Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs return home to Wrigley Field following 5-1 start

Finally, after being eliminated from the National League Championship Series thanks to the New York Mets, Joe Maddon, and the Chicago Cubs will return to Wrigley Field. Veteran southpaw Jon Lester will be on the mound as they welcome the Cincinnati Reds later on this evening.

Opening Week has been exciting for not only the players but fans of the Chicago Cubs as well. After sweeping a short two-game series from the Los Angeles Angels, ace right-hander Jake Arrieta improved to 2-0, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks by the final score of 7-3.

Last year’s National League Cy Young award winner took Shelby Miller deep to left-center for a two-run shot, giving himself the lead. Outfielder Jorge Soler, who is filling in for Kyle Schwarber, also came through with a solo home run of his own. These two men, Soler, and Miller have a bit of a rivalry going that’s in Jorge’s favor.

Miller has worn three uniforms over the past several years and each time he’s matched up against the Cubs, Soler has gone yard. Soler is going to need to step it up in a huge way as he will be one of the few men expected to fill the gap in left field.

More from Chicago Cubs News

• 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
• Justin Steele has evolved into a frontline starter for the Cubs
• The future of first base is murky right now for the Cubs

In case you have been living in a cave, Schwarber is out for the remainder of the season after colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler over the weekend. The impact resulted in Kyle tearing both his ACL and LCL which will require surgery and rehab. He’s expected to be ready to go pending any setbacks.

He’s expected to be ready to go pending any setbacks so let’s cross our fingers on that one. But aside from Schwarber’s injury, the first six games of the season have been great. Sure, John Lackey had a bit of a rocky start with the Chicago Cubs but he eventually settled down.

What stood out to me is how well Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks pitched, especially Hendricks against Zack Greinke. These two men had a lot to prove during Cactus League play back in March and turned in quality starts to begin the year.

Hammel is expected to pick up Thursday’s start against the Reds with Hendricks taking Friday’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have themselves a young phenom swinging some heavy lumber in Trevor Story who has seven home runs.

Now here are a few stories you may have missed over the weekend:

‘Cubs Recap: Arrieta homers in 7-3 series win vs Dbacks‘

‘Cubs: Kyle Schwarber out for the season with torn ACL, LCL‘

‘Cubs: Minor League affiliates off to a slow start‘

‘Waiver Wire: Nomar Mazara and Mallex Smith promoted‘ – Fantasy Baseball CrackerJacks

‘Cincinnati Reds Week-in-Review April 1.0‘ – Blog Red Machine