Cubs Daily Clips
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March 17, 2016 Chicago Tribune, Cubs lineup features opening night possibilities http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-prepare-for-opening-night-20160317- story.html Chicago Tribune, Addison Russell could move up in order after improvement at plate http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-addison-russell-batting-eighth-cubs-spt-0317- 20160316-story.html Chicago Tribune, Dexter Fowler believes playing shallow actually prevents runs http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-dexter-fowler-defends-defense-cubs-spt-0317- 20160316-story.html Chicago Tribune, Wednesday's recap: Royals 10, Cubs 0 http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-gameday-cubs-spring-training-spt-0317-20160316- story.html Chicago Tribune, Joe Maddon down on Chicago's tobacco ban for diminishing personal freedom http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-joe-maddon-dislikes-tobacco-ban-20160316- story.html Chicago Tribune, New normal good preparation for media-ready Cubs players http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-spring-observations-sullivan-spt-0317- 20160316-story.html Chicago Sun-Times, Contreras has look of Cubs’ catcher of the future http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/contreras-has-look-of-cubs-long-term-catcher-of-the-future/ Chicago Sun-Times, Real Deal Neil: Ramirez could create tough roster call for Cubs http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/real-deal-neil-ramirez-could-create-tough-roster-call-for-cubs/ Chicago Sun-Times, Royals 10, Cubs 0: Lackey good, Rondon not, champs roll http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/royals-10-cubs-0-lackey-good-rondon-not-champs-roll/ Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs and White Sox players react to Chicago’s ban on chaw http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-and-white-sox-players-react-to-chicagos-ban-on-chaw/ Cubs.com, Lackey locates, takes step forward vs. KC http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167738686/john-lackey-takes-step-forward-against-royals Cubs.com, Cubs get kick out of Davis' bid to make bigs http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167731834/taylor-davis-having-fun-in-bid-to-make-cubs Cubs.com, Lackey performs extra work against Royals http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167726078/reymond-fuentes-leads-royals-past-cubs Cubs.com, Montero is OK with smokeless tobacco ban http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167780340/jesus-montero-looks-to-quit-smokeless-tobacco Cubs.com, Arrieta, Bryant enjoy 'snow day' in New York http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167731668/jake-arrieta-kris-bryant-see-snow-in-new-york Cubs.com, Maddon shifting to spring lineup of regulars http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/167742732/joe-maddon-likes-spring-lineup-with-regulars ESPNChicago.com, Cubs lose to Royals as Hector Rondon continues disturbing spring trend http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/36868/cubs-lose-to-royals-as-hector-rondon-continues- disturbing-spring-trend ESPNChicago.com, Cubs not happy with Chicago's smokeless tobacco ban http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14990087/chicago-cubs-bristle-city-smokeless-tobacco-ban CSNChicago.com, Dale Sveum's takeaways after Royals beat Mets team that shut down Cubs http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/dale-sveums-takeaways-after-royals-beat-mets-team-shut-down-cubs CSNChicago.com, Cubs might be giving sneak preview of Opening Day lineup http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-might-be-giving-sneak-preview-opening-day-lineup CSNChicago.com, Joe Maddon on Chicago tobacco ban: 'I'm not into over-legislating the human race' http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/joe-maddon-chicago-tobacco-ban-im-not-over-legislating-human-race -- Chicago Tribune Cubs lineup features opening night possibilities By Mark Gonzales With the Chicago Cubs leaving Arizona in less than two weeks, manager Joe Maddon is examining various lineup combinations with more scrutiny. That appears to be the case with Thursday's lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Sloan Park before an expected sellout crowd at Sloan Park and a national television audience. Maddon loves mixing his lineup with right-handed and left-handed hitters, and he has the resources to accomplish that. Switch-hitters Dexter Fowler and Ben Zobrist will bat first and third respectively. Left-handed hitters Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo will bat second and fourth. Any speculation over whether this is virtually identical to the Cubs' opening night lineup on April 4 should be defused by the fact that Jason Hammel will start on the mound with Kyle Schwarber behind the plate. Schwarber might not make his first regular season start at catcher until the fourth game on April 8 