Barney enjoys getting Gold Glove
The sun came out just in time Friday to glint off the Gold Glove presented to Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney.
After receiving the award, Barney was set to head off to Class AAA Iowa, where he will begin a short rehab assignment. Barney has been on the disabled list since Opening Day with a lacerated left knee suffered at Houston in late spring training action.
He took grounders in the morning and then was supposed to have the five stitches removed from his knee.
Barney received the Gold Glove for fielding excellence last year.
“I think it will be good to actually see it,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I won the award, and I haven’t been able to look at it. It’s exciting to get it. Start the campaign for a new one.”
Asked if he had a special place at home for the award, Barney joked: “I kind of plan on holding it for a couple of days. My wife will have to move to the couch for a couple days. I don’t know where it’s going to go. Last year is over and done with. We can reflect on that when the time comes, but right now, my focus is getting my mind and everything ready to prepare for Tuesday.”
If all goes well in Iowa, Barney will come off the DL on Tuesday night and be ready to play against the Texas Rangers at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs came out of the dugout to watch Barney get his Gold Glove.
“The Gold Glove is one of those unsung trophies that go unnoticed sometimes,” said manager Dale Sveum. “It’s nice for everybody to see it as well as other players to see and receive that award, how nice that trophy is. It’s probably one of the nicer trophies there are.”
Sveum said this on a day when discussion turned to how poor overall the Cubs defense has been. They entered Friday leading the major leagues in errors and trailing in fielding percentage. The played errorless ball Friday.
“I don’t think these errors are because of physical ability,” Sveum said. “I said awareness and understanding the situation, understand who’s running. I think we made probably half our errors just on pure non-awareness of how much time we had to make the play or the throw.”
Catch this, three times:The Cubs are carrying three catchers: Welington Castillo, Dioner Navarro and Steve Clevenger. Each, in some capacity, contributed to Friday#146;s 4-3 victory over the Giants. Castillo started and went 2-for-4, extending a hitting streak to six games. Clevenger started at third base and looked comfortable, picking up a putout and 2 assists. Navarro was one of the game#146;s heroes as he homered off Giants closer Sergio Romo leading off the bottom of the ninth inning. That tied the game at 3-3 after the Cubs had blown a 2-0 lead in the top half. #147;I guess you can choose and pick which guy to pinch hit and which guy to play,#148; said Navarro, signed last fall as a free agent. #147;So far, so good. I don#146;t have a really big history against (Romo), but I was pinch hitting, and my mindset was to get on base and make something happen. I was fortunate enough to get a fastball inside and hit it out of the ballpark.#148;The pinch homer was the first for the Cubs this year and the first of Navarro#146;s career. This and that:Infielder Luis Valbuena singled and walked twice, including an intentional walk. He has walked at least once in each of his last six games and has 7 of the Cubs#146; 18 walks ... Reliever James Russell earned his third hold of the year ... David DeJesus recorded his second 3-hit game of the season. He has 9 hits in his last five games.