MESA, Ariz. — In the coming days, the Chicago Cubs’ construction of their 26-man roster will gain clarity with opening day less than a week away.
As the Cubs navigate building their bench, with Seiya Suzuki’s PCL sprain adding a wrinkle to their impending decisions, first baseman Jonathon Long isn’t out of the mix. A left elbow sprain forced Long to pull out of the World Baseball Classic and kept him out of Cactus League games for three weeks. Long played in five straight games leading up to the Cubs’ off day Thursday and hit his first spring home run Wednesday.
“He’s behind in at-bats than everybody else, I don’t think these at-bats are affecting, impacting our decision,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday.
Long described his elbow sprain as a bad bone bruise, and while it will take longer for it to feel 100%, it’s at the point where he can play without much discomfort. He’s still trying to regain his timing and rhythm at the plate after the long layoff from his injury.
“You can’t lose sight of the big picture of everything so when I’m locked in, it’s going up there, like, I own this box,” Long told the Tribune. “Ultimate confidence. I’m going to get my pitch. I’m going to put a good swing on it.”
Long, 24, is coming off an impressive first season at Triple A, hitting .305 and posting a .404 on-base percentage, 23 doubles, 20 home runs and 91 RBIs in 140 games for Iowa. It puts him on the verge of the majors, especially as the main internal first-base depth behind Michael Busch.
“It’s really motivating, but at the same time, I can’t make the decisions as much as I would like to,” Long said. “So I always try to just stay within myself, in a sense, and control what I can do because I’m not in charge of making the roster, so I can only put my head down and try and do my best to put myself in the best situation to eventually, hopefully make the team.”
Swing-and-miss stuff
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga delivers during live batting practice during spring training at Sloan Park on Feb. 19, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Left-hander Shota Imanaga was virtually untouchable Tuesday night.
Imanaga recorded 25 swing-and-misses in 4 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels. It was part of an overall impressive night in which Imanaga allowed just one hit — a solo home run — walked one batter and struck out eight. Imanaga has been using the PitchCom to call his pitches and better communicate with his catcher during spring starts. He credited Carson Kelly’s work behind the plate for his success Tuesday.
“Studying the hitters, looking at their swings and deciding what sequence to go with, I think today’s outing showed how great of a catcher (Carson) is,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry.
While it was only a spring game, Imanaga’s 25 whiffs are encouraging from a stuff perspective. Giving up home runs will always be part of his game because of his pitch mix and where he works in the zone, but missing bats can be a good indicator of the quality of his stuff.
“The hitter, when you create that many swings and misses, that’s a real sign,” Counsell said. “It’s hard to produce that much swing and miss.”
The Cubs haven’t seen a pitcher produce that many whiffs during a regular-season game in the Statcast era (dating to 2015) since Yu Darvish’s 26 in 2020.
“For me, I really keep in mind that no matter if I have a good start or bad start, I’ll come into the clubhouse with the same expression, same mood,” Imanaga said. “Just overall I’m thankful for the great teammates I have, and that helps with my confidence.”
WBC players to rejoin camp
The last three Cubs at the WBC will be back in camp Friday.
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, third baseman Alex Bregman and closer Daniel Palencia traveled back to Arizona on Wednesday, a day after Venezuela’s 3-2 win over the USA. With Thursday’s off day, Counsell expected to see the trio back around the team Friday, though he noted Crow-Armstrong and Bregman likely won’t get back into a spring game until Saturday.
“We haven’t talked to Pete and Alex yet, so we’ll see what they want to do,” Counsell said.
It’s unclear how much game action Palencia will get during the final five days of spring training after pitching three times in a four-day span, which included recording the save in Venezuela’s semifinal win over Japan and their title game victory. The Cubs gave Venezuela manager Omar López permission to use Palencia in the championship game only in a save situation, which is exactly how it played out.