for-1 with a walk, and Chas McCormick went 1-for-2 with a single.
As for the Cubs' pitching, it wasn’t all great for them. The two performances that really stand out in Friday’s loss are Jameson Taillon and Porter Hodge.
Taillon started for the North Siders in this game and immediately gave up a first-inning homer to new White Sox outfielder Austin Hays. The right-hander then got into a bit more trouble in the second inning, allowing another homer and three total runs.
It definitely wasn’t Taillon’s sharpest outing, as he allowed four runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout across 1 ⅔ innings. But Cubs fans shouldn’t read too much into this poor outing.
He is not fully up to speed yet, and it will take a couple of weeks for Taillon to build up to his normal velocity on the mound. The 34-year-old’s velocity was down across the board in his first start of the spring.
These outings don’t matter a whole lot for Taillon because he is already locked into the rotation to begin the year. It’s more about getting into form and being ready for the start of the season next month.
For Hodge, though, these outings in Spring Training do matter. The 24-year-old is currently fighting for that final bullpen spot heading into the season.
However, Friday’s relief appearance did not do Hodge any justice. He struggled with command and couldn’t seem to find the strike zone. He walked four of the six batters he faced.
In total, Hodge allowed two runs on one hit with four walks and one strikeout across ⅓ of an inning. The walks were a major problem for him last year, and he has to clean up that part of his game quickly. Hodge had a 12.2% walk rate in the Majors last season.
If his lack of command continues throughout the spring, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs giving him that final bullpen spot. Hodge had a whopping 6.27 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP across 33 innings pitched in 2025.
The rest of Chicago’s pitching did well in Friday's Spring Training game. Non-roster invitee Grant Kipp didn’t allow a run over 1 ⅔ innings pitched, Gavin Hollowell struck out the side in the sixth, and Connor Noland allowed one run across two innings.
The Cubs will play another game at Sloan Park on Saturday afternoon. Matthew Boyd will draw the start against the Texas Rangers.