Can you believe it? Opening Day is just three days away for the Cubs and despite the shitty exhibition games against the White Sox, fans are still looking forward to some baseball even if it is just for a distraction to everything else that’s happening.
The Cubs have one more practice game before the real games get going on Friday against the Brewers. Anthony Rizzo, who’s been dealing with a tight back for a couple weeks, is optimistic about being ready for the start of the season and hopes he’ll be in the lineup Wednesday, when the Cubs play the Twins in their final tune up.
On Tuesday, Rizzo faced Tyler Chatwood in a simulated game and he is penciled in to face the Twins Wednesday.
Looking elsewhere around the diamond the Cubs have a couple question marks and that includes second base.
Cubs manager David Ross has already said Jason Kipnis and Nico Hoerner will be the primary options to get playing time at second, which got me thinking about the 2016 season.
Back then the Cubs had just brought in veteran Ben Zobrist to be the second baseman, but that didn’t deter Joe Maddon into putting Javier Báez at second throughout the season and finding more playing time for him across the infield.
Who knows how 2020 is going to play out. We’ve never experienced a season like this, but the following could be an interesting exercise into thinking about Hoerner’s playing time this year.
Besides second base, Hoerner can also play shortstop and has been getting some looks in center field too.
Moving on to the pitching side of things, Jose Quintana has been throwing at Cubs camp and so far he’s been on track following his dish-washing accident that led to thumb surgery. The lefty was sidelined two weeks, but is scheduled to throw a bullpen session within the next 10 days.
At this point, the best case scenario for Quintana is that he re-joins the Cubs by late August.
The Cubs, like every team, have a bunch of relievers in camp, vying for an Opening Day spot and some of those pitchers will get one last chance to impress before the final rosters are made Thursday.
Right-handed pitcher Alec Mills was originally going to pitch after Jon Lester on Wednesday against the Twins, but now he’ll throw a simulated game and leave those innings open for a few relievers.
Another note on the Cubs bullpen comes from Monday night’s broadcast on Marquee Sports Network, where Len Kasper was discussing how the usage will be different to begin the season. He talked about how the Cubs won’t use Jeremy Jeffress or Craig Kimbrel in back-to-back games at the start of the 60-game schedule.
Here are all the pitchers in Cubs camp right now who are competing for bullpen spots. Some are obviously locks to make the team like Kimbrel, Jeffress, Rowan Wick and Brad Wieck. Kyle Ryan should be a lock, but he did show up a bit late to camp, so not completely sure if he’s ready to go by Friday.
Rex Brothers (L)
Jharel Cotton (R)
Danny Hultzen (L)
Jeremy Jeffress (R)
Craig Kimbrel (R)
Dillon Maples (R)
James Norwood (R)
Colin Rea (R)
Kyle Ryan (L)
Casey Sadler (R)
Ryan Tepera (R)
Duane Underwood Jr. (R)
Rowan Wick(R)
Brad Wieck (L)
Dan Winkler (R)
So far this week, Rex Brothers and Ryan Tepera have made some great, last-minute impressions. Tepera’s slider? Apparently the nastiest pitch in baseball.
