The Cubs Have A New Center Fielder

The biggest strength of the Chicago Cubs during this current four-year run of success has been their roster depth and versatility. That is on display once again on Friday, as Joe Maddon has put together what may be the best starting lineup of the season, featuring Kris Bryant starting in center field.

That’s right, Bryant is in center field against the Washington Nationals Friday night, making his first start there since 2015, his one and only start in center. Overall, Bryant has played center in nine games during his career.

Anyway, Maddon is putting out the most optimal offensive lineup today that includes Daniel Murphy and David Bote as well, along with the return of Kyle Schwarber, who left Wednesday’s game early because of a back issue.

Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup. #EverybodyIn

Stream on @YouTubeTV: https://t.co/t4XvcdoeJc pic.twitter.com/4cn9xI4mD8

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 7, 2018

But it’s just awesome that you can have your MVP third baseman just move to center field and it’s completely fine. Plus, the left side of your infield probably gets even better defensively with Bote and Javier Baez.

Speaking of, they haven’t done it yet, but in a pinch Baez could catch and even play center field too. Well, I mean, Baez could probably play every position without any problem.

So, we’ll see how it goes in the outfield with Schwarber, Bryant and Ben Zobrist, but no doubt that right now this is the best starting lineup the Cubs can trot out there for offense.

It’ll be interesting to see how much playing time Addison Russell gets moving forward. He came back from the DL on Saturday and started a few times against the Milwaukee Brewers. He still hasn’t shown much offensively, so with the versatility of the roster maybe his starts will indeed decrease in the final three weeks of the season.

That’s one of the many topics we discussed this week on the Pinwheels and Ivy Podcast. Plus, a fun draft on the best fighters among Cubs and White Sox players.