It’s a split squad game for the Cubs today, but the second game isn’t until 9pm CT, and, for reasons you’ll see, is pretty different from today’s game. Different stuff to look at, and all that.
Today’s game is on CSN, and there will be plenty of fun stuff to watch.
Mike Olt is back at third base after a day off, and he’ll try to lock down the Opening Day job there. The bat is showing some things, but he has to clearly demonstrate that the shoulder is not going to be a lingering issue defensively to start the year.
Albert Almora starts in center field for the Cubs today, which will be fun to see. And Dan Vogelbach is starting at first base, also fun. Christian Villanueva is DH’ing, which is cool.
Darwin Barney starts at shortstop, where he’s gotten intermittent work over the past couple weeks. That he’s still seeing starts there this close to the start of the regular season is certainly interesting. Luis Valbuena, by the way, plays second base.
Junior Lake is back in left field today (he was to be in center, but Justin Ruggiano was scratched from left because of ankle soreness, so Lake slid over). Bullpen competitors Alberto Cabrera and Hector Rondon figure to see action in this one, too.
And then you’ve got the starter for the game, Tsuyoshi Wada, who was recently released and re-signed by the Cubs, and today’s scheduled start never even changed. So that’s neat!
Lineup:
- Junior Lake, LF
- Luis Valbuena, 2B
- Nate Schierholtz, RF
- Mike Olt, 3B
- Dan Vogelbach, 1B
- Christian Villanueva, DH
- Darwin Barney, SS
- Eli Whiteside, C
- Albert Almora, CF