Part 1 : Road Opener at Anaheim
So here we are at long last… the most anticipated Chicago Cubs season of our lives… it’s hard after what we saw last year to not be excited about our prospects, especially after the additions of Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, John Lackey and Adam Warren in the off-season… but all Cubs fans know to never count any eggs before they’ve hatched… one way or another though, it promises to be a wild ride that we’re all going to enjoy.
As the 2016 campaign gets underway, here’s the make-up of the 25-man roster;
Pitchers; Jake Arrieta, Trevor Cahill, Justin Grimm, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Neil Ramirez, Clayton Richard, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Adam Warren, Travis Wood
Catchers; Miguel Montero, David Ross
Infielders; Kris Bryant, Tommy LaStella, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist
Outfielders; Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, Matt Szczur
Notable Disabled List; Javier Baez
Opening the season this evening in Anaheim against the Angels with a match-up between Jake Arrieta and Garrett Richards. Joe Maddon’s opening day line-up looks like this;
Editors Note; The Cubs won this season opener 9-0, in resounding fashion… Arrieta went 7 giving up only 2 hits and walking 1 while striking out 6… replacing Schwarber in left for defensive purposes in the 8th… Matt Szczur stroked the most damaging hit with a 3-run double in the 9th… but it was garbage time by then as the Cubs scored in 5 of 9 innings.
Part 2 : Home Opener vs. Cincinnati
It’s early, definitely… and we’ve lost Kyle Schwarber for the season, which is more feeling bad for him than it is worrying about the Cubs ability to fill the gap… the fun thing though, the interesting thing… is what might happen with a young, loose, focused team that finds momentum and huge moments right out of the gate? Last night at Wrigley was certainly that…
What makes it even cooler is that the NL Central is a killing field… the perfect place in the current baseball universe to hone your craft… Anointed… but ignoring it… still lots of work to be done… that said, the Cubs are off to a 6-1 start with a +29 run differential, best in the Majors by 10 runs… they’re hitting the ball and it’s simply a lineup with no let up… they can hurt you top to bottom…
For posterity, Joe Maddon’s starting lineup for the 2016 home opener;
- Dexter Fowler – CF
- Jason Heyward – RF
- Kris Bryant – 3B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Ben Zobrist – 2B
- Jorge Soler – LF
- Addison Russell – SS
- David Ross – C
- Jon Lester – P
Can’t wait to see what comes next… Here’s the game wrap-up… and here’s the box score…
