I don’t care that some guy I’ve never heard of is pitching on Friday for the Chicago Cubs because baseball is just a few days away from starting once again.

The Cubs announced the first three starting pitchers for spring training, with two familiar names in Eddie Butler and Jen-Ho Tseng. Left-hander Michael Roth will start the first Cactus League game for the Cubs on Friday, when they begin spring action against the Milwaukee Brewers.

#Cubs pitching for 1st 3 Cactus League games: Fri: Roth, Sat: Butler, Sun: Tseng. Expect the projected starting five to get in games next week

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) February 21, 2018

There’s almost no chance any of the three make the 25-man roster out of spring training, but nonetheless Butler is competing for the final bullpen spot. The 26-year-old had a great debut with the Cubs in 2017, pithing six shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-2 win in May. After that Butler struggled with his control and made 11 total starts and 13 appearances overall for the team.

Butler is out of minor-league options, so if he doesn’t make the roster he could be picked up by any team after being placed on waivers.

Meanwhile, you’ll remember Tseng as the Cubs 2017 minor-league pitcher of the year. The 23-year-old made his MLB debut against the New York Mets last year and let his emotions get the best of him. Tseng allowed five runs, lasting only three innings in his first big-league game in a wild 14-6 win. He also pitched three shutout innings against the Cardinals the day after the Cubs clinched the division.

Theo Epstein brought up Tseng after 2017, as being somewhere in the picture for the Cubs starting pitching depth. With Mike Montgomery already being the sixth guy in the rotation, Tseng is destined to begin the year at Triple-A. However, if a starter has to miss some time, Tseng could be the first pitcher from the minors to get the call up in case of emergency.

Finally, Michael Roth. He’s 28-years-old and spent 2017 in the minors. He has pitched in the majors with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Texas Rangers, racking up an 8.50 ERA in 36 MLB innings.

Something went terribly wrong if Roth pitches in the regular season for the Cubs, but his presence on the mound Friday is more than welcome, as it signals the start of another MLB season.

Friday, 2:05 p.m. first pitch, let’s go!

I’ve said it before, getting upset over subjective rankings can be a little dumb, but I simply can’t stand for the continued disrespect of Jose Quintana.

What makes it worse is that there is still a section of Chicago Cubs fans who choose to be ignorant on how good Quintana is and I bet it has everything to do with the lefty previously being with the White Sox. However, this isn’t about those fans. This is about the so-called experts at MLB Network that made a list of the 100 best players in the game. A list that doesn’t include one of the best starting pitchers during the past five years.

I can understand some fans holding onto some weird feelings of undervaluing a player because of a rivalry or hatred of another team, but for MLB analysts to not recognize Quintana is insulting.

If you look at Quintana’s value over the last three seasons, he’s right up there with the elite pitchers in MLB.

Question: Since 2015, which pitcher's 13.3 WAR trails only Kershaw, Sale, Scherzer, Kluber, and Arrieta?

Answer: pic.twitter.com/1qsvRNXILP

— Cubs Insider (@realcubsinsider) February 21, 2018

By the way, Jake Arrieta has accumulated a 13.5 fWAR during the three-year span that included his amazing 2015 season, when he had a 7.3 fWAR. So again, with the WAR metric, Quintana has been a top-six starting pitcher in MLB since 2015.

There are 21 starting pitchers in the MLB Network top-100 list that does include Kyle Hendricks at No. 66 and Yu Darvish at No. 67. We all saw the decline of Jake Arrieta in 2017, but he somehow made the list at No. 72, despite having a much worse season than Quintana.

By any projection, Quintana is expected to be the best starting pitcher for the Cubs in 2018, and it’s great that although Kyle Hendricks isn’t at all flashy, he still received some love, but how about some love Q?

At least the SI top-100 had Quintana ranked 80th, so that’s a start.

Here are all the Cubs players that appear on both lists.

