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SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Well, here we are. A long winter's wait, several big signings, and today is the day for the first Cubs baseball game of 2016.
You'll see by the lineup below that some regulars (Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Dexter Fowler) are not scheduled today. I'm guessing they'll be in the lineup for the spring home opener tomorrow.
Joe Maddon has said that he's not going to overwork players this spring and I think that's an excellent plan. You're not likely going to see Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey or Jason Hammel start until we're well into next week, though they are all supposed to be ready to throw 90 or more pitches by Opening Day.
This spring should be fun. As always, the results of the games don't mean that much, the weather's great, and it's baseball. Happy Spring Training!
Cubs lineup:
Schwarber LF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Soler RF, Montero C, Baez CF, La Stella 2B, Vogelbach DH, Kawasaki SS
Interesting lineup with several regulars. Joe Maddon, as usual, is trying some different things, such as leading off Kyle Schwarber and giving Javier Baez time in center field. And it's a good day for fans of Dan Vogelbach.
Brewers lineup:
Villar SS, Walsh 2B, Lucroy C, Niewenhuis CF, Liriano LF, Flores RF, Middlebrooks 3B, Wilkins 1B, Nottingham DH
Quite a bunch of no-names there, as the Brewers are playing a split-squad day. All but Will Middlebrooks and Jacob Nottingham are on Milwaukee's 40-man roster.
Travis Wood starts for the Cubs. Also scheduled today: Kyle Hendricks, Clayton Richard, C.J. Riefenhauser, Rex Brothers and Spencer Patton.
Chase Anderson starts for the Brewers. Other Milwaukee pitchers scheduled: David Goforth, Junior Guerra, Josh Hader and Jacob Barnes.
Today's game is on cubs.com with Len Kasper and Mick Gillispie.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. If you do go there to interact with Brewers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
Please note that during spring training, Gameday doesn't usually go pitch-by-pitch as it does during the regular season -- usually, it will update after each at-bat.
For spring-training games, we'll have a first-pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.
These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher boxes and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
Discuss amongst yourselves.