The Dbacks welcome the Cubs to Chase Field

They took two of three from the Padres on the road and hope to give themselves a winning road trip to keep pace with the Cardinals, who apparently are still leading their division due to consuming copious amounts of unicorn blood and  their underhanded dealings with assorted netherworld entities.  The Cubs are the darlings in waiting, as baseball punditry is enthralled with their youth movements and bestowing approving appraisals of their front office staff.  Who are apparently shrewdly investing in a heady elixir of youth and veteran savvy. 

But hey, we just swept the Marlins and got swept by the Phillies, so who knows right?

Since the Baby Bears also reside in the Valley of the Sun during the winter, I expect their legion of stalwart fans to crowd the ballpark and do their part to stimulate the local economy.  What this means to us is that we should get our churro dogs early and make sure that they only have kettle corn to consume doing the games.....

WHAT TO EXPECT....

Since the Baby Bears also reside in the Valley of the Sun during the winter, I expect their legion of stalwart fans to crowd the ballpark and do their part to stimulate the local economy.  What this means to us is that we should get our churro dogs early and make sure that they only have kettle corn to consume doing the games.....

The Cubs roster has a mix of promising young talent and guys who appear to be on the cusp of stardom.  Namely Kris Bryant, possibly the most hyped rookie position player since Bryce Harper,.  Not to be forgotten is a blossoming Anthony Rizzo,  who is also making a strong case for All-Star consideration.  Also worthy of mention is Jorge Soler, another Cuban who appears to be on the cusp of not only getting it, but doing it too.  Candidates who appear to be enjoying the new surroundings are Dexter Fowler, our own Miguel Montero and Starlin Castro appears to have been invigorated by the new faces.  It is unknown at this time if there is a related Taco promotion associated with Montero, but as soon as we know something definitive, we'll share that with you.

Castro and Montero are providing the essential grit factor, while other vets are there to help the youngsters along, guys like Chris Coghlan and  David Ross.  The Baby Bears have also started to audition another super prospect Addison Russell whom they obtained in a trade with Oakland for The Shark.  Also of note, the Cubs have DBacks killer Chris Denorfia (thankfully on the DL) on their roster and Junior Lake has been recalled to the ML Roster after he made his bones against the 2014 version of the DBacks.

Their pitching no longer consists of The Shark and the hope somebody shows up over the next four games, We get the "meat" of their rotation as we expect to see the likes of Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel, upon whom they dropped some pretty shiny pennies on to bolster their rotation.

TACO FACTOR

Based on the possibility that they have Edwin Jackson still in their bullpen, I would say 1 in 3

The Matchups:

LESTER VS COLLMENTER

This is the prize free agent pitching get of the off-season versus a guy who is the erstwhile ace of the staff who was a long reliever two years ago...so, I'd say advantage Cubs,

ARRIETA VS DE LA ROSA

Mr. De La Rosa has looked good, Arrieta is mostly the guy who keeps you in games... advantage DBacks

HAMMEL VS HELLICKSON

Ok, so did the light bulb go on for Jeremy with his last start?  Or was it the case of the baseball deities simply opening the fridge to get a snack?  All I know is that I'm going to the game and getting myself a fedora dammit!  Advantage Cubs...

WHO'S HOT?

While those of us that follow our team on a daily basis really don't need to know who's showing a bit of promise at the plate, it should be noted that Nick Ahmed, is almost off the interstate.  While he's not been Jared Saltalamacchia bad in Reno,. you ended up hoping that he would at least move the runners up so our pitchers had a chance to drive in some runs.  Lately, he's been less sucky and apparently grasping the possibilities of bunting and hitting the ball to positions on the field where not every player on the opposing team stars in a web gem throwing him out by less than a step.

as for the opponents.... those infantile ursines

Anthony Rizzo is batting .324, SLG .570 and has an OPS above 1.020

Kris Bryant is at .289 .482 .894 respectively

even Miggy is posting a .8 WAR

Their pitching has been solid but unspectacular after perusing the numbers, but folks appear to be waiting on Lester to be dominant and their 4 and 5 starters to show something other than ... meh.

MADE UP FACT

Tsuyoshi Wada was once in the running to voice the second lead character, Toshiyo Sato for the popular Shonen manga Major.