MLB Network:

• Kris Bryant – 8th
• Anthony Rizzo – 23rd
• Willson Contreras – 58th
• Kyle Hendricks – 66th
• Yu Darvish – 67th
• Kyle Schwarber – 95th

Sports Illustrated:

• Kris Bryant – 3rd
• Anthony Rizzo – 23rd
• Yu Darvish – 58th
• Jon Lester – 70th
• Kyle Hendricks – 72nd
• Jose Quintana – 80th
• Willson Contreras – 91st

The MLB Network list ranked Nolan Arenado ahead of Kris Bryant, so those rankings are simply invalid.

Back to Quintana. Last year he pitched in the World Baseball Classic and also admitted the trade rumors affected him negatively. Now, he’s with the Cubs from the start of the season and with no other distractions it would be silly not to think he could end up being the team’s best starting pitcher even with Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks and maybe a rebound season from Jon Lester in the same rotation.

After three straight trips to the NLCS that included winning the 2016 World Series, Joe Maddon revamped his coaching staff following the 2017. Chili Davis is one of the new Cubs coaches and earlier this week Boston Red Sox owner John Henry took a shot at the hitting coach.

Boston failed to meet expectations in 2017, losing to the Houston Astros in the ALDS. The Red Sox fired manager John Farrell and Davis was quickly scooped up by the Cubs after being in Boston for three seasons. Fast forward to Monday, when the Red Sox’s owner had what’s being described as a testy session with the media, that included a not so subtle jab at Davis and his job as the team’s hitting coach.

Henry wasn’t shy about calling out the team’s offense, but pointed the finger at the coaches.

Via MassLive.com.

“We’ve made a lot of changes other than just the manager. You haven’t noticed?” Henry said when asked about the lack of turnover on the roster. “I’m just saying from my perspective at least, we’ve made a lot of changes. I think our approach last year was lacking offensively and we had issues that the players have already talked about.”

Henry mentioned the Red Sox’s offensive approach several times throughout a 17-minute session with the media on Monday.

“I think we would’ve had significant power last year if we had a different approach,” he said.

“I didn’t think we were nearly aggressive enough and I think our approach was lacking for a good part of the season,” he added.

So, the owner believes the offensive approach wasn’t good enough, seemingly blaming Davis for the team’s lack of power and hitters not being aggressive.

This is a good time to remind you that Chili Davis was the hitting coach for the Red Sox in 2016 as well and that season the team led the American League in doubles, average and OPS. They also ranked eighth in the AL with 208 home runs.

In 2017, the Red Sox finished dead last in the AL with 168 homers, 11th in OPS and scored 785 runs, compared to 878 runs scored in 2016. Kind of alarming, so should Cubs fans be worried? Ugh….no.

See, what Henry failed to mention while criticizing the loss of power from the Red Sox is that their home run leader in 2016, David Ortiz, retired! Oh, sp the team had fewer dingers in 2017 after Ortiz, who hit 38 the year before, was all of a sudden no longer on the team? Shocker.

But that’s not even the point. The so called approach that was lacking, did Chili Davis suddenly see the success the Red Sox had in 2016 and then completely change it? Did he tell the Red Sox to hit fewer home runs? More than any position in sports being a hitting coach sucks because rarely do they get any credit and once the team starts to struggle the hitting coach is first to blame.

By the way, in 2016 the Red Sox had 558 walks and in 2017 that went up to 571. The approach seems just fine and the problem might have to do more with the players who were no longer on the team and injuries from Red Sox players in 2017 that led to crappier numbers.

So, get the hell out of here with this Chili Davis slander, John Henry.

Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras is not a fan of the new MLB rules and he made it known publicly on Tuesday.

Major League Baseball announced new rules that will be implemented in the 2018 season, hoping the policies can help the pace of play problem in the sport. Although there won’t be a pitch clock, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred unveiled the set of rules that includes limiting mound visits.

Here’s the new rule on mound visits. Via MLB.com.

