Feb. 23--MESA, Ariz. -- Before Luis Valbuena was traded and Kris Bryant moved closer to reaching the majors, Mike Olt attempted to conquer his biggest battle this offseason: his frame of mind.
"You've got to take it all as a learning experience," said Olt, who will compete with Bryant this spring for the bulk of the playing time at third base. "It took me a while to figure it out. I felt like I dwelled on it a lot last year, and I put a lot of pressure on myself.
"When you think of all the positive things you did, get over the negatives, you start to pick up something you can learn from last year."
New manager Joe Maddon withheld judgment on forecasting the third base competition this spring but is aware of Bryant, 23, who batted .325 with 43 home runs and 110 RBIs at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa last year but has yet to play at the major league level and also will work out in the outfield this spring.
"There are other really good candidates who can play there (at third), probably not to the level (Bryant) can on a long-term basis," Maddon said. "But at the conclusion of this camp, what is the right thing to do then, and that's what we have to do."
Olt, 26, hit 12 home runs in the first half, and 20 of his 36 hits went for extra bases. But he struck out 100 times in 225 at-bats and was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on July 22.
Olt, who was the Rangers' second-best prospect prior to the 2012 season and was ranked 22nd in the majors prior to the 2013 season by Baseball America, said he tried too hard to impress in his first spring training with the Cubs after being part of the Matt Garza trade.
The expectations were high because Olt had overcome vision problems and a sore right shoulder to bat .276 with five home runs and 12 RBIs in spring training.
"If baseball was easy, it would carry over and be fun all the time," Olt said. "But it's not always like that, so you got to be able to work on a lot of things that happen in the season and hopefully have the same results I had in the spring and it carries over.
"If I can get in there and get comfortable and start fresh again, I know what I'm capable of doing. I know I belong there. That's the big thing."
This winter, Olt spoke with Josh Lifrak, who hired by the Cubs last fall as their director of mental skills, to reiterate the positive aspects.
"I think in this game, you find out it's a lot more mental than physical at this level," Olt said. "A lot of us have the talent to do it, so now you put it together so you can get over every hump you can get to."
mgonzales@tribpub.com
