Cubs top Draft pick Jensen agrees to deal

CHICAGO -- Ryan Jensen happened to check his phone shortly after the national anthem prior to Fresno State's regional game against Stanford on Monday. That is when the pitcher saw some messages congratulating him on being picked by the Cubs in the first round of the MLB Draft.

"Then my mom freaked out in the stands," Jensen said with a laugh earlier this week. "I had no idea it was going to be the Cubs. I couldn't be more grateful for it. This is awesome. It's just crazy to think that I'm in this position right now."

MLB.com confirmed on Saturday that the Cubs and Jensen reached an agreement on a $2 million signing bonus, though the team has not announced the signing. The slot value for the 27th overall pick was $2.57 million, so Jensen's deal gives Chicago some flexibility for deals throughout the rest of the first 10 rounds.

• Cubs Draft Tracker

In 16 appearances for Fresno State this year, Jensen went 12-1 with a 2.88 ERA and 107 strikeouts against 27 walks in 100 innings. That included a 1.17 ERA with 33 strikeouts vs. five walks in his last four games (30 2/3 innings). Jensen (the first Bulldogs pitcher to go in the Draft's first five rounds since 2008) was ranked 99th on MLB Pipeline's list of Top 200 Draft prospects and 106th by Baseball America.

"It's more than just a power arm," said Jason McLeod, the Cubs' senior vice president of player development and scouting. "He has a lot of traits that we were looking for this year in terms of athleticism, pitch traits themselves. Obviously, he does throw hard. He's in the upper 90s -- near 100. He's carrying that velocity deep into starts. We love the life to the heater. We really like the projection to the slider.

"We like the development path that we see him making so far this year in the improvements that were made, and the combination of strike throwing, missing bats and getting the ball on the ground with that power sinker he has."

Heyward, Kimbrel reunited
Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward came up through the Braves' farm system with Craig Kimbrel, and the players were teammates in Atlanta from 2010-14. When it became clear that the Cubs were pursuing the closer, Heyward sent his old teammate a lengthy text message about what it's like to play in Chicago and expressing how much the players would welcome him into the fold.

"I replied to him that all I needed to know was where should I live and what number am I going to wear," Kimbrel said on Friday. "He enjoyed that. That night, it came out that we were going to come here. I'm excited. I'm very excited."

Heyward was thrilled.

"It's an awesome thing," he said Saturday, "because you know it's his decision solely, he and his family. I respected that space. I just let him know a little bit about what's going on here and what it would be like. I told him he deserved to play for a place like this. ... [I know] the kind of person he is, knowing how he just cares about winning and how he just cares about being a good teammate and competing."

Worth noting
• Kimbrel completed a bullpen session at Wrigley Field on Saturday and will now head to Mesa, Ariz., to work through the build-up program put together by the Cubs. While no clear timetable has been given for Kimbrel to join the Major League bullpen, expect the process to take around two to three weeks. Manager Joe Maddon said having patience is critical in this situation.

"If you don't, then you might not get what you're looking for in the first place," Maddon said. "You have to be patient. The guy's not been competing. He's not been pitching to hitters with any kind of regularity, so you're setting yourself up for the fall, I think, if you try to do it too quickly."

• Infielder Addison Russell was out of the starting lineup for the fourth game in a row. Maddon revealed Saturday that Russell bruised his right hand (near his thumb) while sliding headfirst into third base in the second inning of Tuesday's game against the Rockies. The infielder is day to day with the issue.

"We've been taking it very slowly with him," Maddon said Saturday. "He's good. He's actually feeling really good right now, so I've got to see where he's at. He was able to go into the game [Friday], but I did not want to force it. Today, I'm certain he's going to tell me how great he feels. I want to find out. Possibly, we'll get him back in [Sunday]."

• First baseman Anthony Rizzo had a single, stolen base and two walks in his cameo as the leadoff man on Friday, when Kyle Schwarber had the day off. Rizzo now boasts a 1.002 OPS in 202 career plate appearances in the No. 1 slot. That is the second-highest OPS in MLB history out of the leadoff spot among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in that role. Bobby Higginson (1.003 OPS in 311 PAs) ranks first.