MESA, Ariz. – The Cubs finally know how many roster spots they can count on to open the season.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to give teams two extra roster spots and remove the 13-pitcher limit for the month of April. The agreement is reportedly pending the approval of the club owners and comes amid injury concerns due to the condensed spring training schedule.
“It’s going to be nice for us,” Cubs manager David Ross said Wednesday. “I think it was a smart move in this unique string training.”
Ross confirmed that the Cubs’ two extra spots would likely go to pitchers, adding, “but it’s not just how things will shake out performance-wise, there’s big-picture stuff that we look at as well.”
For the Cubs, who have added nine free agent pitchers to big-league camp since the lockout ended two weeks ago, the expansion of rosters to 28 players to begin the season is especially welcome news.
The new faces keep rolling in. The club made reliever Mychal Givens’ signing (one-year contract with a mutual 2023 option) official on Wednesday, designating infielder Sergio Alcantara for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
“Luckily, we’re bringing in some really good veteran guys that know themselves,” Cubs pitching coach said in a conversation with the Sun-Times, “so, we trust them to that extent.”
Late next week the Cubs will have a better sense of how built up their pitchers will be for opening day. That information will help them decide how many multi-inning relievers they’ll carry, versus one-inning arms.
No matter the balance, the new roster flexibility takes some pressure off starters like Wade Miley to rush the ramp-up process. Miley, on a “veteran program,” was hesitant to start building up too early with the beginning of spring training in question.
“I should already have faced hitters, and I haven’t,” he said earlier this week. “So, that’s going to be a whole different kind of soreness when you ramp up and get into that. But hopefully I can do that here in the next week.”
There are ways to give Miley extra time. The Cubs have an off day between their first and second series of the season, which gives them the option to have Miley stay in Arizona for an extra start and then make his 2022 debut in Pittsburgh at the back end of the rotation.
The Cubs also have the multi-inning pitcher depth to piggyback starts at the beginning of the year.
“There can easily be some ways to use the first two weeks of the season as a competitive window, but also a window to continue to ramp guys up, and pitch counts, and things like that,” Hottovy said. “So [roster expansion] really does change the whole landscape of how you view opening day, for sure, and what you want to do with the roster.”
The Cubs’ top two pitchers are on pace to build up to five innings by the end of spring training. Kyle Hendricks threw about 40 pitches against the Mariners on Tuesday and then threw more in the bullpen to get his total up to 50.
Right-hander Marcus Stroman threw close to 50 pitches in two-plus innings against the A’s on Wednesday. And getting up for three innings was an important part of his progression.
“The second I feel that Wrigley crowd, April 8, man, it’s going to be on,” he said.
Ross hasn’t announced his opening day (April 7) starter, and Stroman wasn’t breaking the news. He added that Hendricks should get the ball on opening day for the rest of his Cubs career.
“Hendricks is the guy,” Stroman said. “He’s been doing this for a long time. I’ll pitch Day 5 – I really don’t care when I pitch. … I’ve never been prideful on that. I truly believe Hendricks should be the opening day [starter] just because of his career, how unbelievable he’s been in the playoffs, his resume speaks for itself.”