After rainouts, Hannemann finally shines

Jacob Hannemann was anxious for his Florida State League debut on Thursday. Then it got rained out. On Friday, he prepared again for his first Class A Advanced game. Again, the weather had other plans.

"This Daytona weather is crazy. It's sunny and then out of nowhere, our field gets flooded," he said. "I got introduced to [Florida weather] very quickly, but I was glad we were able to squeeze it in [Saturday]."

The clouds finally parted long enough for the Cubs' No. 18 prospect to make his Daytona debut and he went 6-for-8 with a pair of stolen bases, three runs scored and an RBI in a doubleheader sweep of St. Lucie.

"I'm very happy," Hannemann said. "The guys and the coaching staff are great. I'm just having fun, just had a great day today. I know there will be tough times, but I want to stay positive."

After hitting .254 with 39 RBIs over 88 games with Class A Kane County, the 23-year-old outfielder learned Tuesday night that he was headed to Florida. So he and his wife, Shayli, flew out the next day and his parents followed soon after in his car.

Hannemann has spent his days at the beach, expecting to play that night. When the lineup card was filled out for Saturday's opener, the Brigham Young product was happy to see his name at the top with an "8" next to it.

"That's always nice -- getting the call up to a new team and them still having me in a leadoff spot and my favorite spot in center field," he said. "It gives me a lot of confidence that Daytona and the Cubs have that much confidence in me."

With that boost, the left-handed hitter went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI as Daytona took Game 1, 6-3. He collected three more hits, including a double, and scored another run as the Cubs won the nightcap, 9-1.

"I was definitely anxious tonight. I swung at bad pitches that I shouldn't have, but I guess I still got the hits," Hannemann said. "Baseball is baseball. I started seeing the ball well, just putting pedal to the metal. I'm glad I was able to contribute to the games today."

The 2013 third-round pick, who led the Cougars with 32 steals before the promotion, also swiped a bag in each game.

"I love stealing bases. It's an art," he said. "In high school, I wasn't fast enough to steal, then in college I had an eye-opener because the pitching and catching was different. Beating the throw to second gives you so much adrenaline."

Cubs starter Taylor Scott (6-7) picked up the win in the nightcap after holding the Mets to five hits while striking out eight over five scoreless innings.