The buzz going into the 2018 season feels much different then it did last year. Coming off the team’s first World Series win in over a century, I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened during anything related to 2017 Spring Training. I was still coming off that World Series high so by the time the 2017 regular season started, I was still basking in the success of 2016.
As we all know, the 2017 season ended shitty after the team got dog walked by the LA Dodgers in a series that featured Ed Sheeran hitting every goddamn baseball out of Wrigley Field. I feel like losing that series made Cubs fans (and hopefully the Cubs themselves) hungry to get back to the pinnacle of baseball — the World Series.
Of course, the Spring Training buzz was also given a shot in the arm when the team landed another huge free agent pitching acquisition in Yu Darvish. Darvish not only would solidify the Cubs pitching staff as the best in baseball, he would also help every fan forget about the fact that Jake Arreita and his majestic beard would no longer be in a Cubs uniform.
I don’t know what it is about THIS Spring Training, but I can’t get enough of it. I have so many questions about this year’s team and I feel like Spring Training is slowly giving me the answers that I need.
Question: Will Kyle Schwarber’s drastic body transformation help or hurt his performance on the field?
Answer: Looks like it’s helping out pretty f*cking nicely if you ask me.
Question: Will Yu Darvish work to fix his “tipping pitches” issue?
Answer:
Talk about messing with the hitter's timing Yu Darvish 😂 😂 #Cubs pic.twitter.com/wz1dymc579
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 21, 2018
Question: Who the hell will hit leadoff for the Cubs?
Answer: I can unequivocally say right now that Ian Happ should bat leadoff for your 2018 Chicago Cubs.
It’s the answer to that last question that got Cubs superstar Kris Bryant excited for the upcoming season.
Kris Bryant said he got "goose bumps" driving home yesterday while thinking about what the Cubs can do on offense this season: "We might have a 30 home run lead off hitter." https://t.co/7XXzSrV0vi
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) March 22, 2018
Now I don’t know this for certain, but KB has to be talking about Happ. The second-year player out of Cincinnati has been absolutely tearing up Spring Training pitching and has almost given Cubs manager Joe Maddon no other choice but to pencil him into the leadoff spot this season.
The fact that Happ has the potential to hit 30 bombs this year also gives me goosebumps as well as an elevated heart rate. He hit 24 ding dongs in only 115 games last season so I’d like to think that if he’s in the lineup more consistently getting more at-bats, those power numbers would naturally rise.
Hell, if you look at the rest of the Cubs lineup on paper, seven of the nine spots have the potential to hit 20-30 home runs.
My projected lineup (and 2017 home run totals/projected 2018 home run totals):
- Ian Happ – 24/29
- Kris Bryant – 29/34
- Anthony Rizzo – 32/39
- Willson Contreras – 21/25
- Kyle Schwarber – 30/83 (yes, I meant to type 83)
- Javy Baez – 23/19
- Jason Heyward – 11/12
- Addison Russell – 12/19
- Doesn’t Matter
Yes, I know that a lot of teams look good “on paper” and we could look at projections until we’re blue in the face but Kris Bryant hit it on the head that the Cubs 2018 line up definitely should be giving fans goosebumps.
One more week until we see it for real.
