The Lineup
Maddon is keeping his lineup ideas to himself, but he did offer this tidbit of wisdom yesterday to ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rodgers.
Before the game Maddon said Almora would play against righties this year when the match up works for him. We wondered about opening night
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) March 28, 2017
Against Carlos Martinez. Jon Jay obviously familiar with team and park…Maddon said think outside the box..wouldn’t hint anymore than that
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) March 28, 2017
But what does this mean?! Well, for starters, you can expect Kyle Schwarber to start the season as the lead-off hitter, which most likely means Zobrist will slide into the clean up spot. Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation and Dan Szymborski of ESPN did some of the math on whether or not having Schwarber lead-off really adds any benefit, but the idea of Schwarber leading off has more to do with not messing with what worked in 2016 and less about his fit in that spot of the lineup. Plus, Schwarber is excellent at getting on-base and talking his walks, a quality Maddon demands from his table-setter.
That means Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo fill-in at the 2nd and 3rd spot of the lineup, with the rest still unknown, but if I had to guess this is the lineup I would expect to see this Sunday against the Cardinals.
- Kyle Schwarber LF
- Kris Bryant 3rd
- Anthony Rizzo 1st
- Ben Zobrist 2nd
- Addison Russell SS
- Jason Heyward RF
- Willson Contreras C
- Jon Lester P
- Jon Jay CF
Bench: Javier Baez, Miguel Montero, Albert Almora, Tommy La Stella
With the Cubs facing off with a righty in Carlos Martinez, I would expect Joe Maddon to roll with his left-handed hitting center fielder in Jon Jay, but the rest is what everyone else expects. Of course, this means I will be entirely wrong and Joe Maddon will change it all because he’s about that life.
As for the bench, I think La Stella has the final roster spot locked up, especially with Matt Szczur involved in trade rumors and Ian Happ being sent to Triple A Iowa.