against the Diamondbacks. Miguel Montero, who is not in the starting lineup, is expected to start opening night with Jake Arrieta on the mound. The Cubs will play Colorado in a "B" game Thursday at noon (CT) at Salt River Fields, with Adam Warren and Trevor Cahill scheduled to pitch. Here's the Cubs' projected starting lineup against the Diamondbacks: Fowler cf Heyward rf Zobrist 2b Rizzo 1b Bryant 3b Schwarber c Soler lf Russell ss Hammel p -- Chicago Tribune Addison Russell could move up in order after improvement at plate By Mark Gonzales The speculation the Cubs lineup Thursday would mirror opening day amused manager Joe Maddon. "It's March 17, and everyone is still getting ready," Maddon smirked after learning of a tweet from guest instructor/ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe, who suggested the Cubs' lineup against the Diamondbacks that could be their opening night lineup against the Angels in Anaheim. Maddon and his staff have more than two weeks to finalize the makeup of their 25-man roster and examine various lineup and battery combinations. And Maddon is considering reverting to a traditional lineup with the starting pitcher batting ninth rather than eighth this season. He's thinking seriously about it because of the development of Addison Russell. The shortstop batted .242 in his rookie seasonwith 54 RBIs from the ninth spot last season but showed a 33-point improvement with some power in the second half. "(Russell) is a different animal this year," Maddon said. Russell could move up to seventh or eighth as Maddon ponders many scenarios his analytics department has provided for him. Last season, the Cubs' starting pitchers batted eighth in 133 games. That decision was due largely to giving Russell some protection with the top of the batting order following him and because Maddon often would call upon a pinch-hitter for the pitcher early in games neither Jon Lester nor Jake Arrieta started. Maddon said there were six times that the pitcher came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, less than one at-bat above the league average. "It's a roll of the dice some times," Maddon said. Also, Cubs' pitchers batted .114 — the second lowest average in the National League. "That sounds like a great idea," John Lackey said of the probability of the starting pitchers batting ninth. "I have enough on my hands trying to pitch. If I happen to help with the bat, that would be icing on the cake." In a 10-0 loss to the Royals on Thursday, Maddon opted not to use a designated hitter. Lackey grounded to second and fouled off a bunt attempt with two strikes in his two plate appearances. "The pitchers have to start getting used to this, and we have to start getting used to this group," Maddon said of allowing pitchers to hit in spring games. Russell likely would bat seventh or eighth, depending on whether a right- or left-hander is starting, Maddon said. Russell is scheduled to bat eighth Thursday. In another development, Maddon said Kyle Schwarber is more likely to start at catcher in games Jason Hammel starts rather than those featuring Kyle Hendricks. Schwarber will catch Hammel on Thursday. "They seem to work well together," Maddon said. -- Chicago Tribune Dexter Fowler believes playing shallow actually prevents runs By Mark Gonzales Dexter Fowler took great pride in taking away bloop hits that eventually prevented three-run homers during his younger days at Coors Field. So Fowler was amused over the criticism he has received from sabermetricians regarding his defense. "From the start of my career (with the Rockies), they wanted us to play shallow," Fowler said. "You get two bloop hits and a homer, and that's three runs. So I guess the whole premise about it is how it starts the rally. You would rather want more solo homers than two or three-run home runs. I played five years there, and I always learned to play shallow. "The (sabermetricians) crush me all the time because I play shallow, but the pitchers appreciate it because if they make a good pitch, the batter gets jammed and hits it off the end of the bat and you catch it and it keeps (runners) off base. And the balls that are hit in the gap, off the way, those are hits anyway." Fowler received a minus-12 in defensive runs saved last season with the Cubs while playing half his games at Wrigley Field, and manager Joe Maddon said he wants all his outfielders — including Fowler — to play deeper this season. Extra innings: Maddon acknowledged reliever Neil Ramirez, who is out of options, looked sharp Tuesday but is only a part of the roster conversation. … Outfielder Shane Victorino (sore calf) is expected to return by this weekend, Maddon said. … Infielder Tommy La Stella (sore calf) resumed fielding grounders, but there is no timetable on his return. "We're just being cautious," Maddon said. -- Chicago Tribune Wednesday's recap: Royals 10, Cubs 0 By Mark Gonzales Closer Hector Rondon was tagged for five runs on seven hits in the eighth inning as the Royals humbled the visiting Cubs 10-0 Thursday.