ARLINGTON, Texas — The time has come again, baseball fans. The 162-game, and hopefully more, trek through the year begins anew. For 29 other teams, the marathon battle royale also goes through Arlington, as the Texas Rangers will take the field as the reigning champions of Major League Baseball, still fresh off winning the franchise’s first World Series.
The first opponents for the champs are the storied Chicago Cubs – who are under new management, with former Milwaukee Brewers’ skipper Craig Counsell swapping National League Central teams in the hopes of returning Chicago’s northsiders to the postseason.
Game 1 – Chicago Cubs @ Texas Rangers
Starting Pitching Matchup: LHP Justin Steele (16-5, 3.06 ERA, 173.1 IP, 176K in 2023) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 ERA, 144 IP, 132K in 2023)
No, Jacob deGrom will not be making his second Opening Day start for the Rangers. The righty exited after the first month of the season and, after Tommy John surgery in his debut season with Texas, isn’t expected to return until late in the season. However, when that ace went down, another ace stepped up.
Nathan Eovaldi has always had a reputation for being a bulldog. That tenacity was most famously put on display during the 2018 World Series run with the Boston Red Sox, in which Eovaldi, on just two days’ rest, threw 97 pitches out of the ‘pen to get the team through the 18th inning of a marathon contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But the Rangers learned about Eovaldi’s ability to rise to the occasion themselves last October as he became the first pitcher ever to go undefeated with five wins or more in a single postseason. It was Eovaldi who was on the mound to start the World Series-clincher and it will be Eovaldi who takes the mound to open the defense of that title.
When deGrom went down, yes, Dane Dunning filled his slot in the rotation, but it was Eovaldi that took over as staff leader. The day after deGrom made his final start of the season, Eovaldi began an unbelievable tear that ended in him earning American League pitcher of the month in May.
The Alvin, TX native went the distance against the New York Yankees in that series, shutting them out on three hits. For the remainder of May, Eovaldi threw 37 innings over five starts, surrendering only four runs, including another complete game shutout. There were never any doubts as to who would take the mound for Texas on Opening Day.
The Cubs’ new manager, Counsel, selected left-hander Justin Steele to take the ball. Again, this would probably come as no surprise to Cubs fans, as Steele was the team’s best pitcher last season.
After breaking in with Chicago as a reliever, Steele worked his way into the rotation and with his incredible year in 2023, earned the distinction of being the first “homegrown” Cub to take the ball on Opening Day in ten years. He also earned a spot on the All-Star team in 2023, and the direction from the club has been clear – keep doing what you’re doing. The only potential concern was that Steel took a line drive off his left leg in his final tune-up performance in Arizona on Friday, but he appears to have survived with just a bruise.
As with last year, one of the keys on Opening Day is going to be bullpen usage. It’s unlikely that either starting pitcher has the leash to go all nine innings, and there is an off-day immediately following this opening contest which means the bullpen could be turned to early if needed.
The Rangers feature a revamped bullpen, switching out 2023 Opening Day bullpen members Will Smith and Ian Kennedy for veteran former All-Stars David Robertson and Kirby Yates. Gone are Cole Ragans and Taylor Hearn, with Jake Latz and Yerry Rodriguez filling in as long relievers.
On the Cubs’ side, Chicago brought in an old Rangers foe – with former Astro Hector Neris signing with Chicago over the winter. He joins a bullpen full of young, electric arms, including closer Adbert Alzolay and setup men Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter, Jr. Former Ranger Drew Smyly will also be in the Cubs’ pen.
Chicago Cubs Projected Starting Lineup
- Ian Happ – LF
- Seiya Suzuki – RF
- Cody Bellinger – CF
- Christopher Morel – 3B
- Dansby Swanson – SS
- Michael Busch – 1B
- Nic Hoerner – 2B
- Mike Tauchman – DH
- Yan Gomes – C
After a season in which they missed the playoffs by just a game to the Wild Card Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs are looking to unseat the Brewers from the top of the NL Central mountain. With a new manager – who left Milwaukee to join them, incidentally – they appear on the right track to do so.
Chicago will have to do it without Marcus Stroman, but they’ll have Cody Bellinger back. With Stroman off to the Yankees, the Cubs are hinging on replacing his production on “The Pitching Philosopher” Shota Imanaga, formerly of the Yokohama BayStars. Imanaga signed a four-year deal to pitch in Chi-Town, and the metrics have him just on par with Stroman. The Rangers won’t see Imanaga this series, but they will see former Rangers’ draft pick Kyle Hendricks and 2nd year lefty Jordan Wicks.
Like the Rangers, the Cubs are a hit-first club. They’ll have the makings of a solid rotation, but their bullpen struggled last year. Ultimately, though, the Cubs have the makings of a dark horse in the National League. If their offseason gamble of signing Imanaga in place of Stroman and bringing in Counsel work, and if the bullpen performs better than last year with Neris, then they will be among the contenders for the NL Central crown.
Texas Rangers Projected Starting Lineup
- Marcus Semien – 2B
- Corey Seager – SS
- Evan Carter – LF
- Adolis Garcia – RF
- Josh Jung – 3B
- Wyatt Langford – DH
- Jonah Heim – C
- Ezequiel Duran – 1B
- Leody Taveras – CF
There was some question coming into the start of the season as to whether or not Seager and Jung would be ready. Seager had been recovering from sports hernia surgery in the offseason and Jung pulled his calf muscle fielding ground balls on one of the first practice days of Spring Training. But in the last week of camp, the left side of the infield came to play and they look to be ready to slot right back in with no regular season time missed.
The fact of the matter though is that they did miss time, and part of the success of the early part of the Rangers’ season is going to be how manager Bruce Bochy uses Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith to partially spell Seager and Jung, and how the future Hall of Fame manager uses the DH spot and tries to fit prospect wunderkind Wyatt Langford in while giving half days off to the returning veterans. It’s a puzzle, but one that any manager would be lucky to have – ultimately, Bochy has been given too many good hitters for not enough spots.
Duran should get the nod on Opening Day at first base against a left-hander. Newcomer Jared Walsh bats left-handed and will see some action but his time might be short-lived as the club waits for Silver Slugger and Gold Glover Nathaniel Lowe to come back from an oblique injury and reclaim his spot as the everyday first baseman.
Overall, the Rangers’ lineup is incredibly deep. It was deep last year and with 80% of the starting lineup intact – missing only Lowe and free agent subtraction Mitch Garver – it has a chance to be deeper and more dangerous this year.
The addition of Evan Carter for his first full season and the expected electric bat of Langford means that there isn’t much of a rest spot for Steele or any pitcher as they attempt to traipse through the lineup.
This is a Rangers offense that led the American League in most categories throughout much of the 2023 season. Runs do not appear to be a problem for Texas. Holding on to leads, though, might be. Game 1 is not a “must-win” for anybody. But with the off day on Friday, Bochy can manage it like a playoff game, with virtually all hands on deck.
The road to the World Series runs through Arlington for the first time in history, and the champs have loaded up to defend.
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