Blanco proclaims he's ready to assist Soto's development
MESA, Ariz. -- The TV cameras surrounded Geovany Soto on Thursday morning. Soto is the rookie catcher the Cubs are counting on to be their No. 1 backstop.
Sitting a few lockers over from Soto is someone who figures to be instrumental in his development: veteran backup Henry Blanco.
"Whatever he needs, I'm available," said Blanco, one of the most respected veterans in the game because of his willingness to accept a backup role. "I'm going to help him out as much as I can, and not only him, but I'm sure the other kids will have some questions, so I'm going to be 100 percent so I can help them."
The 36-year-old Blanco was anything but 100 percent last year. He played in only 22 games because of a herniated cervical disc. He contemplated neck surgery, but that could have been career threatening, so he opted against it.
Blanco was good enough to play 47 games of winter ball this off-season, and he proclaimed himself ready.
"The good thing was the last shot helped pretty good, so let's see how it goes, and hopefully, everything's going to be OK," he said.
Lou's message: Manager Lou Piniella said he'd save his big speech for when position players report to camp, but he did have a few words Thursday for pitchers and catchers.
"The message was short and quick," Piniella said. "To have fun here in spring training, to work hard, not to cheat yourself, not to try to do too much early. You're not going to impress anybody. And the fact that we've got arms here, and we have the makings of a very good pitching staff. So don't cheat yourselves.
"When the rest of the team comes in, we'll talk more about the winning and so forth."
Marquis' pitch: Jason Marquis didn't appear in the playoffs for the Cubs last year, and Lou Piniella committed only to Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill for the rotation this year. Jon Lieber figures to make it, with Marquis battling Ryan Dempster, Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher for a spot.
"I'm competing against myself and going out there every time I touch a baseball and working on things to get better," Marquis said. "I feel like my ability will speak for itself, and it has in the past."
Marquis was 12-9 with a 4.60 ERA last year, but his ERA was 6.21 in September.
Pop, pop, pop: The first sounds of spring training are the sounds of pitches hitting the catchers' mitts. Cubs pitchers took their turns Thursday, throwing 25 pitches, plus two pitchouts, each.
The pitches ranged in velocity from the heat of prospect Jose Ceda to the "Frisbees" being tossed by reliever Shingo Takatsu.
Ceda is one to watch. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound nonroster man has touched 97-98 mph on the radar, and one member of the Cubs family said he has "Lee Smith stuff." The Cubs obtained Ceda from San Diego in 2006 in a trade for Todd Walker. Last year at Class A Peoria, he held opposing batters hitless over his final 23½ innings.