Forget about last year. Ryan Dempster has. He's not dwelling on last April or last year or the fact this is the last year of his contract.
The Chicago Cubs right-hander and Gibsons native did joke he was fretting over his loss to manager Dale Sveum in the team bunting tournament.
That kind of stuff stays with you for years, Dempster said, tongue in cheek. I've had a lot of sleepless nights lately. Hopefully, I'll get through it.
What should be settled soon is the Cubs' opening day starter. Dempster was given the assignment last year, but Sveum wasn't ready to commit on Monday, March 5.
We've given it some thought, but we haven't decided anything yet, Sveum said. We're just waiting and seeing how things pan out. We'll have that done within the next week.
The deciding factors will be more than performance.
There's an upcoming series against the Milwaukee Brewers from April 9 to 12, which Dempster will be included in. The right-hander is 15-5 with a 2.75 ERA in his career against Milwaukee.
Dempster said he doesn't need to know if he's starting April 5 against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field to motivate him.
I literally take it day-by-day, he said. I'll let all that play out as it plays out. [Opening day] is always exciting, but it doesn't change what my approach on the season will be, whether it's the first day or fifth day.
Dempster finished last season 10-14 with a 4.80 ERA. It was the seventh time he'd reached 200 innings, which was a positive. There weren't many other pluses.
Any time you have a sub-par year I can only speak for me personally you don't really like that a whole lot and you want to do better the next time around, he said. The easiest way to do that is go out there and work hard and be as ready as you can be, and I've done that this winter and this spring, and I'm looking forward to getting through here healthy and getting started.
Last Monday (March 5) Dempster made his Cactus League debut against the Oakland Athletics and gave up one run on two hits and struck out two over two innings.
His second start was even better, picking up the win in the Cubs 6-1 win over Milwaukee on Saturday, March 10. He pitched three innings, allowing only two hits and walking two.
There's been a lot of good things, Dempster said. Every morning we have meetings and we really harp on the positive things that happen the day before, and we preach playing aggressively and attacking and believing in ourselves, and I think it's a good thing. There's a bright future on the horizon, but also a bright future right now, a lot of good players in here.
Last season, Dempster struggled in the first month and was 1-3 with a 9.58 ERA. What happened?
I forgot about last April, Dempster said. I put that behind me.
What happened from May to September?
I made better pitches, I executed pitches better, Dempster said.
He said he's been working on all of his pitches this spring and did say his off-speed pitches were ahead of last year.
You can work on fastball command just playing catch, he said. I've been using my sides on my other stuff and my off-speed pitches so they're crisp when the season starts.
This is Dempster's ninth season with the Cubs and 15th in the big leagues. His seniority also is a factor in picking the opening day starter.
That all goes into it, no question about it, Sveum said. Who had the better year, the match-ups, the leadership, who's been here the longest, stuff like that, longevity of a career. You can go on and on about the reasons why.
A good start is great. A good finish would be better. This also is the last year of Dempster's contract with the Cubs. He's noticed everyone in camp working hard to make a good impression on the new Cubs front office, but says that's only natural.
All those pieces fall into place if you just go out there and do your job, Dempster said. The easiest thing for me to do is focus on my job, and that's preparing between starts and every fifth day to go out there and do the best job I can of being mentally and physically prepared to pitch. Whatever happens, happens.
With a file from Ian Jacques
Editor's note: Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. She writes a blog, Muskat Ramblings, and you can follow her on Twitter@CarrieMuskat. Muskat approved permission for this article to be re-produced.
