In a surprising move, the Chicago Cubs have named Victor Caratini as their back-up catcher for the beginning of the 2018 season.
The move comes as a bit of a shock as Chris Gimenez, who has hit .194 but also drove in 11 RBI in 36 spring training at-bats, has an established relationship with new starting pitcher Yu Darvish.
nAccording to the school’s website, the term “Ramblers” was used because the team used to travel all across the United States, “rambling” from game to game.
nFans of the team during their last tournament run in 1985 will remember the team’s mascot “Bo Rambler,” which was short for “Hobo.” That mascot was used until 1990, when the university decided it was a bad idea to use a hobo as a mascot and replaced it with the Wolf, who still patrols the sidelines to this day.
nThe wolf is associated with Saint Ignatius of Loyola, according to the school.
nAccording to ESPN Stats and Info, the Ramblers are just the second team to reach the Elite Eight with such a small average margin of victory, joining St. Joseph’s, who accomplished the feat in 1981.
nThe coach of that Illinois team was Bruce Weber, who is now the coach of the Kansas State team that will attempt to end Loyola’s run on Saturday evening.
nNone of those three teams made the championship game of the tournament.
Darvish, acquired in free agency after the Cubs signed him to a six-year contract, often pitched with Gimenez behind the plate when he was with the Texas Rangers and then this spring with the Cubs, but he’ll have to work with another catcher as the team will send Gimenez to Triple-A Iowa.
Caratini does have a home run and five RBI this spring, and the team insists that they feel he’s ready to back-up Willson Contreras this season.
“The biggest thing is we felt that Victor’s ready for this,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We just felt this was the right thing to do right now.”
Chicago Baseball
The move essentially sets the Cubs’ roster for the spring, with Pedro Strop’s health remaining as a small question mark before the team embarks for Florida to kick off the campaign.
