Cubs' Young gives away his first career home run ball
Jared Young's first major league home run Wednesday came on an 0-2 pitch in the third inning, and he sent an Aaron Nola sinker 425 feet into the wind.
"It's one of those at-bats, your heart's racing a little bit," said Young, who tripled in his first at-bat Thursday. "First at-bat back at Wrigley kind of got me going. It's just stay in the fight, I got down 0-2 and got a pitch I could get to and it was just a good swing."
After the game, Young said he got the home run ball from the fan who caught it in the bleachers, trading a bat and autographed photo. Then he gave it to someone who won't remember the moment.
"My brother and my 1-month-old niece are here," Young said. "I just met her (for the first time) on the field and I figured I'll give him the ball to give to her."
Young had an baseball unlikely journey coming from Prince George, British Columbia, a city closer to Edmonton than Vancouver. He played in college at Old Dominion before being drafted by the Cubs in the 15th round in 2017.
"It's a good town. It's quite a hockey town, not quite a baseball town," Young said. "I guess perseverance and traveling a lot. I changed high schools my junior year to go to a school that had a little bit better baseball. It was called Okanagan A's. It was a great kind of travel team-high school combo, and opened some doors for me for sure.
"I lived with a host family (in Kelowna, B.C.) and that was different. But I ended up becoming best friends with their son, so it worked out good."
The most accomplished NHL player from Prince George, by the way, was Turner Stevenson, a 1990 first-round pick of the Canadiens, according to hockey-reference.com.
Relief to relieve:
Hayden Wesneski pitched 4⅓ innings in relief of Drew Smyly on Wednesday, allowing 2 hits and 1 run. Wesneski started the year in the Cubs' rotation and after the game, he talked about embracing his new role.
"It puts us in a good spot," Wesneski said. "Especially with the (busy) stretch we have coming, what (Javier) Assad did last night, what I did today, helps us for the future. Next week we could be in a way better spot because (Mark) Leiter and Julian (Merryweather) weren't needed tonight.
"There's been stuff adjusting to the bullpen, routine-wise I've had to do. A lot of it is before games. Some of the guys in the bullpen have really calmed me down and got me to the point where it gives me a chance to pitch well in the bullpen."
Does anyone ever ask if it's better to start in Iowa or pitch out of the bullpen with the Cubs?
"Definitely here," he said. "We care about winning. It's not even close, I'd rather be here. That's why I've tried to embrace the role and not make it a big deal."
Around the horn:
Patrick Wisdom (right wrist sprain) began his rehab assignment with the Iowa Cubs on Thursday and hit a 2-run homer in his first at-bat, driving in Miles Mastrobuoni in the process. ... Jordan Wicks is expected to make his first Triple A start Friday. ... The Cubs confirmed Marcus Stroman will start Saturday against Cleveland, as long as everything goes well with his Thursday bullpen session. ... It was NASCAR night Thursday at Wrigley Field, and the drivers on hand were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton and John Hunter Nemechek.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports