THREE ON FRONT BURNER
Will a potent lineup hit? Will a rebuilt rotation click? Will Miller make the roster?
MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs are beginning to fine-tune with two weeks left before heading back to Chicago, and there has been no shortage of things that have stood out this spring. While some will fade as camp winds down, others will affect the team when the regular season begins.
Here are three takeaways from Cubs camp: Lineup is stacked, but it must produce
The Cubs need their offensive stars to be stars, and after many of the team’s offensive standouts struggled last season, this season becomes magnified with Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo set to become free agents at season’s end.
While their impending free agency adds a level of pressure, the lineup still has an opportunity to be one of the best in baseball. The lineup is deep, and it hasn’t been uncommon to see Javy Baez, Joc Pederson or even Willson Contreras hitting as low as sixth in the batting order this spring. Each of them is capable of anchoring a big-league lineup.
“We got people here, trust me,” Baez said. “We got the talent, we got the pitching, we got the hitting, we got everything.”
Having lineup depth like that is a luxury most clubs don’t have. While pitching has helped carry the team over the last few seasons, the Cubs not only expect their lineup to return to form, they need it to.
While the 60-game season can be attributed to some of the Cubs’ offensive struggles, their performance against velocity or lateseason struggles plagued them before the shortened season.
If the Cubs hope to contend in the National League Central, their offensive core will have to step up in a big way.
“This is a really talented offensive group,”
president Jed Hoyer said. “We've struggled in certain aspects of the game that we have to improve on . ... When you look at the names
in the lineup, it’s a really good lineup. I think we have to do a better job as a collective of putting that together and scoring runs.”