Confident Contreras ready to work with Cubs ace Jon Lester

MESA, Ariz. - Cubs ace Jon Lester is expected to meet the media Friday. One of the things he'll no doubt be asked is working with a new catcher.

For the past two seasons with the Cubs, Lester had David Ross as his personal receiver. Ross retired after the Cubs won the 2016 World Series. This season, the plan is for Lester to throw mostly to second-year catcher Willson Contreras.

There likely will be a learning curve for both players. Contreras, who possesses no small measure of confidence, is a willing pupil.

"He's been nice," Contreras said of Lester Thursday. "I need to get to know him better. I'm sure that if I have any questions to ask, he'll be there with the answer."

Contreras said his self-confidence will help "a lot."

"I'm pretty confident," he said. "It's been something that I've been developing in myself since I got here."

Getting back to it:

Relief pitcher Pedro Strop said he feels fine entering spring training. Strop underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last August after tearing his meniscus. He suffered a groin injury while rehabbing the knee and spent more than a month on the disabled list. Strop appeared in 8 postseason games.

"The knee is fine, the body is fine," he said. "I'm just going to go through everything and get ready for the '17 season."

Strop admitted it took some time after the rehab for his knee to feel 100 percent.

"I worked really hard to get back," he said. "I felt I was a key for that team. I didn't want to sit down waiting for that thing to heal. I wanted to do my best, whatever I could, to get back and help that team. I know how important it was for the organization to get a championship when we had 108 years without winning. I was just focused on winning. That's why I kind of rushed my rehab.

"To be honest, it didn't (feel 100 percent). I'm not going to say that I was like 50 percent or 60. I was pretty close to 100 percent, but I wasn't 100."

Strop said he isn't sure if he will pitch for Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. If so, he said he is shooting for the second round of the Classic.

Watch out for that scooter:

Manager Joe Maddon revealed that retired catcher David "Grandpa" Ross gave his motorized scooter to his grandmother. Ross is now a Cubs special assistant and is helping coach the catchers.

"I believe she's driving it all over the panhandle," Maddon said. "So if you see a Grandpa Rossy (scooter) driven by Grandma Rossy, you know that it's his grandma."