Much rests on closer Davis
Notable spring face uRHP Wade Davis: The Cubs acquired Davis from the Kansas City Royals in a trade for outfielder Jorge Soler during the winter meetings in December to take the place of closer Aroldis Chapman, who signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent.
Davis, 31, converted a combined 44 of 48 save opportunities in the 2015 and 2016 seasons and had a minuscule 1.18 ERA in 185 games over the last three years. He spent two stints on the disabled list with forearm problems last season but finished on the active roster.
The new Cubs closer enters 2017 as a wild card. Last year’s forearm strain puts his health into question, as does his waning innings total since 2015. When his elbow balked, he could neither find the plate nor strike out righties at his accustomed rate (11.5 per nine innings the last three seasons). Burning question Who will bat leadoff ?
Dexter Fowler hit in the No. 1 hole during the last two seasons, and manager Joe Maddon was fond of telling the center fielder “as you go, we go.” However, Fowler signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the National League Central rival St. Louis Cardinals in December as a free agent.
Thus, Maddon will use either left fielder Kyle Schwarber or second baseman Ben Zobrist at the top of the order. Stocky Schwarber has a .353 on-base percentage in 71 career games, while Zobrist’s OBP is .358 in his 11-year career.
— John Perrotto and Stephen Nickrand