NEWSLETTER
Split squad game today. We’ve got the Cubs against the Dodgers at Sloan Park and on Marquee with Hayden Wesneski on the mound. And we’ve got the Cubs against the White Sox in what I presume is called Silicon Valley Bank Park on NBC Sports Chicago. Here are your lineups and pitching matchups for both games.
Cubs Lineup vs Dodgers
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Ian Happ, LF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Trey Mancini, RF
- Cody Bellinger, CF
- Eric Hosmer, DH
- Nick Madrigal, 3B
- Matt Mervis, 1B
- Tucker Barnhart, C
Cubs Lineup vs White Sox
- Chris Morel, CF
- Yan Gomes, C
- Patrick Wisdom, RF
- Edwin Rios, 3B
- Mike Tauchman, LF
- Zach McKinstry, 2B
- David Bote, 1B
- Jake Slaughter, DH
- Sergio Alcantara, SS
With the split-matchup, pretty much everybody is in action today, though the game on Marquee is certainly the better draw. The only people “out of place” are Patrick Wisdom and Matt Mervis, who should probably switch groups if we’re talking about projected regulars. But I think that’s pretty easily explained by the Cubs desire to get both Mancini and Wisdom into right field today. Both will mix in regularly in the absence of Seiya Suzuki, so this is how you get it done. Wisdom is with the B-group and someone had to be the 1B/DH, depending on where Hosmer played.
Wisdom isn’t making the team out of spring training, but he’s generally expected to be a big part of the 2023 Cubs, so he’s not done taking starts with the big league club.
Pitching Matchups
Cubs: Hayden Wesneski, RHP
Cubs: Nick Neidert, RHP
The last time Hayden Wesneski pitched this spring, he threw 4.0 perfect innings against the Dodgers. He’s starting against the Dodgers again today. If he throws 5.0 more perfect innings, I’m giving him credit for the perfect game. No questions at this time. Please respect my privacy.
Jokes aside, I tend to think Hayden Wesneski is one more good outing away from being officially named the fifth starter, ahead of Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad. All three have options, all three will get their shot this year. But there are advantages to announcing Wesneski sooner than later. And I think he can “earn” it as soon as today.
On the other mound, I’m not going to pretend to know much about Nick Neidert, whom the Cubs signed to a Minor League deal after he was non-tendered by the Marlins this offseason. This is Neidert’s first spring start with the Cubs, and if he doesn’t make the big league team (which isn’t going to happen at this point), he’s got opt outs on June 1 and July 1. So chances are we’ll see him at some point this year.
Brett actually wrote a TON about Neidert and why the Cubs may like him when he was signed. But yeah, I’ll admit, I lost track of this one.
Neidert, a former Marlins prospect, reached MLB back in 2020, but bounced up and down between the big leagues and Triple-A for the next three seasons. As recently as 2021, FanGraphs had ranked him a top ten prospect in the Marlins’ system.
He generally had success at Triple-A, but struggled in the big leagues – he’s one of those guys who is right at the border, and the Cubs have had some success getting surprising results out of those guys. And Neidert did get great results at Triple-A this past season, posting a 1.96 ERA over 46.0 innings, with a 26.1% K rate and a 4.9% BB rate.
What’s interesting about Neidert is that he’s almost exclusively been a starting pitcher. Are the Cubs looking to convert him to relief and maybe try to coax a little more velocity out of his 92-ish MPH fastball? Or is he starting depth? At 26, maybe there’s just a little bit of upside left, even as a starter? Or maybe the Cubs really want him to work with Kyle Hendricks?
It’s an interesting story. FanGraphs has a whole thing on how he could follow the Kyle Hendricks track, and Brett broke that down here if you’re interested.
