Josh Rosen jogged onto the field as an Arizona Cardinal for the first time on Friday and took a moment to reflect.
”When I stepped in the huddle
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Rosen was the center of attention, as usual, on the first day of Cardinals rookie minicamp, starting out slowly but finishing with a crisp performance capped by a long TD pass to fellow rookie and camp roommate Christian Kirk.
Although he may have to wait awhile, Rosen is the Cardinals’ quarterback of the future after the team traded up five spots to take him No. 10 overall in the draft. He’s already signed his contract with Arizona.
After Friday’s workout, he talked about how he’s approaching his new job and even touched on how he deals with being such a lightning rod for criticism – mainly centering on his personality and often from people who don’t really know him.
”You ignore it,” Rosen said. ”It’s only hard if you make it hard. If you’re Googling your name every other day and trying to like reach out to people, yeah, you can make it harder on yourself. But as far as I know if you keep your phone limited to messages and calls and you don’t read too much. The only thing that matters are the guys in the building and that’s what I’m trying to keep it at right now.”
He said he’s had a couple of conversations with Larry Fitzgerald, the 14-year veteran who is among the most-admired players in the game for his behavior on and off the field.
”He’s probably one of the greatest to ever do it
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He’s also heard from Sam Bradford, the player signed to be Arizona’s opening-day quarterback next season. Bradford offered to help in any way with Rosen’s development.
”I think it speaks to him as a person how he’s willing to sort of embrace the competition but also embrace sort of the team aspect,” Rosen said. ”And I’m the same way. Regardless of starter or backup, I want the Arizona Cardinals to do the best possible, because I want to be in the Super Bowl. If that means for this year the best way to do that is to have Sam start, then so be it. But I’m helping, I’m going to push him every single day and likewise I would hope he would do the same thing with me.”
The most important thing for him to show on his first day, Rosen said, was ”demeanor.”
”Even if I don’t know what’s going on, at least act like I know what’s going on,” he said. ”… Be confident
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In truth, new Cardinals coach Steve Wilks is impressed with how quickly Rosen is picking up the offense of coordinator Mike McCoy.
”Phenomenal,” Wilks said. ”The guy’s extremely smart. We said that from Day 1. He’s picking up the offense. He’s doing a great job there, taking control of the huddle and getting everybody in line. No questions about that from the standpoint of his leadership.”
Although Rosen said that nine teams – later amended to three to reflect the QBs selected ahead of him – made big mistakes on draft night, Wilks said, ”I don’t think he’s out to try to prove anything to anyone.
”He’s being his own person. We have accepted him for the person that he is and the player that he is. I don’t think we have a problem at all. We’ve had our talks and it’s all about football and staying focused and really concentrating on that.”
Rosen, Wilks like to say, ”is wired different, and I like that.”
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Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Saturday’s sweltering conditions at Wrigley Field were the worst he’s experienced during a major league game.
The Minnesota Twins were in no position to disagree.
Minnesota’s Eddie Rosario, Bobby Wilson and Max Kepler all left early because of heat illness on a scorching afternoon
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Rosario homered in the top of the fifth inning, then was pulled from left field shortly after fielding a hit by Anthony Rizzo in the bottom half. The Cubs said it was 96 degrees at the time with a heat index of 107 – that’s a calculation of how hot it actually feels, with the humidity factored in.
”That was a pretty brutal day,” Maddon said. ”If you put that on AstroTurf, that would have been like the worst ever.”
There was a short break in the sixth after Wilson drew a walk. A couple of cups of water were brought out for him to sip and douse himself to cool off. Wilson eventually scored and was replaced at catcher after the inning ended with the score tied at 9.
”I just couldn’t catch my breath,” he said. ”My heart was fluttering. I felt dizzy. Started getting a headache. Just couldn’t even hold a conversation in the dugout.”
All three Twins players were treated with IVs.
Jason Heyward had four of the Cubs’ 20 hits, Ben Zobrist had three RBIs and Chicago had a pair of five-run innings. The Cubs rallied from 3-0 and 7-4 deficits and have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since April 2003.
Albert Almora Jr. had three hits and drove in two runs as the Cubs won their third in a row. He exited in the fifth after experiencing leg cramps related to dehydration.
Joe Mauer had two hits and three RBIs for the Twins.
Plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt worked with a towel draped around his neck and frequently left the field between innings.
”It was just tough,” Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. ”We couldn’t keep them off base. There were a lot of singles. They kept hitting them in the right spot.”
Chicago broke open a tie game with a five-run seventh.
David Bote led off with a walk and Ian Happ doubled off reliever Trevor Hildenberger (1-2). It was Chicago’s 15th hit to that point – and first extra-base hit despite the wind blowing out.
”Home runs are pretty cool,” Almora said, ”but the way we produced runs today was special.”
After pinch-hitter Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked to load the bases, Heyward hit a soft liner that just scooted over the head of shortstop Ehire Adrianza – with the infield playing in – for an RBI single and a 10-9 lead Baez hit a grounder up the middle, just out of Adrianza’s reach with the infield playing in
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Justin Wilson (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
STRONG DEBUT
Willians Astudillo, primarily a catcher in the minors, made his major league debut – replacing Rosario – and wound up playing center field for the Twins, his first time at that spot as a pro. He hit an RBI single in his first at-bat.
”I just went out and had fun,” Astudillo said through a translator. ”It’s just great to be here.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: CF Byron Buxton (fractured left big toe) has been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester since June 19 and there’s no timetable for when he’ll be activated from the DL. Buxton was hitting .206 with a homer and four RBIs in nine games with Rochester before Saturday. If he continues to struggle, there’s a chance he could be optioned to Rochester when his rehab assignment ends on July 8.
Cubs: RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (right shoulder inflammation) threw 19 pitches and got two outs during a rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa on Friday. Maddon said the reports were positive and that his ”velocity was normal.” Edwards is expected to pitch again either Sunday or Monday.
UP NEXT
LHP Jon Lester (10-2, 2.18 ERA) opens the July schedule after winning all five of his June starts, compiling a 1.13 ERA during that stretch. RHP Lance Lynn (5-6, 4.81) starts the finale of the three-game series for the Twins.
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