Mike Tauchman’s big-league career has taken him coast to coast.
Five major-league seasons with three teams has brought him to 24 major-league ballparks. One in particular, though, has eluded him. Tauchman is trying to rectify the Wrigley Field omission in the next month. For the Palatine native who grew up a Cubs fan, Tauchman’s opportunity to make the opening-day roster grew exponentially when the team lost right fielder Seiya Suzuki for the start of the season because of an oblique injury.
Tauchman, 32, homered in Saturday’s 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, improving to 7-for-21 (.333) this spring with three extra-base hits, two RBIs, six runs scored and three stolen bases in 10 games.
Tauchman spent 2022 in the Korean Baseball Organization where he posted a .289/.366/.430 line and hit 37 doubles and 12 home runs in 144 games. At times Tauchman had to rely on himself because of the language barrier, though his team, the Hanwha Eagles, had a couple coaches who spoke English, which aided in the transition. He learned how to self-assess and make adjustments on his own without the safety net of the resources available to players in Major League Baseball. He considers his one season in South Korea to be an overall very positive experience.
Tauchman’s ability to handle all three outfield positions puts him on a front-runner path to the Cubs’ opening-day roster. Manager David Ross said Saturday that he won’t use left fielder Ian Happ in center field as the back-up option on days Cody Bellinger isn’t in the lineup. Tauchman made 129 starts in center field for Hanwha last year and started 11 games there in 2021 with the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
“Everybody wants to have a great spring, but there’s obviously a bigger picture,” Tauchman told the Tribune on Saturday. “I want to come in, try to show my skill set, show everybody what you can do because you watch on TV or you hear about it, but you always want to make a good impression so I feel good with where I’m at.”
Two stalls to the right of Tauchman’s in the Cubs spring clubhouse resides lefty reliever Ryan Borucki, a Mundelein High School graduate whose quest to open the season in Chicago comes after a stress reaction in his arm prematurely ended his 2022 season with the Seattle Mariners. Borucki, 28, has struck out seven and walked one batter in 4⅓ innings this spring; two of his three runs allowed came in his outing Friday against the White Sox. It marked only the fourth time he has thrown in a game since Aug. 8.
Borucki took it slow in the offseason as he worked back from his injury and started his throwing program a couple weeks behind his usual schedule.
Since signing a minor-league deal with the Cubs in January, Borucki added a sweeping slider to his repertoire. He is still getting comfortable on the mound after last year’s injury and trying to incorporate the slider in spring games.
“My arm is really bouncing back well, which is my No. 1 priority,” Borucki told the Tribune on Saturday. “Obviously I’m competing for a job. I want to show the best version. I know there’s going to be some bumps in the road, but I’m going out there to compete for a job. My biggest thing is making sure I’m feeling good.”
In the last 30 years, 35 Illinois-born players have appeared in a game for the Cubs, according to team historian Ed Hartig. Tauchman and Borucki, non-roster invitees, are vying to be the next.
“This is the team I grew up cheering for, so feeling like there might be an opportunity here was something that was too good to pass up,” Tauchman said. “It would be special.”
Borucki offered a sly smile when asked whether he rooted for the Cubs or Sox as a kid.
“I’ll plead the fifth on that one,” he replied.
“As anyone in Chicago knows, it’s a Cubs city, so this is definitely the team to play for in Chicago because the fan base is crazy. I was a White Sox fan growing up — ‘05 was a great time — but since then it’s been Cubs fans all around as a North Side suburbs guy. … The passion and just how much this team means to so many people in this city, it’s like, how can you not want to be part of this?”
As Tauchman and Borucki focus on building their case to break camp with the team in 3½ weeks, their Chicago-area roots connect them in another way: They are die-hard Bears fans.
“I don’t miss a game,” Borucki said. “I’ve watched the Bears at a wedding before.”
The Bears’ trade Friday of the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers, which netted them pick Nos. 9 and 61, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick and wide receiver D.J. Moore, earned positive reviews from both players.
“There was like a month stretch when Justin Fields was the best player in the NFL last year, I thought — I had him on my fantasy team, too, and it was awesome,” Tauchman said. “It’s exciting. I think the NFL is better when the Bears are good. Obviously Sundays are more fun when the Bears are good. It seems like they have a plan.”
Tauchman wants to see the Bears continue to add more weapons for Fields after getting Moore to be their new No. 1 receiver. Borucki fired off texts to friends and family after hearing of the trade. He’s a big Moore fan and is hopeful Bears general manager Ryan Poles can follow the move with a strong draft. Borucki joked he has trust issues after witnessing how previous Bears GMs’ trades have fared.
“But this one seems like it’s pretty good with everything I’ve been reading, everybody says we’ve won the trade so … now it’s up to Justin Fields,” Borucki said. “Let’s see if he can really show he can throw the ball. We all know he’s a really great runner. But they’re building around him, which is fun.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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