• Mound visits: Mound visits will be limited to six per team per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played. Any manager, coach or player visit to the mound will count as a mound visit. Visits to the mound to clean cleats in rainy weather, to check on an injury or potential injury or after the announcement of an offensive substitution are excepted. Also, normal communication between player and pitcher that do not require either to vacate their position on the field do not count as a visit. If a team is out of visits, the umpire will have discretion to grant a visit at the catcher’s request if he believes there has been a cross-up between the pitcher and catcher.

So, teams are limited to six mound visits per nine innings, but even at the end of the rule it gives umpires the power to grant another visit if the catcher requests one. Well, it doesn’t seem like Contreras cares if he’s going to be granted permission or not.

Contreras does not give a single fuck about what happens if he breaks that rule and gave reporters this awesome quote.

Willson Contreras isn't deterred by new mound visit rule: "What about if you have a tight game & you have to go out there? They can't say anything about that, that's my team & we just care about wins. If they're gonna fine me about number 7 mound visit, I'll pay the price." #Cubs

— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) February 20, 2018

You have to love the passion and competitive nature from Contreras, but the thing is the penalty could end up hurting the Cubs more than not going out there for another mound visit.

Contreras had a breakout 2017 season, and despite missing time because of a leg injury the catcher still had a 3.2 fWAR, hitting 21 home runs with a slash line of .276/.356/.499. An important piece in the Cubs lineup and a unique set of skills defensively behind the plate. The thing is, Contreras can be a rebel all he wants, but no one’s going to want that if it leads to an ejection, which breaking the mound visit rule could apparently happen.

Joe Torre says the umpire will tell a catcher to get back behind the plate if he attempts to violate the 6 mound visit rule…if he keeps going it could lead to an ejection, etc. MLB hoping doesn't get to that

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 20, 2018

Here’s the complete breakdown of the rule, including a more detailed explanation of the umpire’s discretion.

I) Mound Visits 
1. Number
A. 2018 Championship Season. Mound visits without a pitching change shall be limited to six (6) per team, per nine innings. For any extra-innings played, each Club shall be entitled to one additional non-pitching change mound visit per inning.
B. OBR 5.10(l). Official Baseball Rule 5.10(l), which governs mound visits by a manager or coach, remains in effect (i.e., a pitcher must be removed on the second visit by a manager/coach in an inning).

2. Definition of Mound Visit. A manager or coach trip to the mound to meet with the pitcher shall constitute a visit. A player leaving his position to confer with the pitcher, including a pitcher leaving the mound to confer with another player, shall also constitute a mound visit, regardless of where the visit occurs or the length of the visit, except that the following shall not constitute mound visits:
A. Discussions between pitchers and position player(s) that (i) occur between batters in the normal course of play and do not require either the position player(s) or the pitcher to relocate;
B. Visits by position players to the mound to clean spikes in rainy conditions;
C. Visits to the mound due to an injury or potential injury of the pitcher; and
D. Visits to the mound after the announcement of an offensive substitution.

3. Cross-Up in Signs. In the event a team has exhausted its allotment of mound visits in a game (or extra inning) and the home plate umpire determines that the catcher and pitcher did not have a shared understanding of the location or type of pitch that had been signaled by the catcher (otherwise referred to as a “cross-up”), the home plate umpire may, upon request of the catcher, allow the catcher to make a brief mound visit. Any mound visit resulting from a cross-up prior to a team exhausting its allotted number of visits shall count against a team’s total number of allotted mound visits.

Contreras hasn’t been the only Cubs player to speak out against the new rules. Jon Lester had the following to say regarding the issue.

Via the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I get the mound-visit thing,” said Lester, whose catcher, Willson Contreras, might make more trips to the mound than any other catcher in the league. “But also, what people [who] aren’t in the game don’t understand is there’s so much technology now, there’s so many cameras on the field, that every stadium now has a camera on the catcher’s crotch. So they know the signs before you even get there.

“Now we’ve got Apple watches. Now we’ve got people being accused of sitting in a tunnel [trying to steal signs]. There’s reasons behind the mound visit. He’s not just coming out there asking what time I’m going to dinner or ‘How you feeling?’ There’s reasons behind everything, and I think if you take that away, it takes away from the beauty of the baseball game.”

New Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez hit on the head with his comments. Yes, there’s a lot of dead time during games, but the mound visit rule really isn’t going to fix that problem.

Veteran backup catcher Chris Gimenez isn’t a big fan of restricted mound visits, either.

“[But] six is at least doable,” he said. “If it was two or three, that’s an issue. . . . I just think the mound visits aren’t what’s slowing the game down. There’s some fundamental things that you need to leave alone, and I think that’s one of those things.”

The other rules involve commercial times for local and national televised games.

The timer will count down from 2:05 for breaks in locally televised championship season games, from 2:25 for breaks in nationally televised championship season games, and from 2:55 for tie-breaker and postseason games.

MLB opted not to have a pitch clock, giving the pitcher a certain amount of time to deliver the ball, as well as a between-batter clock.

Before the new rules were official, Lester said fans know what they’re getting when they go to a baseball game.

Jon Lester…not a fan of potential pace-of-play rule changes: "I think it’s a terrible idea. It’s all terrible. The beautiful thing about our sport is there’s no time. To be honest with you, the fans know what they’re getting themselves into when they go to a game.”

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) February 16, 2018

While Lester’s right about that, the problem is MLB has to think about the big picture and that’s to continue growing the game to a wider audience. If more fans single out the pace of play in the game being an issue the league has a responsibility to address it.

Rob Manfred: "Pace of game is a fan issue. Our research tells us its a fan issue."

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 20, 2018

Manfred admitted its at home fans watching on tv who don't like the pace or length of games more than those at the game, according to their research.

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 20, 2018

It all goes back to the money. TV contracts are where these teams and the league make bank, so you bet they’re going to try to do everything they can to get as many eyeballs on their product and pace of play is step one. Players can hate it all they want, but at the end they’ll be happy down the road when the revenue keeps going up and they get their piece of the pie.

When the Cubs hired Chili Davis as their new hitting coach this off-season, very few people understood how big of a signing that was. The 19-year MLB veteran knew a thing or two about hitting which was reflected by his .274/.360/.451 career slash line and also the fact that he has had great coaching success with the Oakland A’s and the Boston Red Sox. Davis has already brought a new vibe to the team in the first week of Spring Training and has jumped right into getting to work with the Cubs hitters who have all noticed one thing about their new hitting coach:

He likes to talk.

All of that talking has drawn the attention of one of the Cubs’ biggest question marks in 2018, Kyle Schwarber. Coming off a huge let down in 2017 which saw the slugger get demoted to AAA, Schwarber and Davis have seemed to formed a strong relationship early on in camp.

Before the two met, Schwarber already made it his mission to right the wrong of 2017 which began with a full body transformation to drop weight and improve his quickness. Cubs fans are hoping that both his body AND his hitting approach will show up on Opening Day looking very different.

And if it’s anyone that can help change that approach, it’s Chili Davis.

Davis shared a story with NBC Chicago’s Kelly Crull about the first thing that Kyle Schwarber told him when the two met during a pre-season meeting.

“”Schwarbs, he knows he’s a good player. His first statement to me is, ‘I don’t suck.'”

Schwarber’s stats last season would beg to differ with that quote but it also shows his desire to get back to the player that he was when he burst on the scene in 2015. Davis shared some interesting perspective as to why he thought Schwarber statistically had the worst season of his career last year. Davis believed it may have been a lack of focus.

“I think it may have been, he had a big World Series, hit some homers, and I think he tried to focus on being more of a home run type guy as opposed to being a good hitter.”

Davis has been impressed with Schwarber’s work ethic thus far and has also shared his own story with the Cubs slugger to show him that everyone has obstacles to overcome. Davis himself was sent to AAA during a similar point in his career and obviously was able to overcome that to have an impressive MLB career.

Although Schwarber is in only his second full season in the MLB, his potential is still through the roof and Chili Davis may be the guy to get Schwarber’s MLB career back on track.