Expect More Lineup Maneuvering This Year for the Cubs and Other Bullets

February 21, 2019, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

Thanks to the pre-planned schedule an un-planned snow day, the kiddos are coming off another surprise five-day weekend. It was mostly business as usual for me, though, so it’s not like I’m tearing my hair out or anything, but the cliche is true: kids thrive on routine.

It will not surprise you, but Joe Maddon confirmed that folks should not be expecting a set leadoff hitter again this year, given the construction of the roster and the success they had mixing and matching last year. Of course, if someone really breaks out and takes the reins in that role for whatever reason, then you may see more consistency. On that front, Maddon quipped about Rickey Henderson, but, I mean, you already have The Greatest Leadoff Hitter of All-Time on the roster, so why mess around:

How the Cubs would like to handle the leadoff spot?

"Get Rickey Henderson back," Maddon said.

For anyone left who believes there's actually a single-player answer for this club, Maddon spelled out the obvious: "I'm expecting to move it around again."

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) February 20, 2019

Ultimately, it’s just fine to have Ben Zobrist leading off when he’s in there, to have Albert Almora leading off against lefties, to have Anthony Rizzo sometimes leading off if necessary, and then otherwise filling in with someone else for the rare other game. It’s great to have a Dexter Fowler. But it is not strictly necessary for success.
Speaking of the lineup, though, I’m not sure I totally understand this one yet:

Maddon said he's trying to come up with "series by series" lineups to integrate players more compared to daily lineups.

So lineups may not be more stable but players will be able to project out a little more then normal this year.

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) February 20, 2019

Going with a series lineup, where the match-ups don’t otherwise indicate you should do so, obviously has the drawback of not maximizing platoon options, depending on who is pitching for the other club. I suppose the counter to that is that the Cubs have a lot of guys that they want to see facing same-handed pitching more often for development purposes, and perhaps being in the lineup in a larger chunk of consecutive games, rather than on-off, will help overall production? I’m keeping an open mind, but if this is actually going to be a thing, I’d be interested in hearing more about it from the minds who designed it.
Another checkpoint passed for Brandon Morrow:

Brandon Morrow played catch out to 105 feet again today. Next? Clearance to resume daily catch, beginning Thursday. Keeps checking off the boxes in his build-up.

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 20, 2019

The hope is that Morrow can begin on-mound ramp-up work before late March, which would bring a late April debut into the realm of possibility. For my own sanity, though, I’m not expecting to see him on the mound with the Cubs until at least May.
Another note on James Norwood, a reliever to keep an eye on:

This is the summer that James Norwood had.

May 27 to August 18. 26 games: 9 in AA, 13 in AAA, 4 in MLB.

The numbers: 31.2 IP, 21 H, 1.14 ERA, 12 BB, 40 K.

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) February 21, 2019

Respect Bald is returning:

https://twitter.com/Maddonrespect90/status/1098342457274712064

Why does this read like the Cardinals are publicly questioning the offseason effort of one of their important players:

Carlos Martinez’s setback means #Cardinals must reconcile whether he didn’t adhere to offseason program or the program didn’t work.

Teams asks for “diligence and dedication” from righthander to correct recurring issue. #stlcards https://t.co/N7nuM1RMZ2

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 20, 2019

Give him the MVP right now. It’s over. You’re done, National League:

#KBoom! pic.twitter.com/0Bf7bP3lxS

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 21, 2019

Joe Knows Cold:

https://twitter.com/NBCSCubs/status/1098374939818762242

An Amazon deal on TVs with Fire built in got me looking at TVs in general. It is crazy how much cheaper they are than even just a couple years ago when I last bought a TV. Does any other product category move this quickly in its prices? Because I remember this being the case with TVs for, like, the past decade. They get bigger and sharper and fancier and all that, but the prices keep dropping. Why is that? Phones and computers, for example, definitely do NOT follow that model. Is it because people don’t really upgrade TVs often? Are TVs just that much more simple and cheaper to manufacture?
The Chicago Steelers:

Bears Named One of the Likely Landing Spots for Antonio Brown(!) https://t.co/j2cfoAYRm3 pic.twitter.com/4mvYTjm60t

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) February 20, 2019

Le’Veon Bell Will Be an Unrestricted Free Agent … Hello, Bears? https://t.co/bu0L0pojgb pic.twitter.com/1KfplR6gpP

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) February 20, 2019