Chicago Cubs Lineup (3/17/21): Hendricks on Mound Backed By Lineup of Regulars That’s Anything But Green

The Cubs are back in action after their first break of the Cactus League slate, and they’ll be taking the field on St. Patrick’s Day with a lineup that’s very likely to be their regular starters once the season kicks off. I’m excited to see the first few innings tonight and hoping to at least get a feel for what to expect from this crew. At first blush, it’s hard not to really like how things look from top to bottom.

Ian Happ leads off and is playing centerfield, followed by Willson Contreras catching, Anthony Rizzo at first, Kris Bryant playing third base, and the red-hot Joc Pederson batting fifth and playing left. Javy Báez is batting sixth at short, with Jason Heyward batting seventh in right, and Nico Hoerner hitting eighth and playing second base.

Kyle Hendricks will look to improve upon his last outing as he makes his third start of the season in preparation for Opening Day in just two weeks. Though he struck out five batters with no walks over three innings of work back on March 11, Hendricks allowed four runs on seven hits to the Rockies. Look for him to stretch a little further in this one and start working with more of his standard repertoire now that spring training is about halfway over.

This is a rare night game with an 8:05pm CT start time and those fans who don’t have Marquee Sports Network may be able to watch on MLB Network.

Here is our #StPatricksDay lineup! pic.twitter.com/EmV7XtEb2l

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 17, 2021