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'Taking ground balls is like my sanctuary time': How Bote has improved his defense

With injuries to both Nico Hoerner and Matt Duffy, David Bote figures to be an every day player at third or second base until further notice.

Defense was a question mark a couple years ago when he accumulated 16 errors in 2019. But he's been working on the glove skills and is on a good pace this year with just two errors at third base so far.

On Thursday, he talked about putting in work on the baseball field being one of his favorite things.

"I love it. I absolutely love it," Bote said. "That's just part of my process, part of the reason why I'm here is that. I love being on that baseball field as much as I can. Taking ground balls is like my sanctuary time.

"Hitting on the field with the fuzz machine, nobody around, empty stadium, has got to be one of my favorite things to do. One, to get better. But two, just like on a nice sunny day, beautiful stadium, see the skyline - that's just a place to get better, to work and also enjoy what I'm doing. That's just part of who I am. Everybody does it their own way and that's my way."

New night games:

The Cubs announced two games in June have been moved from day to night. The June 13 game against St. Louis was chosen for ESPN's national broadcast and will start at 6:08 p.m. The June 18 game against Miami will start at 7:05 p.m.

Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls

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