The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs will kick off their title defense with Jon Lester on the mound. The lefty went 19-5 last season with a 2.44 ERA, and finished second in the NL Cy Young voting. He was also instrumental in the Cubs’ World Series run, as he went 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA in six appearances overall.
Lester was absolutely lights out against the Cards last season. In three starters against them, Lester went 2-0 with a miniscule 0.87 ERA.
The lineup to back Lester up will be mostly the same as last year’s. One notable change, though, will be at the leadoff spot, where slugger Kyle Schwarber is set to start this season after missing the entire 2016 regular season with a torn ACL.
But the heart of the order remains the same, with reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo supplying the power for a Cubs team that scored the second-most most runs in the NL last year.
The Cubs went 6-3 against the Cardinals in St. Louis last season.
Carlos Martinez will have the unenviable task of getting the first crack at the Chicago Cubs this season. Martinez had an excellent season last year, as he went 16-9 with a 3.04 ERA to establish himself as the team’s new ace.
Much like a lot of pitchers, though, Martinez didn’t have a lot of success against the Cubs. In five starts against the eventual champs, the lefty went just 1-3 with a 4.80 ERA. It’s going to be tough for Martinez to keep the Cubs bats quiet all night, so he’ll need some run support.
The Cards added a member of the World Series-winning Cubs to their lineup in the offseason with Dexter Fowler. The speedy center-fielder will lead-off for a Cardinals team which will now rely more heavily on young guns Aledmys Diaz and Stephen Piscotty, but will still have veterans Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina. The Cards led the NL in homers last season, and were just behind the Cubs in runs.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cubs (-125) kick off their title defense with a 5-2 win over the Cards.
