Huge Surprise in Cubs Rotation

Joe Maddon released his 2017 Chicago Cubs Rotation, and there are a couple huge surprises.

Your 2017 Cubs pitching rotation:
1. Jon Lester
2. Jake Arrieta
3. John Lackey
4. Brett Anderson
5. Kyle Hendricks

— Cubs Live (@Cubs_Live) March 23, 2017

So first, Jon Lester had earned the top spot with his 2016 performance. There will be some will argue Jake Arrieta lost it as much as Jon earned it, that’s simply not the case.

It is the third through fifth spots that are the real surprises. First, many believe that John Lackey pitched his way towards the end of the rotation. Pair that with his age, and it would be easier to have a spot start from a bullpen arm towards the backend of a rotation and not the third spot.

The next surprise is Brett Anderson beating Mike Montgomery out for the rotation spot. There certainly were many that thought Mike was all but guaranteed the final starter’s role. Brett was brought in to push him and in the hopes of finding lightning in a bottle. It seems he has done enough to earn the job, pushing Montgomery back to the pen. Personally, I back this move. Montgomery was so good in his 2016 bullpen role with the Cubs that it became difficult to find a replacement. He will be the “sixth starter” and will get his fair share of innings.

The biggest surprise is Kyle Hendricks, notably the runner-up in the Cy Young voting, is the Cubs fifth starter. Most assumed he would come into the season as the team’s third starter, and perhaps ready to unseat Arrieta.

Now, Maddon has his reasons.

Of course, Lester earned to opening day role. So no questions there. Arrieta is still one of the most dominate pitchers in the world and has earned the game two start.

The next couple of roles shakes out like this.

Brett Anderson helps split the rotation out, righty/lefty. Then to explain Kyle Hendricks in the fifth spot is as easy as this. The Cardinals batted .204 verse Lackey in 2016, and the Milwaukee Brewers hit .261 against him. Hendricks held the Brewers to a .222 average.

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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