MESA, Ariz. — The bleary eyes and slow struts around the Cubs’ clubhouse Saturday morning were too obvious to ignore.
“Guys are battling various levels of jet lag,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, less than 60 hours after returning from an eight-day trip to Japan.
That didn’t prevent Counsell from playing seven projected starters against the Rockies as the Cubs resumed the exhibition portion of their schedule at Sloan Park.
There’s ample time to recover with Thursday’s domestic opener against the Diamondbacks looming, but Counsell confirmed several players are battling fatigue and general malaise.
That includes prized left-hander Shota Imanaga, who received 10 days of rest before pitching Saturday against the Diamondbacks.
“That trip was a lot for everybody, but for him in particular,” Counsell said of Imanaga, who was in demand due to his return to his home country.
Imanaga, who threw four innings and 69 pitches Tuesday in the regular-season opener against the Dodgers, will throw an extended bullpen session in place of an exhibition start to monitor his recovery.
Shortstop Dansby Swanson also felt sluggish but returned to the lineup.
“I wouldn’t consider it flush sick,” Swanson said. “Just take some pills and keep it moving. They just asked me if I was fine to play. And I said, ‘Yeah, it’s better to go ahead and get back into it then sit around and wait another couple days.’ “
The Cubs have three exhibition games remaining, but Counsell wasn’t about to extend his starting position players until facing the Diamondbacks.
“I think just we want position players to get live at bats and to see live pitching,” Counsell said. “I think that’s important to continue to do that. The nature of this game is that you see it every day, or see it a lot of days a week. But I’m not concerned about how long players play right now.”
Counsell felt better than he did Friday, when he felt fatigued managing against the Padres and then driving to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to watch his son Brady play for Kansas against Arizona State that evening.
Only the dugout energy of Junior Flaherty, son of Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, kept Counsell and dugout somewhat alert.
Pitcher Ben Brown managed to avoid illness, with one asterisk
“I’m 3 a.m. wake up calls the last two nights,” Brown said, referring to the time adjustment from Tokyo.
The Cubs’ trip, however, was more glamorous than the two-week trip taken by the San Francisco Giants toward the end of spring training in 1970.
The Giants went 3-9 against Japanese teams. Ace pitcher Juan Marichal suffered ear and throat infections, along with an allergic reaction to a penicillin shot.
According to a story by the Society for American Baseball Research, many Giants were unaccustomed to the chilly, outdoor conditions, the Japanese style of play and the umpires’ strike zones.
The Giants started the regular season 19-23 and 12 games out of first place, and manager Clyde King was fired.
Despite the fatigue and playing in front of a pro-Dodgers crowd supporting megastar Shohei Ohtani, the Cubs’ traveling party relished their experiences – from the hospitality to the food to a different culture.
“Absolutely a great experience,” Counsell said. “Absolutely, I think we’d all sign up for it again.”