SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A text message lit up third baseman Gage Workman’s phone with the news: the Cubs had selected him in the Rule 5 Draft.
“Me and my wife were super excited,” Workman told the Sun-Times. “We were sitting right next to each other, and we honestly couldn’t believe it happened.”
Cubs acquiring Workman meant they saw a route for him onto the active roster. To remove a Rule 5 draft player from the active roster, the club has to expose him to outright waivers and offer him back to his original team. And Workman had heard a lot about the organization from former Cubs top prospect and current Yankees minor-leaguer Brennen Davis, Workman’s best friend and the best man at his wedding.
The move also turned up the stakes of this spring for Workman, who hasn’t played higher than Double-A. For the Cubs’ purposes, it put him in a category with utility player Vidal Bruján, who is on the 40-man roster and out of minor-league options. In both cases, the Cubs have to put them on the Opening Day roster or risk losing them.
“A couple of guys that we have to make decisions on have had excellent springs,” manager Craig Counsell said Monday. “I think both those guys have really, really played well.”
Especially with second baseman Nico Hoerner out for the Tokyo Series, both could make the team; it’s not an either-or situation.
“Workman, he’s probably in the toughest situation of anybody coming into camp,” Counsell said. “And it’s a brand new organization, you know what the Rule five pick means. And I think he’s handled it with a lot of maturity. And that’s led to really good performance, and just really letting who Gage Workman is shine – and that’s a left-handed bat with some power, good plate discipline and a good defender.”
Of the players competing for roster spots, Workman has played more games than anyone. Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks was his ninth appearance of the spring. He’s the only Cub with two home runs this spring. He’s posted an impressive 1.105 OPS.
A series of adjustments over a couple seasons helped Workman tap into that power and make plate discipline a defining characteristic.
In July of 2023, the Tigers put Workman on the development list for just shy of a week as he transitioned from being a switch hitter to solely hitting from the left side. With half a season of that setup under his belt, Workman made honing his approach an offseason project. He focused on shrinking his strike zone, looking for pitches to hit in specific spots and stubbornly sticking to the plan.
“In the first maybe half the season, [the adjustments] were still taking place and going underway,” he said. “And then just getting comfortable with those changes and being like, alright, now this is who I am as a player, and just run with it.”
It paid off late last season, when Workman hit 10 home runs in August and September.
Workman – who grew up in Chandler, Arizona and went to Arizona State University – had a large and enthusiastic group of friends and family in the stands for his first spring training home run with the Cubs.
It came in his first Cactus League game, the Cubs’ league opener against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. Against left-hander Justin Wrobleski, Workman let the pitch travel and drove it to the opposite field.
“Especially off a left-handed pitcher, it’s pretty cool to know that you’ve put in a lot of work off lefties,” Workman said. “And when that ball went out, it was like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. It’s a fun way to become a Cub.”