Pre-Gamin’: Rockies v. Cubs, Cubs v. Reds (3:05 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

sloan park mesa cubs marqueeIt’s a split squad day – seems like it’s been an unusually long time since the Cubs had one of those – and the team will host the Rockies at Sloan, while also heading out to take on the Reds.

A fun bonus? The squad facing the Reds will get to take on Aroldis Chapman, who is starting.

Jake Arrieta starts for the Cubs at Sloan against the Rockies, while Gonzalez Germen (already cut) will start for the away team.

You can listen to the Cubs/Rockies game on WBBM, and you can listen to both on Gameday Audio. Unfortunately, despite there being two games today, neither are televised.

Lineup against the Rockies:

  1. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
  2. Matt Szczur, CF
  3. Kris Bryant, 3B
  4. Chris Coghlan, LF
  5. Addison Russell, SS
  6. Ryan Sweeney, RF
  7. David Ross, C
  8. Jake Arrieta, P
  9. Jonathan Herrera, 2B

Lineup against the Reds:

  1. Dexter Fowler, CF
  2. Arismendy Alcantara, 3B
  3. Jorge Soler, RF
  4. Starlin Castro, SS
  5. Junior Lake, LF
  6. Welington Castillo, C
  7. Mike Olt, 1B
  8. Gonzalez Germen, P
  9. Javier Baez, 2B

Two very interesting lineups from one roster. Well done, Cubs.

Apparently Anthony Rizzo wanted to lead off today, so that’s fun. Also interesting? Javier Baez in the secondary leadoff spot (batting 9th). I’ve been wondering for a little while whether Joe Maddon would put Baez in a spot like that (the second baseman kept showing up in that spot in recent days), even when the season rolls around, in order to take 100% of the pressure off of him to drive in runs (while also not exposing him as the leadoff hitter). It could be a tactic to get him to stop thinking like a slugger (even though he is), which may ultimately make more of his actual in-game power playable. It might just be a Spring Training thing, but I do find it interesting.

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Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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