![The Cubs won again on Friday [Image via Arturo Pardavila III/YouTube]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/3/16/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-cubs-won-again-on-friday-image-via-arturo-pardavila-iiiyoutube_2227975.jpg "The Cubs won again on Friday [Image via Arturo Pardavila III/YouTube]")
The Chicago Cubs took on the Chicago Whitesox on Friday and won the "cross-town" battle 11-9.
Albert Almora brings the wood
There's been a lot of talk this spring about Albert Almora developing some power. It seems to be working. On Friday, he hit his second homer of the spring, this time against a right handed pitcher. He went 3-for-4 with three RBI and is hitting .344.
Huge fans of this approach from @albertalmora. pic.twitter.com/2wlB2V7iot
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 15, 2019
Mark Zagunis could make the roster
Zagunis could make the Cubs opening day roster since Daniel Descalso is likely headed to the DL. On Friday, he made his case again, going 1-for-2 with two runs scored and his third home run of the spring.
Mark Zagunis is tearing the cover off the ball this spring:
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) March 15, 2019
.379/.438/.793, 3 HR, 11 RBI in 13 G (32 PAs)
He's already on the 40-man roster and has a career .400 OBP in minors. Issue with him has always been generating power.
Could he be the 2019 version of Bote for Cubs?
Ian Happ might need to start the year in AAA
While Happ has impressed Cubs' manager Joe Maddon with the way he's gone about trying to win the second base job this spring, he's not impressed anyone with his bat so far. After another 0-for-3 on Friday, the utility man is hitting just .132 on the spring. After a pretty bad 2018, it might be time to see if Happ needs to have a full reset and learn to hit against decent pitching first, before he goes after major league hitting.
In today's Mesa miscellany: Ian Happ impressing Maddon at second, the potential Descalso ripple effect, on Maples' mound move and much, much more https://t.co/JNnvuspj6m
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 16, 2019
David Bote wants to prove doubters wrong
Bote was awful in the second half of 2018. There were some who doubted whether he should be in the big league club. He worked on getting bigger and stronger over the winter. Now it looks like it. On Friday he went 2-for-4 and raised his spring average to .435.
Spring Training stats are meaningless, but that doesn't mean I'm not stoked on David Bote who's got 8 hits (two 2Bs, HR) and 8 walks already. He's "slashing" .421/.586/.684.
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) March 15, 2019
That's not the Hamels we want
Tyler Chatwood was wild in his last start. Jon Lester has been getting lit up. The Chicago Cubs are hoping for a big season from Cole Hamels. He hasn't had a bad spring, but he got lit up on Friday when he lasted just 3.2 innings, allowed five hits, five runs and walked three. That raised his ERA for the spring over 5.00 and should give fans another reason to wonder what 2019's regular season will hold.
Hamels gives up five runs vs. ChiSox https://t.co/whlbqXHeDr #ColeHamels #FantasyBaseball
— MLB News (@PlayerlineMLB) March 16, 2019
