Cubs' David Peralta wasn't fully healthy for Opening Day, but he's competing for a spot on the team in April

MESA, Ariz. — Outfielder David Peralta quickly made an impression on the Cubs during spring training, even though he’ll begin the season in the minor leagues, continuing to build up his throwing program after offseason forearm surgery.

“He’s been in tougher spots than most of these guys have as players,” manager Craig Counsell said of the veteran Peralta, who saved his career by converting from a pitcher to an outfielder in independent ball. “So, it’s a great story of perseverance and not giving up on your dreams.”

Peralta is targeting April  8 to finish his throwing program. He’s scheduled to throw to bases from the outfield Thursday before eventually joining Triple-A Iowa. He was the Cubs’ designated hitter in six spring-training games, going 8-for-18 with three extra-base hits.

“We’re ahead of schedule, which is good,” Peralta told the Sun-Times. “We’re not trying to rush anything. . . . I feel great. I feel strong. Every day, I’m getting better and better.”

After signing a deal to be a non-roster invitee this offseason, he remained with the Cubs through his opt-out date. If he isn’t added to the roster in April, he has another opt-out date on May 1, according to sources.

“We have such a great group of guys here,” Peralta said. “They’re hungry to win. They were pretty close last year, and I think this year is the year for the Cubs. So that was one of the main reasons that I signed with this team, because I want to be part of that winning culture. And especially, we have a great coaching staff, great manager. So all this together is making this team special.”

Peralta shared the winding tale of his career with teammates as part of a series of clubhouse Q&As this spring.

“I knew a little bit of his story,” veteran pitcher Kyle Hendricks said. “But just all the details and the passion that he talks about it with, the love for baseball — that guy just loves baseball. He’ll be in this as long as he can be. It brings more passion to yourself — motivation.”

Cardinals 7, Cubs 2

Lefty starter Shota Imanaga made the final start of his first spring training Tuesday, giving up eight hits and three earned runs in three-plus innings at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. But that final line was affected by shaky fly-ball defense behind him. Two or three hits might have been outs during the regular season, but there was no sense in risking injury to go all-out on the last day of camp.

Although Imanaga wasn’t happy with the overall results, he’d been focused on his slider since his last outing and saw improvement.

“I learned the importance of training and recovery, especially at the same time, and it’s good to take that into the season,” he said, noting he also has learned about “the power and the speed difference of the
MLB hitters.”

• Ian Happ, leading off and serving as designated hitter, led the Cubs with two hits. Outfielder Mike Tauchman and minor-leaguer Christian Franklin both homered. It was Tauchman’s third HR of spring training.

• Right fielder Seiya Suzuki had the day off. He finished spring training with a 1.593 OPS.

“We kind of treated it like, ‘Do you want an at-bat today? Do you not? What do you need to finish your prep?’ ” manager Craig Counsell said. “A couple of guys were good.”

• On deck: Cubs have the day off Wednesday before opening the season against the Rangers on Thursday.

— Maddie Lee