In an oddity of scheduling, both the White Sox and Cubs started the 2016 season on the West Coast. Both clubs had night games scheduled at the same time, 9:05 p.m. local.
The Cubs had generated the national hype in spring training; World Series or Bust.
The White Sox had generated the national scorn with the Adam LaRoche sudden retirement.
Both Chicago teams have something to prove this year. The White Sox were supposed to be great (on paper) last year. This off-season, the team added 3/4 of a new infield and a new veteran presence in the locker room.
The Cubs have to prove that last year's 97 wins from the Maddon Magic Bus was no illusion. The Cubs also added veteran players to the core group.
The Cubs rocked the Angels 9-0 with Jake Arrieta in excellent form. Two holdovers drove in the majority of runs: Montero and Sczcur.
The White Sox also won, 4-3 over the A's (who lost their starting pitcher to pre-game food poisoning) behind a solid outing by starter Chris Sale and the bullpen. Newcomer Jimmy Rollins had an RBI.
All Chicago baseball fans could breathe this morning a sigh of relief. The teams' best pitchers gave the clubs victories.
One line up quirk from each opener:
The Cubs batted Ben Zobrist third. This was done to get three high OBP hitters (Fowler, Heyward and Zobrist) ahead of the big bats of Rizzo, Bryant and Schwarber. That seemed to work last night.
The White Sox put defensively challenged Adam Eaton in RF while putting last year's fielder, Avi Garcia, at DH. Garcia was not the best outfield defender, but Eaton had terrible stats last season. Austin Jackson started in CF and batted 9th.
