Cubs' Adbert Alzolay connects the clubhouse, organization with 'true leadership qualities'

MESA, Ariz. – Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay walked into the clubhouse and spotted lefty starter Shota Imanaga at his locker, brow furrowed, in an interview.

Alzolay strode over and patted Imanaga on the chest.

“Hey, good job yesterday,” he said. “You feel good?”

Imanaga nodded, his expression brightening.

“Good. Nice. Nice,” Alzolay said. “The split, nasty. I love it.”

“Thank you,” Imanaga said.

It was the day after Imanaga’s first spring training start, a solid showing against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. In postgame interviews, Imanaga had honed in on ways to improve. But Alzolay brought a different perspective.

“When I first joined, he was the guy who helped me out,” Imanaga told the Sun-Times through an interpreter. “If I didn’t know where to go or what the schedule for the practice was, he just told me to follow him. So, it’s been great. I really love the guy.”

Alzolay, 29 and with just over three years of major-league service time, has come into his own in the last year — both on the mound and as a leader. Even before new manager Craig Counsell got to know him, he thought he had “true leadership qualities.”

“I probably believe that even stronger now,” Counsell said early in spring training.

He told Alzolay something similar in the first few days of camp.

“That’s huge coming from him,” Alzolay said. “I feel it’s because I’m just trying to pass around what I’ve learned from all the guys that helped me before in this organization.”

Alzolay signed with the Cubs out of Vene-zuela in November 2012. Bilingual and with a magnetic personality, he spends his offseasons around teammates and minor-leaguers at the Cubs’ Mesa complex, having become a connector in the major-league clubhouse and across the different levels of the farm system.

Right-hander Ben Brown, ranked the Cubs’ No. 11 prospect by MLB Pipeline, lauded the influence Alzolay had on him last offseason. Brown was new to the organization, after being traded from the Phillies at the trade deadline.

“He’s so impressive, the way that he can communicate,” Brown said. “The way that he gives advice, he’s so mature.”

Before a graduation ceremony Friday for players in the Cubs’ English-language program, Alzolay addressed the group. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy also remembered a presentation on the minor-league side earlier this spring that included a highlight of
Single-A Myrtle Beach pitcher Jose Romero closing out a playoff game and giving the same fist pump Alzolay used regularly as the Cubs’ closer last season.

“[Alzolay] has always been a hard worker, consistent worker, smart, intelligent about what he wants to do,” Hottovy said. “And now the success has fallen, and so it’s easy for guys to follow him and easy for guys to learn [from him].”

The energy that goes into Alzolay’s on-field celebrations is softer off the field. But it’s just as infectious.

“And genuine,” second baseman Nico Hoer-ner said. “And he does a really nice job of being in touch with guys from all over the locker room. Just the kind of guy that I feel like everyone feels good being around.”

When Alzolay has a break in his own schedule, he can often be spotted among the Cubs pitching coaches watching his teammates’ bullpens. Depending on the day and time, he might be in uniform, or he might still be barefoot after a grounding session.

Early in spring training, the Cubs had a mic on Alzolay as he cheered on Imanaga in the bullpen.

“When you come into a new country, a new team, it’s really hard for you to communicate with everyone else,” Alzolay said. “Trying to make you feel comfortable and feel like you belong here has been our main goal for [Imanaga] this whole spring. . . . We know all the talent he has. So, at this level, it comes [down to] confidence.”

As good as Alzolay is at pitching, he might be even better at instilling that.