The only key spot left for discussion is the Cubs' fifth starter.
The main rotation is set: Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks and John Lackey.
The fifth starter spot will go to Mike Montgomery or Brett Anderson. Montgomery showed his versatility coming out of the bullpen in different situations. But at the end of the season, he was semi-promised to return to the rotation. But with the Cubs organizational starting depth weak, the Cubs signed oft-injured Anderson to compete for a position.
It is still early in camp, but the numbers after 2 games played:
Montgomery: 0-1, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP
Anderson: 1-0, 3 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
Joe Maddon has said that he could use both Montgomery and Anderson in hybrid pitching roles.
"The big thing with both of them (is) neither one has
really been stretched out anywhere close to 200 innings over the last
couple years. So we're thinking it's almost like a hybrid moment. Maybe fold one back
into the bullpen while the other one starts. And vice versa. Or just
jump a sixth guy in there now and then to keep the other guys from being
overworked too early," Maddon said.
"It's in theory right now. We haven't actually laid it
down on paper. We feel pretty fortunate. If everybody stays healthy, you
got six guys that you like right there. It's hard for anybody to say
that. That's the point. These guys have not been really satisfactorily
stretched out over the last couple years," Maddon concluded.
Because of the amount of work the five starters did last season, Maddon has been cautious with his front line arms. It is possible that he will break camp with 6 starting pitchers, and keeping one as a long reliever-spot starter to control the number of pitches and innings for his veterans like Lester and Lackey. A spot start could add a "rest" day for each starter.
The bullpen seems set with Wade Davis the new closer. He will be joined by Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards, Koji Uehara, Justin Grimm and Brian Duensing.
That means the Cubs will probably break camp with an extra pitcher on a 13 man staff. Which means that the final roster battle will be on the last bench player, whether it be a utility infielder or 5th outfielder.
The 12 position players would appear to include Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Javy Baez, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras, Miguel Montero, John Jay, and Jason Heyward. That would leave 2 spots between Matt Szczur (who is out of options), Tommy LaStella or Albert Almora. With Schwarber, Bryant and Zobrist able to handle outfield duties, it would be surprising if both Szczur and Almora would make the final cut.
