Chicago Cubs Lineup: The “Interesting” Lineup Is … Not That Crazy
When Joe Maddon made such a big fuss over how “interesting” the lineup might be today, I have to admit I was expecting a little more goofiness than this.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- David Bote, SS
- Willson Contreras, C
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Alec Mills, P
- Ian Happ, RF
At an absolute minimum, every one of these decisions is easily understandable. For example, the only guy who’s really playing “out of position” is David Bote at short. But with Javy Baez covering so many of Addison Russell’s innings while the latter is on the DL, this wasn’t too much of a surprise.
And, sure, Kyle Schwarber leading off is notable, but we know he has the skillset to pull it off and did so a lot last season. Moreover, with Daniel Murphy getting a breather, someone had to start things off. And then there’s Tommy La Stella at third. Is it weird? I mean, sure. He’s not the starter or usual backup even. But with Kris Bryant out and Baez getting a day off, it’s also what I expected to see. So I guess basically I’m saying I’m a genius and should be doing the lineups from now on.
As (un)usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post in like 15 minutes, because this game is starting soon!
