CubsChic

Better buckle up your seat belts, because I have a feeling this season’s going to be a bumpy ride. After finishing the preseason with an 18-16-2 record (they do allow ties during the preseason), the Cubs got clobbered in their two exhibition games in NYC. I know that they’ll be going into tonight’s season opener aware that these games actually count, but I hated to see our starting pitching get pounded so badly by the Yankees.

Lou waited until the last minute to finalize his bullpen. I like the fact that he let the guys win or lose their spots on the mound; even if it means that Samardzija got sent down to Triple A. Rule 5 pick-up David Patton and Angel Guzman made the opening day bullpen roster and Chad Gaudin was released. (More on what Rule 5 is in a later post.)

Kudos to MLB for allowing the Cubs to play the first two series in domed ballparks. It will be cold enough next week for our own opening day at Wrigley. The Cubs should be honored that they get to play in three home openers this season (Houston, Milwaukee and Wrigley), four if you count the first games ever played at the new Yankee Stadium last weekend.

So now we sit back and see if this line-up is really as good as it looks on paper, because these boys really hit the ball in the pre-season. Can they stay healthy? How much will we miss DeRosa and Wood? Can Soto avoid the sophomore slump? For answers to these questions and more, stay tuned…