We're down to a dozen days until Opening Day!
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- If you've been waiting to see Kris Bryant play in the outfield, your wait could be over soon.
- Starlin Castro expects to be playing again today after missing Saturday's game with groin tightness.
- Mike Olt continues to impress Joe Maddon with his play in Spring Training, currently posting a .905 OPS with two homers and seven walks in 13 games. Oh, and his arm and eyes are fine.
From Cubs.com:
- Joe Maddon had an epiphany about the makeup of the final roster for Opening Day. He just hasn't told anyone what it is yet.
- For those of you hoping there won't be walkup music as part of the new video board in left field, you'll probably be disappointed to know that Maddon is contemplating having three songs of his own for certain in-game situations.
- In case you missed it, Jason Hammel was in the eighth spot in the lineup on Sunday against the Padres. It won't be the last time you see the pitcher hit eighth.
- Who wears short shorts? Maddon wears short shorts!
From ESPN Chicago:
- It started out as a far-fetched idea, but it's looking more and more like three catchers on the Opening Day roster could be a reality.
- Jesse Rogers tries to figure out what Joe Maddon's "epiphany" was.
- Jason Hammel wants to pitch 200 innings this season. I'm pretty sure that makes all four of the top four guys in the rotation who are looking to do that now.
- Opening the Twitter Mailbag this week: Kyle Schwarber! I was disappointed that one of the questions wasn't "Do you think you can stick at catcher?" just to get his reaction.
- Tony Clark is still watching the Kris Bryant situation. And for some reason Gordon Edes from ESPN Boston is writing about it.
- It's a bald selfie from Anthony Rizzo and the gang. Or a groupie. Or something.
From the Chicago Tribune via RedEye Chicago:
- Jon Lester threw a bullpen session on Monday and still is on schedule to pitch the opener on April 5.
- Jason Hammel reflected on his days of playing under Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay.
- The Cubs and the rooftops were in court for seven hours on Monday. No verdict has yet been delivered. My favorite quote from the article: "Joe Maddon asking his five-year-old son to play shortstop was more likely than foreclosure given the businesses' finances."
- A group of displaced bleacher season-ticket holders have given themselves a moniker: The Bleacher Refugees. Fun fact: The logo on their button was designed by BCB's own Mike Bojanowski.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- With all of the talk that has surrounded Kris Bryant this spring, Gordon Wittenmyer reminds everyone not to forget about the performance so far from Albert Almora.
- How has Bryant's performance compared to other players in other Spring Training years? The stats only go back to 2006, but David Just takes a look back at some of the top performances from the past ten years.
From the Daily Herald:
- From the "beating the dead horse" department: Mike Imrem joins the debate on whether it's better to have Kris Bryant on the Opening Day roster of have the extra year of control in 2021. It flinched... grab yer sticks, boys!
From Bleacher Nation:
- Michael Cerami presents more reasons why Cub fans can be optimistic about the slider/cutter thrown by Jake Arrieta.
- It should come as no surprise, but Anthony Rizzo is very important to the Cubs' success in 2015.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- In the second and third installments of his minor-league preview series, Tom Usiak previews the Low-A South Bend Cubs and the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
Miscellaneous:
- Danny Rockett's fundraising for the Respect Bald event didn't go unnoticed on the internet as Mark Townsend of Yahoo's Big League Stew gave Danny a shout-out for his great efforts. I guess I can give Mark a pass for getting the name of BCB wrong. (And thanks to Evan Altman from Cubs Insider for pointing it out as well.)
Today's food for thought:
- What was the drug that the Rolling Stones were referring to in "Mother's Little Helper"?
- I actually saw this first in a Facebook post from Al on Monday. It turns out that there's a potential windfall of riches to be found... in human waste.