Cubs Week in Review: Opening Day Roster Set, Season on the Horizon

The promise of Opening Day at Wrigley Field holds an air of romance that few other spring rituals can. The North Siders are back in Chicago, ready to do battle this Thursday with the Washington Nationals. As camp broke in Arizona, Craig Counsell's crew continued to set its Opening Day roster, with Moisés Ballesteros, Michael Conforto and Ben Brown getting good news.

Despite the decidedly deflating absence of the right fielder Seiya Suzuki at the outset of the season, the Cubs still feature an envious lineup, with Michael Busch, Alex Bregman, and Pete Crow-Armstrong joining Ballesteros, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner in anchoring the batting order. Suzuki's absence will put some pressure on the remaining regulars, but it also creates early opportunities for Conforto and Matt Shaw to have an impact. Over the next day or two, we'll find out which two players will round out the bench, with Dylan Carlson and Kevin Alcántara seemingly having the inside track—barring a late trade.

Matthew Boyd is set to take the bump for the squad's opener against the Nationals. After that, an expected starting rotation of Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, and Jameson Taillon will toe the rubber for Chicago to begin the season. Cabrera, in particular, brings much-needed swing-and-miss to this rotation, and that trend has held up through spring camp. The pieces for success are certainly in place for this rotation. They will depend largely on sustaining health and keeping the return of lefty Justin Steele on schedule to bolster an incredibly deep starting pitching corps. Because the hoped-for fivesome is intact so far, Javier Assad is heading for Iowa, while Ben Brown got the final spot in the bullpen.

It's so close, now, you can smell it. The Cubs are on the hunt for their first full-season division title since 2017. The task is a tall one, but they have the wherewithal to complete it. All that's left is to play the games.