After the first week of Spring Training, the Chicago Cubs are undefeated. How fun is that?
The real question is if the first week gave us any indication of manager Craig Counsell's thinking on some of the larger issues the team faces.
Third Base
So far, neither top prospect Matt Shaw nor Justin Turner has played third base. In the first 8 games, the Cubs have manned third base with Jon Berti, Benjamin Cowles, Gage Workman, Chase Strumpf, and BJ Murray Jr.
Berti has six at-bats and is batting .167, Cowles has 13 at-bats, batting .385 and a 1.154 OPS, and Workman has 15 at-bats, hitting .267, with a .761 OPS.
Best Guess: By all accounts, it looks like Shaw is still the leading candidate for the starting 3B position. MLB.com recently tagged Shaw as the favorite for Rookie of the Year from the NL Central. Yet, we haven't seen him play yet. Per CBS sports, Shaw should start playing in "the next few days."
Ambiguous but hopeful.
Starting Rotation
The battle for the last two rotation spots continues. With Javier Assad still out with an injury, Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea are the top candidates. In his Spring Training debut, Boyd was fantastic, giving up no runs in two innings, with two strikeouts and two hits. Rea wasn't as sharp; in 1.2 innings, he had three strikeouts but gave up a run.
Ben Brown subbed in for the rotation several times last year. His first outing was also rocky, pitching two innings and giving up five hits, a home run, and two runs.
Best Guess: It feels like Javier Assad should have the inside track here, but without a clear return date, Counsell must be looking at options. Boyd looked great, but the final starter slot is wide open right now.
Offense
We haven't seen much from the Cubs starting lineup just yet. Kyle Tucker has all of four at-bats and no hits, Seiya Suzuki has 10 appearances with no hits, Happ has three hits in nine at-bats, Pete Crow-Armstrong has five hits in 10 at-bats, Nico Hoerner is still injured, Michael Busch is batting .385 with a 1.121 OPS in 13 at-bats, Miguel Amaya is hitting .556 in nine at-bats and a 1.600 OPS, and Dansby Swanson has two hits in 10 at-bats.
Best Guess: We'll see more starters in the lineup in Week 2. It seems that all starters have focused on improving their offense in the offseason. Fingers crossed.
Closer
Week 1 didn't really provide us much insight into how Counsell will use Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly. So far, Hodge has pitched two innings and given up no hits and no runs. Conversely, Pressly has pitched two outs, given up two hits, and one run.
Best Guess: Pressly is the favorite for closing duties, with Hodge as the setup man.