Predicting the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 Opening Day Roster

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Starting Lineup

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Projected Starting Lineup: 

  1. 2B Ben Zobrist
  2. CF Jason Heyward
  3. 1B Anthony Rizzo
  4. 3B Kris Bryant
  5. LF Kyle Schwarber
  6. RF Jorge Soler
  7. C Miguel Montero
  8. Pitcher
  9. SS Addison Russell

This lineup has virtually no holes. Of course, plenty of guys are entering their second seasons, where many tend to struggle, so they could hit some rough patches. However, outside of the Blue Jays, nobody has this deep a lineup.

There isn’t an easy out in there after Heyward and Zobrist were added this offseason. Unlike last season when the entire lineup was young, there’s a little bit of a veteran presence there now. Heyward is only 26, but has a lot of experience.

Expect this unit to be one of the Cubs’ best in decades. It’s a unit that is extremely talented and supremely motivated. That is a deadly combination and it’s a combination that just might help the team erase the longest championship drought in North American professional sports.