The Cubs’ 2024 spring training schedule is set to wrap up with a unique matchup at Sloan Park. The Cardinals, who play spring training in Florida, are set to visit Mesa, Arizona, on March 25 and 26.
Major League Baseball announced its tentative spring schedule Tuesday. The Cubs’ 34-game slate features 18 games at their home facility and 16 on the road.
The Cardinals coming to Sloan Park is a schedule quirk akin to the Cubs hosting the Red Sox to end spring training in 2019. The Cardinals will open the regular season against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, so a trip to Arizona gets them much of the way there. And it puts another rivalry on the Cubs’ spring calendar.
The Cubs also will open their Cactus League schedule with a rivalry game, hosting the White Sox on Feb. 23. They’re scheduled to play the Sox three times in spring training, with another game at Sloan Park on March 1 and a game at Camelback Ranch on March 15.
All three games fall on Fridays.
Crosstown Classic kicks off
The Cubs and Sox faced each other for the first time this season, kicking off an important week for the Cubs before the trade deadline next Tuesday.
‘‘Awesome to have a city with so much pride in the game of baseball and just to be a part of that,’’ second baseman Nico Hoerner said before the game.
During the course of the season, the crosstown rivals will play four games against each other — two at Guaranteed Rate Field this week and another two Aug. 15-16 at Wrigley Field.
‘‘They made it to London; I think they’ll make it to the South Side,’’ Hoerner joked when asked about Cubs fans traveling well. ‘‘It’s White Sox fans, too. Both sides bring a lot of good energy.’’
Madrigal update
Infielder Nick Madrigal (strained right hamstring ) is back in action on his rehab assignment after being scratched Sunday at Triple-A Iowa because of what the Cubs called ‘‘general lower body fatigue.’’ He originally was targeting this series for a return from the injured list.
Madrigal was set to play third base for Iowa in the third rehab game of his stint.
Draft picks sign
The Cubs announced they had agreed to terms with three more draft picks, including second-rounder Jaxon Wiggins, a right-hander from the University of Arkansas, to complete the class.
With Wiggins, outfielder Zyhir Hope (11th round) and right-hander Sam Armstrong (13th round) coming to terms, the Cubs have struck deals with all 20 of their selections.
Quotable
‘‘This group has felt for a while our best baseball is ahead of us. We hadn’t quite put our different parts of the game together for an extended stretch. The last six weeks or so we’ve had some decent results, but in particular some really strong wins in games that really could have gone one way or another.’’ — Hoerner, on the Cubs’ trajectory
