The Chicago Cubs might have a surprising name on their 25-man roster to start the regular season.
According to Carrie Muskat, the team is debating whether to have eight pitchers in the bullpen, or an extra bat off the bench. If they opt for the extra position player, the last spot on the roster could go to the veteran backup outfielder Peter Bourjos.
#Cubs debating whether to go with 7 or 8 relievers. If 7, might be opening on bench for someone like Bourjos
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) March 19, 2018
Just as a quick recap of what the Opening Day roster will look like, here are the locks for the 25-man roster.
Catcher
Willson Contreras – backup catcher
Infield
Anthony Rizzo – Javier Baez – Ben Zobrist – Addison Russell – Kris Bryant – Tommy La Stella
Outfield
Jason Heyward – Ian Happ, Albert Almora Jr. – Kyle Schwarber
Starting rotation
Jon Lester – Kyle Hendricks – Yu Darvish – Jose Quintana – Tyler Chatwood
Bullpen
Mike Montgomery – Brian Duensing – Justin Wilson – Pedro Strop – Steve Cishek – Carl Edwards Jr. – Brandon Morrow
Joe Maddon has already said he doesn’t like young players being wasted on the bench and for that reason I think Chris Gimenez will break camp as the backup catcher.
Pedro Strop is obviously a lock for the bullpen, but that may depend on if he’s ready to go in 10 days. Strop was held back this spring training because of a calf issue, but he finally faced live hitting on Monday in Mesa.
Strop is hoping to be good to go and is scheduled to pitch in a Cactus League game later this week.
Pedro Strop (calf) pitched in minor league affair just now. Got through it in fine fashion. Sched to throw in Cactus League game this Thursday
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) March 19, 2018
However, the reason the Cubs may be thinking about seven instead of eight relievers might just be in case Strop isn’t ready for Opening Day. So, whoever you thought was replacing Justin Grimm could end up being the man replacing Strop to begin the year.
There’s Eddie Butler, who doesn’t have any options left, Randy Rosario, Anthony Bass and Justin Hancock, as possible options for the final reliever spot.
Now, although it’s being discussed I just don’t see Maddon going away from having another bullpen arm. It’s what the Cubs have done for the last few years under Maddon and with players like Happ, Bryant, Baez and Zobrist, is there really a need to have another position player instead of another arm? Especially early in the season, when pitchers may not go deeper in games and the bullpen could be used to get through more innings.
But again, the Cubs could have their hand forced if Strop isn’t deemed ready enough to start the season in the bullpen, as he’s barely started to face live hitters this week. Or who knows, maybe Strop goes on the DL and the Cubs choose two of the four relievers mentioned above.
As for the extra position player, Bourjos can give Maddon yet another outfielder and pinch running option, but if you go off spring training numbers, and we all know those are extremely reliable to base your judgement off of, Ryan Court deserves some love. Court has a slash line of .395/.477/.789, with four home runs in 38 at bats in spring training.
So, although almost every roster spot is locked up, with a little more than a week left before Opening Day, there’s still some intrigue left from the Cubs down in spring training.
