MESA, Ariz. — Hector Rondon earned the benefit of the doubt, the luxury of not having to go full throttle every time in spring training. The Cubs watched him evolve from that Rule 5 guy on a 96-loss team to the closer for a World Series favorite.
So there wouldn’t be an overreaction to some bad Cactus League numbers, as much as Cubs fans and the Chicago media remember what happened with Carlos Marmol and Jose Veras and how those ex-closers lost control in Arizona and never seemed to get it back.
Rondon needed only seven pitches to get through the seventh inning during Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Kansas Royals at Sloan Park, getting Drew Butera to pop out in foul territory and striking out Tony Cruz and Terrance Gore to lower his ERA to 17.