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In case you haven’t heard, pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Mesa, Arizona in 24 days for the Chicago Cubs. Which puts Opening Day in Los Angeles against Albert Pujols and the Angels is about 69-70 days out.
With Pujols helping to lead his team to the American League Championship Series, Anthony Rizzo and company are hoping to make it back-to-back seasons in which they reach the N.L.C.S. — this time, reaching and winning the World Series.
But before they do so, they’ll need to get through a handful of teams who, like them, made headlines by landing key free agents of their own. The San Francisco Giants landed both Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto while the Arizona Diamondbacks found themselves another ace in Zack Greinke.
More from Chicago Cubs News
- Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
- Cubs might start to limit Justin Steele’s workload soon
- Cubs: Adrian Sampson is forcing his way into the conversation
- Projecting the Chicago Cubs bullpen to open the 2023 season
- Cubs fans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel
The rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Diamondbacks will become bigger than ever starting this season. Remember, the Dodgers clinched the N.L. West in Arizona a few years back and celebrated by jumping in the pool behind the right-center fence.
Of course, you can never count out both the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Both teams have sat at the top of the N.L. Central over the past couple of seasons with the Cubs sitting near the bottom. It’s completely different this time around.
There’s no question that the N.L. Central is the toughest division in all of baseball and should hold three of the best records for the second season in a row. Hopefully, the Cubs will be the ones on top with the Cardinals and Pirates trailing behind by a decent margin in the division itself.
Now here’s a few stories you may have missed:
‘Chicago Cubs: Who stands in the way of the N.L. Pennant?‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs: A year without Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs: National League close to adding the DH rule?‘ – Cubbies Crib