One of the most awaited seasons in the latest memory opens for Arizona Diamondbacks against Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Cubs may be happy to be back to the state.
The D-slopes undertook $ 210 million to sign Free Agent Right Hander Corbin Burnes, and they shook up other listings during the low season to better attack the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in NL West.
Although former Cy Young Award winner Burnes, Diamondback’s manager Torey Lovullo chose the right hand Zac Gallen to start the Four-game series opener against Cubs on Chase Field.
“They are both elite pots,” Lovullo said. “But at the end of the day, Zac has been here for a long time. I have a very strong band with Zac. He has seen some darkness here. He has come out the other end.”
The left-hander Justin Steele (0-1) will start the Arizona opener for Cubs. Chicago tries to get on track after losing the first two games in the regular season to Dodgers in Tokyo on March 18-19 before returning to Arizona to pack spring training.
Steele gave up five runs in four rounds of a 6-3 loss to Dodgers in the second game in the Tokyo series.
“These are fantastic experiences, period, and they are fun experiences,” said Cub’s manager Craig Counsell. “They are different. They are similar to the playoffs. So it is a fantastic experience for our young players. And hopefully we will get that experience again in October.”
Diamondbacks tries to return to the playoffs after doing the World Series in 2023. They were eliminated on the last day of the regular season a year ago despite an improvement in five games in the position. They are the last team that beat Dodgers during the season.
“We love it,” Lovullo said about the competition level in NL West. “We embrace it. We run to it.”
In addition to Burnes, Diamondbacks acquired the first bass man Josh Naylor to replace free agent Christian Walker, picked up the third bass man Eugenio Suarez’s alternative and signed excursion/DH Randal Grichuk to help a crime leading Majors with 886 runs a year ago.
Cubs added the excursor Kyle Tucker, Infielder Justin Turner, closer to Ryan Porsly and starts Matthew Boyd and Colin Sale to a group that was 83-79 last season, others to Milwaukee in NL Central. Rookie Top Prospect Matt Shaw won the third base job.
Cubs continues a difficult early 27 game distance against the D-slopes. Their start includes seven matches against Arizona, six against San Diego, five against Dodgers and three against Philadelphia, Texas and A’s.
Gallen, which is eligible for free agency after this season, is 43-19 with a 3.20 era in 93 starts in the last three seasons. He is 3-1 with a 2.60 era and a suspension in six careers starts against the kids and has once beaten them during each of the last three seasons.
Steele is 0-2 in four career starts against Arizona and has given up two homers in 28 2/3 rounds. He gave up two homers in Japan after giving up four in 8 2/3 rounds in three spring training.
-Field Level Media
