(670 The Score) With Opening Day just more than three weeks away, new Cubs manager David Ross has a starter in mind for his team's first game of the regular season.
He just isn't revealing who that pitcher is and hasn't informed his team who it will be yet, he told the Mully & Haugh Show on Wednesday morning.
"I don't announce things until I feel fit," Ross said. "As far as pitching goes, there's a lot of variables that still have to play out. It's March 4. We got a long way until Opening Day. And so just make sure they're healthy. There's a sickness going around, little bug here that pushes a guy back, then everybody feels pressure to make that Opening Day or may push themselves a little bit more.
"I want to wait a little bit closer to the start of Opening Day, to make sure everybody's healthy and in a good place and has gotten their pitch count up to where we need it. Then we go from there."
Veteran left-hander Jon Lester has started on Opening Day for the Cubs in four of the past five years, and he has made eight such starts in his career. But he's coming off a tough season, going 13-10 with a 4.46 ERA in 2019, which makes right-hander Yu Darvish (6-8, 3.98 ERA) and right-hander Kyle Hendricks (11-10, 3.46) the two most logical candidates to start when Chicago visits Milwaukee for its opener on March 26. Darvish in particular was sensational in the second half of 2019, posting a 2.76 ERA while striking out 118 batters and walking just seven in 13 starts after the All-Star break.
Once the Cubs get into the regular season, the rookie manager Ross will aim to have his team focused on championship goals.
"We have a lot of talented players here," Ross said. "The thing that's really going to carry the day for us and push us forward is connecting with each other, caring about one another, becoming a family inside that locker room, so when those tough times hit, we stay together and focus on the task at hand.
"The goal is to win a World Series. That's what Chicago wants, that's what we want, and that's how we go about our work every day."
