Cubs pitchers and catchers report: Will there be any surprises?

Pitchers and catchers reported to Mesa on Thursday to get their workouts in before the first full team workout on Wednesday.

With the addition of Jon Lester to the starting rotation, the Cubs now have him, Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks. But what some are forgetting is that they have other starters on their 40-man roster. There is promising left hander Tsuyoshi Wada, who went 4-4 last year with a 3.25 ERA. Jacob Turner, the new kid on the block who was traded to us from Miami last year, only played eight games but went 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA . Finally, there’s Felix Doubront who was traded early last year from the Red Sox and went 2-1 with a 3.98 ERA. Do they keep them on the 40-man roster and start transitioning them into the bullpen with Edwin Jackson and Travis Wood? I think the Cubs have some tough decisions to make over the course of the next month, seven starters just seems a little crowded.

As for the catchers, the Cubs now have three starting catchers. During the offseason they acquired free agent Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks getting rid of two minor league players. The team can’t just turn a blind eye on their starting catcher from the past two years, Welington Castillo, who we were all assuming would be back in action this year. But with the addition of Montero, he could be seeing less playing time due to his decreasing offensive contribution to the team. We could also see some of the back up guys who have been in the game for longer such as Taylor Teagarden, Rafael Lopez and David Ross. Also you can’t forget the 2014 first round draft pick, Kyle Schwarber, as he has proved himself in the minors but with the talent a lot of the other starting catchers have it will be hard for him to get his foot in the door for this season.

All in all the Cubs spring training will be a full scale power house of talent. Obviously, there will have to be some tough decisions made as to who goes where for the upcoming regular season.