The Cubs have only one real position battle this season, with eight out of the Cubs nine regular starters returning to the team in 2017. In the rotation, the Cubs lost Jason Hammel but acquired Mike Montgomery at mid-season last July and signed Brett Anderson this offseason, with the two battling it out for the final spot in that rotation.
All offseason Montgomery was crowned the proverbial fifth starter by the media, with everyone assuming the Cubs were planning on using a six-man, but with the signing of Anderson it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion that Joe Maddon planned on using six arms in 2017.
However, this Spring Training has been telling as Anderson started to silence doubters about his extensive injury history, impressing everyone with his stuff, while Montgomery struggled some. As Spring went on, both pitchers ERA’s inflated but that was not the main deciding factor here, as Maddon states in this interview a few weeks ago that “health” was going to be key in deciding.
Video: Joe Maddon on the progress of pitchers Mike Montgomery and Brett Anderson https://t.co/18YyzPzEEQ via @ChiTribSkrbina pic.twitter.com/1IZLJKIWh9
— ChicagoSports (@ChicagoSports) March 10, 2017
Maddon mentioning health lead to this train of thought for me, either Montgomery is not 100% or Joe really likes Anderson in his rotation for 2017, and today that became a little bit clearer.
