MESA, Ariz. — Kris Bryant ripped his first Cactus League home run of 2016 on Tuesday, a year after the reigning National League Rookie of the Year hit a major league-best nine home runs in spring training.
The 24-year-old Bryant served an offering from Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Joe Blanton out to left-center field, and also chipped in with an RBI single off Clayton Kershaw in the third inning of the Cubs’ 7-3 loss at Sloan Park.
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Some other notes from Tuesday in Mesa:
— Infielder Tommy La Stella left Monday’s game with a cramp in his right calf, manager Joe Maddon said. The Cubs gave La Stella Tuesday off and, given the lengthy stretch of spring training remaining, will be cautious about working him back into the lineup.
— Thirty-eight-year-old catcher David Ross homered and doubled on Tuesday.
— Right-hander Kyle Hendricks made his second Cactus League start and cruised through three shutout innings, allowing two hits with two strikeouts. The 26-year-old Dartmouth alum said after his outing he feels like he’s progressing well this spring, which comes a year after he started 32 games and threw 180 innings with a 3.95 ERA.
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— Left-hander Travis Wood didn’t have the same positive results, as he was knocked around for three runs on six hits.
— Javier Baez, who played shortstop after starting in center field Monday, made an impressive throw from the hole to retire Yasiel Puig in the third inning. He did commit a throwing error in the fifth when he couldn’t complete a difficult double play turn.