As soon as today, the Cubs will have back both Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, creating an overwhelming (in a good way) positional glut on their expanded roster – and that’s even with Jason Heyward on the disabled list.
How will it all shake out in terms of the lineup?
Well, the good news is there can and will be plenty of rotations and resting. But how about something like this as a “best” lineup, with rough back-ups noted and with Heyward out:
- Daniel Murphy, 2B (Ben Zobrist, Javy Baez)
- Kris Bryant, 3B (David Bote, Javy Baez)
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS (Addison Russell)
- Ben Zobrist, RF (Ian Happ, Kris Bryant)
- Kyle Schwarber, LF (Ian Happ, Kris Bryant)
- Willson Contreras, C (Victor Caratini, Bobby Wilson)
- Albert Almora, CF (Ian Happ)
- Pitcher
Getting all of those top five bats into the lineup regularly (and stacked together, in my opinion) should be the priority. Although you want Russell’s glove in there and maybe he bounces back with the bat, you can’t start him if you also want all of Murphy, Bryant, Zobrist, and Baez to be in there regularly.