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Pitching Projections
Unlike last year, the Opening Day starter is a bit harder to determine this season. Lester is the established veteran, but Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta had an incredible season in 2015. At times he pitched like there were three of him out on the mound. Arrieta has the mindset and work ethic to duplicate his memorable season, but still a slight drop off would not be alarming. With the signing of Lackey, the Cubs also addressed their need to deepen the playoff rotation.
The projected rotation:
Jon Lester – LHP
Jake Arrieta – RHP
John Lackey – RHP
Kyle Hendricks – RHP
Jason Hammel – RHP
The projected bullpen:
Hector Rondon – RHP – Closer
Pedro Strop – RHP
Adam Warren – RHP
Trevor Cahill – RHP
Justin Grimm – RHP
Clayton Richard – LHP
Travis Wood – LHP
Rex Brothers – LHP
Arrieta “pitched like there were three of him on the mound”? What does that even mean? My guess is you found a cool graphic you wanted to use and you forced that goofy sentence in to introduce it.
Regression? Schwarber hit .240, Russell hit .240 and soler .260 with injuries. Not much to regress from with those guys. Don’t forget Baez either