Cubs spring training camp looks different this year — literally
MESA, Ariz. — Loop around the back of the Cubs’ main practice field, onto the spring training complex’ patio, and the view across the agility field will be far different from years past.
Where there once was just more grass leading out to the bullpens and half-field, there now stands an 18,000-square-foot pitching and hitting lab. It extends nearly the length of the agility field, emblazoned with two Cubs logos and the team name.
“Camp’s never looked better,” chairman Tom Ricketts said earlier this spring.
His opinion, of course, doesn’t matter nearly as much as the opinions of the players and coaches using the facilities — and their reviews have been mostly glowing after some early growing pains with the labs’ layout.
The project, which also included renovations to the main building, was funded by the city of Mesa as part of a long-standing facilities agreement with the Cubs that allows the complex and stadium to also host a range of events outside of spring training.
The 6,400-square foot addition to the main training center includes a female staff locker room, an umpire locker room and multi-use office and meeting space.
The new lab houses two Trajekt pitching machines, plated mounds to measure the forces pitchers generate in their movements, plus plenty of other gadgets that measure biomechanical and pitch data. Flexible setups for the batting cages and mounds allow players and coaches to arrange these spaces based on their needs.
“The new building is incredible,” said second baseman Nico Hoerner, who has been in the Cubs organization since 2018. “It’s a really huge difference. Just thinking about how far tech and the ways that training in baseball have come, even since I’ve been with the Cubs, it’s really impressive. And it creates every opportunity for us to get ready for the season. It’s a great space.”
The Cubs were early adopters of the Trajekt pitching machines, which can be set to mimic specific pitchers’ arsenals. And Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said the software and video quality has continued to improve through the years.
“We’ve been using them a lot more this spring than we had in the past,” Kelly said. “And I think that’s just kind of the evolution of the game and where we’re going, and how comfortable our guys are getting with tech. Just having those machines accessible, guys are using them more.”
Along with pitch data, the Cubs have been leaning more into force-plate data as an important tool for honing efficient delivery, which can improve both a pitcher’s performance and his health.
“You can see how much force you’re putting into the mound. You can see how much force you’re accepting with your land leg,” said veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon. “They can make skeletons of my body from my lab a week ago, compared to last year, compared to the year before, and they can overlay it all and show you, is your arm longer? Are you getting deeper into your back leg? Those kinds of things. It’s pretty cool.”
Left-hander Matthew Boyd sees the ability to precisely track movement as a draw for players at all stages of their careers.
“For a lot of these younger guys,” he said, “it’s like, ‘Hey, look at these time stamps of where you are. This is where you were really good. Let’s try to go back and replicate this.’ Or, ‘Look at how far you’ve grown’ — little things like that.
“[If] you think of someone who wants to come here and revitalize their career, it could be extremely beneficial.”
The new lab is also temperature-controlled — an especially big deal for players who’ll be rehabbing in Arizona in the summer, when temperatures can surpass 110 degrees for days on end.
“It seems super state-of-the-art,” said Taillon, who can compare to other facilities he used in his days with the Pirates and Yankees. “I haven’t played a ton of places, but it seems like we have to be [among] the top couple in the game.”