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Kyle Schwarber Mark Zagunis and the Cubs lineup shuffle
29
Mar
Mar
Kyle Schwarber Mark Zagunis and the Cubs lineup shuffle
It should’ve come as no shock that Mark Zagunis was in the Cubs’ Opening Day lineup and Kyle Schwarber was not.
Yet, it still was.
As the Cubs got ready to kick off “The Year of Reckoning” Thursday afternoon in Texas, it was Zagunis — not Schwarber — playing left field and hitting ninth in Joe Maddon’s lineup.
Zagunis was a surprise addition to the Cubs Opening Day roster, but his first start had nothing to do with the fact that it was Game 1. It was simply that it was a game and this is how the Cubs line up for games.
Maddon is always interested in getting the most out of his players and to put them in the best position to succeed — whether it’s March 28 or Sept. 28. And Thursday was all about the matchup — a lefty on the mound for the Rangers in Mike Minor.
The right-handed Zagunis profiled better vs. Minor and Maddon opted to go with Jason Heyward’s glove in right field and Schwarber on the bench. But the Cubs manager also acknowledged Schwarber would likely be in the lineup in each of the next two games in Texas, where the Rangers had right-handed pitchers lined up to start.
Maddon saw Schwarber Wednesday night and informed the left-handed slugger about the Opening Day starting lineup.
“It’s kinda normal. I ran into him yesterday walking to dinner — we spoke, he was nodding and said no issues, obviously,” Maddon said. “That’s something we’ve been trying to hammer home this offseason and now is the buy-in from the whole group. Some days, it’s gonna be somebody else. The conversations have been very transparent and everybody’s on board, so it was a very easy exchange between me and him.”
Zagunis grounded into a double play his first time up Thursday, but then knocked home a run in the Cubs’ big fifth inning, hustling for a double. Schwarber pinch-hit for Zagunis in the sixth inning when the Rangers dipped into their bullpen and struck out before taking over in left field.
So for Game 2 Saturday in Arlington, look for Schwarber to make his first start of the season and maybe Daniel Descalso at designated hitter with Ben Zobrist at second base instead of David Bote. Or maybe Albert Almora Jr. gets the day off and Heyward moves to center, Zobrist in right, Bote at second. Or maybe…well, you get the idea.
We don’t yet know how the rest of the opening weekend will play out (except for the strong probability that Victor Caratini will catch Cole Hamels Sunday to give Willson Contreras a day off), but the Cubs players do know that Maddon is trying to communicate lineups to his team a series at a time now.
“It’s not difficult by any means,” Maddon said. “Things can change even over the course of three days, so you give them a broad outline of what it’s gonna look like but of course, if the other team does something differently pitching wise, it could impact it. Or somebody gets sick or gets hurt, it impacts it.
“It’s just a way for the guys to get a bigger snapshot of the series. For instance today, with Schwarber, he knows he’s playing the next two days even though he’s not starting today. Maybe that might ameliorate some concerns that some guys have had in the past. … It’s not a tremendous difference for me. If it in any way helps us play a better game, I’ll take it.”
Maddon and the Cubs won’t change their ways and go against the data to simply have a set lineup or a stable leadoff hitter. They will continue to mix and match all year long, but the communication might be all the difference.
As players met with Theo Epstein and the Cubs brass hours after they were knocked out of the NL Wild-Card Game at Wrigley Field last fall, a few expressed some frustration in all the lineup tinkering.
“I think everybody really understands they’re part of a really deep roster and they play for a manager who wants to find the best possible matchups on a daily basis and prioritizes that over a set, everyday lineup,” Epstein said. “In an honest moment, I think everyone would admit that gives us the best chance to win with the lineups on a given day and then with the depth over the length of the season.
“I think what we heard in the exit interviews is a desire for more communication about that and Joe’s really responded to that. He’s letting the players know who’s playing over the course of the whole series, not just the night before the game and that should give guys more information, reduce anxiety a little bit, let guys focus on what they can do to help the team win. I think that’s where everyone’s head is at right now.”
