Cubs Live
By: Ryan Melson (@RyanMelson1)
With pitchers and catchers officially reporting to beautiful Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona, it is a perfect time to take a look at what the 25 man roster may look like when the Cubs open up against the Miami Marlins on March 29th. Manager Joe Maddon generally goes with 13 pitchers and 12 position players during the regular season. Starting Pitching The starting staff is set in stone at this point: Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, and Tyler Chatwood. For this starting rotation, staying healthy will be the biggest key throughout spring training and the regular season. There is not much to look for out of these five starting pitchers during spring training, other than the fact that this is an unbelievably impressive starting rotation. Relief Pitching Once again, the Cubs do not have many holes on this roster and that holds true with the bullpen. The locks for the bullpen include Brandon Marrow, Carl Edwards, Jr., Mike Montgomery, Justin Wilson, Brian Duensing, Pedro Strop, and Steve Cishek. These seven are definite locks and this bullpen looks to be significantly upgraded from a year ago, even though the Cubs do not have a pitcher who has been a pure closer. The Cubs plan to go with Marrow as their closer, but they can also use Wilson, Cishek, Edwards Jr., and Montgomery in that role if they need to. The Cubs will feature at least three really good lefties in this bullpen. Montgomery, Wilson, and Duensing will give Joe Maddon plenty of flexibility in games to make pitching changes based on matchups. Truly, there is only one spot that is up for grabs in the Cubs bullpen and there will be heavy competition for that last roster spot. Dario Alvarez, Justin Grimm, Dillon Maples, Randy Rosario, Luke Farrell, and Alec Mills are all candidates for the Cubs last bullpen spot. The left hander Alvarez is an interesting candidate for the Cubs. Alvarez has had some success and has struggled at the Major League level. However, Alvarez seems like a pitcher that the Cubs can rehabilitate, like we have seen with so many other pitchers. Alvarez would also provide the Cubs with a fourth left handed option out of the pen (that is insane to think about). After the 2015 season, I would have thought that Justin Grimm would have been a main staple in the Cubs bullpen for a long time. Since his superb 2015 season, where Grimm posted a 1.99 ERA in 49.2 innings, Grimm has been wildly inconsistent and downright unreliable. With that being said, Grimm’s velocity remains high and his pitches still have incredible movement. However, Grimm may have ruffled feathers in the Cubs front office. He did not accept the Cubs generous arbitration offer that gave him a pay raise of $375,000 dollars, as Grimm wanted an additional $275,000 after an atrocious season. Grimm did not agree, took Theo Epstein to arbitration for the first time in Theo’s career, and Grimm lost the case to Theo. This is not likely to play a factor, but Grimm could become a trade candidate if he has a hot start to spring training. Dillon Maples is the most intriguing candidate out of them all. Maples is a hard throwing right hander, who got a taste of the Major Leagues last September. Outside of one really bad performance, Maples flashed with his electric fastball and wipe out slider. If Maples can show the Cubs he has gotten his command under control, Maples will be a no brainer as the 8th guy in the Cubs pen. Left handed reliever Randy Rosario is another intriguing candidate. The Cubs signed the 23 year old lefty after the Minnesota Twins released him. Rosario is a hard throwing lefty. Like Alvarez, Rosario will be a project that the Cubs hope to strike gold with. Luke Farrell and Alec Mills will also be two to look for in spring training to see how they continue to develop. The needs of 2018 can change and as some of the young pitching develops, keep an eye out for Adbert Alzolay and Oscar De La Cruz to make the team if the Cubs for some reason needed arms in season. These two will likely be called up in September when rosters expand. Position Players Like the starting pitchers, the position players who will be part of the 12 that break spring training with the big league team is pretty set. Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, Albert Almora Jr., and Jason Heyward are all locks for this 25 man roster. The remaining two stops are not that controversial either. It is likely that Chris Gimenez will be the backup catcher and Tommy La Stella will backup the infield and serve as a pinch-hitting extraordinaire. Unfortunately, this leaves out Victor Caratini. Caratini has consistently dominated in the minor leagues. If Caratini can put together an extraordinary spring training, he could force the Cubs into having him on the MLB club. The Cubs may then try to sign Gimenez to a minor league contract, which he might be inclined to do. This likely will not happen, though, and Gimenez will likely be on the big league club. The Final 25 Man Roster Here are my bold predictions for the roster (they are really not that bold, since this roster is set): Starting Pitchers (5): Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Tyler Chatwood Relief Pitchers (8): Brandon Marrow, Carl Edwards, Jr., Mike Montgomery, Justin Wilson, Brian Duensing, Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, Dillon Maples. Position Players (12): Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, Albert Almora Jr., Jason Heyward, Tommy La Stella, Chris Gimenez. Baseball is back, folks. How good is it to hear those words?
1 Comment
Auntie T
3/14/2018 04:12:30 pm
Ryan
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Kyle MalzhanFounder who is an aspiring journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs daily. Archives
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