You may not care all that much about watching spring training games, but there are plenty of fans who want to soak up every single minute of action as possible and for some reason the Chicago Cubs and MLB continue to make it impossible to watch. You would think that a team like the Cubs, who owns their own TV network, would have the ability broadcast these games, but at the very least turn on a live feed from the ballpark and put it on MLB.tv.
That’s what really stands out because we can all see that they post a few video highlights from these games that aren’t on TV, so why not just keep that feed going live with the stadium PA announcer as the audio. Is that really too much to ask for? Wednesday’s spring training game between the Cubs and Rockies was not broadcasted on TV nor had a radio broadcast.
The only highlights posted looked like this.
The last game available to watch was on Sunday against the Giants and Cubs fans won’t be able to watch on TV again until Saturday, when the Cubs play the Dodgers. That game will be on LA’s TV network.
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The Cubs lost 14-7. Here are the things that stood out.
Matt Shaw in Right Field
Matt Shaw made his second spring training start in right field on Wednesday and it continues to be a work in progress for the second-year pro. Shaw couldn’t make a catch in the first inning on a ball hit to right-center field as he raced over, but had the ball clanked off his glove. It was ruled a double.
In the fifth inning, Shaw was charged with a throwing error that allowed Nicky Lopez to reach second base safely after hitting a single. On the bright side, Shaw did record an outfield assist later in the fifth inning, throwing out Bryant Betancourt, who was trying to score from second. Would have been nice to see!
This is why it’s spring training though. Shaw is learning a new position and you want to see the challenges now in order to make him better out there.
Shaw called this play part of the learning process in the outfield. Crow-Armstrong couldn't see the fly ball because of the sun and normally it would be his. Shaw said it was a helpful scenario in understanding to always be super aggressive in pursuing a ball in the gap until PCA calls him off.
— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 4:25 PM
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3 Pitchers Struggle
Out of the three familiar pitchers who struggled against the Rockies it was probably most detrimental to 25-year-old Luke Little.
Jameson Taillon gave up three runs on four hits, including a pair of home runs. The veteran starter will make one more spring training start before joining Team Canada next week at the World Baseball Classic. Taillon is slotted in the rotation and has been fairly consistent throughout his career, so fans shouldn’t be freaking about his performance in February.
Same goes for lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar. He made his second appearance in spring training and Thielbar was only able to get one out. He gave up five runs on six hits, which included a home run. Kinda just have to flush that one away.
As for Little, he has plenty of competition from the left side of rubber and right now he needs as many good outings as possible to keep his name in the mix as an option from Triple-A. He’s struggled with his command and the two walks hurt him against the Rockies as he surrendered four earned runs on Wednesday.
Little’s put up good numbers in the majors, posting a 2.80 ERA in 35.1 innings and he was pretty good at Triple-A last year, when the big left-hander had a 2.87 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 59.2 innings. However, he also had a 13.5 BB%. The Cubs quickly sent Little back down to Triple-A last April, following a disaster in San Diego, where Little walked four batters. He only made one other appearance in the majors for the Cubs in 2025, coming in August.
Cade Horton Shines
Is Cade Horton going to be the Opening Day starter? It’s hard not to think that way, considering he was going to be the Game 1 starter in the postseason last year if it wasn’t for a fluke injury at the end of the season. In this year’s spring debut, Horton pitched two shutout innings. The right-hander struck out two batters and walked one, while giving up no hits.
Horton threw 26 total pitches, 14 of them were fastballs that averaged 95.5 mph.
New members of the Cubs bullpen, Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey, both threw a scoreless inning against the Rockies. We know that Maton is going to generate whiffs with his plethora of off-speed pitches, but Harvey was throwing gas. The right-hander pumped it up to 98 mph against the Rockies. The Cubs haven’t featured too many relievers with high velocity in recent years, so it’ll be good to see a big arm like Harvey this year.
