What’s the latest from the Cubs at Spring Training?

MESA, Ariz. — Alex Bregman, the Chicago Cubs’ new third baseman with a $175 million contract, glanced at the scoreboard during Friday’s exhibition game at Sloan Park and gave manager Craig Counsell a look.

The big screen showed Michael Busch’s offensive numbers from last year’s breakthrough season: 34 homers and an .866 OPS. With quiet confidence, a consistent work ethic and a low-key personality, Busch has firmly established himself as a good hitter and a bad self-promoter.

“I’m standing next to Bregman,” Counsell said Saturday, mimicking Bregman’s facial reaction while telling the story. “Bregman was like, ‘Wow.’”

Those totals did not include the four home runs Busch blasted in October, when he emerged as one of the team’s most dangerous hitters in the playoffs.

The snapshot also did not have an asterisk for the times Busch was out of the lineup when the Cubs faced certain left-handed pitchers. His 592 plate appearances last season ranked No. 7 on the team.

During spring training in Arizona, Counsell has listened to an inordinate number of questions about who else might play first base.

The topic is newsy enough. Tyler Austin, a right-handed hitter, had an inside track for that bench job until he recently underwent knee surgery, which will sideline him for months. Bregman’s arrival pushed Matt Shaw into a super-utility role that is still being defined.

Contingency plans, if needed, could include Miguel Amaya and Moisés Ballesteros. Jonathon Long, the organization’s 2025 minor-league player of the year, would be one phone call away if he’s the everyday first baseman at Triple-A Iowa.

But the real answer is a trivia question: Who was Anthony Rizzo’s backup at first base? Meaning the Cubs are counting on Busch to play as much as possible during the 162-game schedule, accumulate 600-plus at-bats and provide Gold Glove-caliber defense.

The Cubs featured enough versatile players — Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Ben Zobrist, Ian Happ, Victor Caratini — to occasionally cover for Rizzo during their high-flying years around the 2016 World Series.

Busch, the left-handed hitter who finally filled their post-Rizzo opening at first base, will not work in a platoon system. The numbers don’t lie.

“The point is Bregman’s reaction to that,” Counsell said. “It’s a sign of someone who’s earned it. And now, like everybody else, you got to prove it.”

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In his own understated way, Counsell described Shota Imanaga’s recent velocity boost as “a little bit of a big deal.” We’re still talking about practice, and a one-time All-Star does not read too much into two Cactus League innings in late February. But the context matters.

Imanaga went back to the drawing board after a hamstring injury led to some subtle mechanical changes, a flurry of home runs allowed and an eventual drop in confidence. All that factored into the disappointing end to last season, when the Cubs went with a bullpen script rather than start Imanaga in an elimination game.

Imanaga’s four-seam fastball has unique characteristics, an extra zip that can make it appear harder and faster than the standard velocity measurement. Bigger separation between that primary pitch and his other options makes his off-speed stuff more effective.

Piecing all that together, the lefty averaging 93 mph on his fastball during his first outing in spring training was noteworthy.

“If you go back on the game logs of Shota, that’s kind of the high end of his velocity in any game log — spring training, regular season,” Counsell said. “That’s always encouraging. It’s a sign that you’re feeling really good. It’s a sign that your offseason went really well. It’s the adjustments you’ve made.”

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Leading up to the 2014 draft, Michael Conforto was advised he would probably fall within the top 10 of the first round, likely landing with the Cubs, Seattle Mariners or New York Mets. The Cubs had extensively scouted Conforto, who fit their profile as a polished, left-handed college hitter who excelled at Oregon State and performed with Team USA.

“It ended up being Schwarbs at 4,” Conforto said, “which was a great pick.”

Indeed, Kyle Schwarber became a legendary selection for the Cubs. The payoff included knocking the St. Louis Cardinals out of the 2015 playoffs and eventually ending a 108-year championship drought.

Schwarber’s $3.125 million signing bonus, which was below the slot value of the fourth pick, also enabled the Cubs to redistribute money for that 2014 draft class, a strategy that yielded fifth-rounder Justin Steele ($1 million) and sixth-rounder Dylan Cease ($1.5 million), two high school pitchers who proved to be worth the investment.

As the No. 10 pick, Conforto received a signing bonus from the Mets worth nearly $3 million. He also turned out to be a great pick, playing in the 2015 World Series, earning an All-Star selection in 2017 and generating 15.5 bWAR for New York.

That pedigree is a major reason the Cubs brought Conforto to Mesa on a minor-league deal. The motivation is clear after a down year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a championship team that gave him a $17 million contract and almost 500 plate appearances before deactivating him throughout the postseason.

“Last year was a crazy roller-coaster ride of emotion,” Conforto said. “To win a World Series, to achieve that dream — and also not be on the roster for the playoffs — was a super-bittersweet, super-conflicting feeling. I honestly felt like I didn’t earn it, in a way. But still proud of that group of guys, proud of my ability to continue to be a good teammate and still uplift guys and show up.

“It leaves you hungry. It leaves you motivated. It’s something I had to wrestle with through the offseason. You bring it to your offseason workouts. You bring it to the way you approach the offseason. Every day, you’re thinking about that. It’s a new vibe to get you going and get you out of bed and get you working hard.”

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Jefferson Rojas, a young shortstop from the Dominican Republic, is making sure to observe Gold Glove infielders Bregman, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner during spring training, taking mental notes to prepare himself for Wrigley Field someday.

Rojas won’t turn 21 until April, but he already reached Double A last year, further establishing himself as one of the organization’s top prospects. This training camp gives him more exposure to the major-league coaching staff and chances to impress in the Cactus League.

A running inside joke is how Rojas has historically handled live batting practice against Cade Horton, who finished second in last year’s National League Rookie of the Year voting.

“Jefferson, he owns me,” Horton said. “I think I’ve faced him seven times, probably, and he’s taken me deep three times. One fastball, one on a sinker and one on a slider. Yeah, I wanted him to go easy on me. And obviously he didn’t. The second live BP, he took me deep twice.

“All right, dude, we get it. You’re a good hitter. But, no, he’s really skilled for his age and really mature for his age. I’m happy to have him on our team.”

Rojas is not ticketed for Chicago this year. He’s played only 39 career games above the A-ball level. A realistic development plan would have him in Triple A at some point this year, almost major-league ready by the end of this season, and in a position to potentially contribute in 2027 and beyond.

“It definitely feels closer,” Rojas said through an interpreter.

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