So, the Chicago Cubs are BACK in the playoffs. They are set to play the Miami Marlins at 1:00 PM on ABC (check your dial in case some areas are different). Here is the Cubs Wild Card Series roster:
Here is our 28-man roster for the Wild Card Series!#FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/ULkJucCzKU
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 30, 2020
The first surprise I see is Josh Phegley. This is a 28-man roster, and David Ross has talked about liking the flexibility three catchers gives a team. Outside maybe Duane Underwood Jr., I’m not sure who I would put in his place. Maybe they would have elected to run with Brailyn Marquez, but in a garbage game (meaning nothing was on the line and they were up by 9 runs) Marquez showed the moment was bigger than he was (at that time).
So really there isn’t a surprise on the roster, per say, but Phegley doesn’t offer much behind a late-game defensive replacement.
The bigger surprise to me is in the Game 1 lineup.
- Ian Happ, CF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javier Baez, SS
- Victor Caratini, DH
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Kyle Hendrick, P (not batting of course)
I would bet there are going to be many fans questioning Kris Bryant in the three-hole. Sure they may have some valid concerns, but when I asked Kris about those concerns, this is what he said:
He will be fine. It seems the time off was productive for Kris and when he’s healthy he needs to be penciled in near the top of the order. It’s that simple.
Where I am more surprised is in LF and DH. With Victor Caratini getting the nod as the DH today (would have assumed it would be Kyle Schwarber) it likely means Contreras is the DH tomorrow. This is something the Cubs rolled with throughout the season with some success. This also shows why the Cubs decided to go with Phegley as the third catcher, and since the club appears to have the backup catcher as the DH on a daily basis.
The question I have in it is, you lose that flexibility at the catcher position, but it also means you are going to run with Schwarber in left every game. The thought process is going to be, if Schwarber gets on base in the seventh (or later) inning, he will likely be lifted for Billy Hamilton or Cameron Maybin. You then lose Schwarber for the remainder of the game, and in short series’ like these will be, Ross is telling you he’d prefer the defense late as opposed to a one-swing guy (totally fine and acceptable).
The other question I have is at second. Both Ildemaro Vargas and Nico Hoerner are better defensive players than Jason Kipnis is. Kipnis is the better offensive player of the lot – and we haven’t even discussed David Bote and his team-leading 29 RBI. It seems that the Cubs could have opted to play Bote at second with Kipnis at DH, but in looking at it, the Marlins are throwing Sandy Alcantara, and lefties are hitting .268/.366/.493 against him, opposed to RH which hit .190/.236/.238.
So while immediately looking at the lineup you question some options, but after examining it a bit, you see why the heavy lefty approach (six of the nine hitter will face Alcantara left-handed).
