It is here! After one of the most unforgettable offseasons in MLB history, it is Opening Day 2022! There was a lot of madness when it comes to trades, free agency, and a 99-day lockout but that is all in the rearview mirror. The Chicago Cubs open up the Opening Day slate with their game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

This is a Cubs team that is interesting. For the first time in a long time, the Opening Day roster will is missing names like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez. David Ross’s team is loaded with players trying to stick in Major League Baseball.

There are veterans that are going to play for the Cubs this year mixed in with some very young players. There are also a few players on the team that Cubs fans might not know a lot about but they will know more in short order.

The expectations for this roster are mixed. They play in an NL Central Division that has a few different types of teams in it. The Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals are the two favorites while the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates are seen as bad.

The Chicago Cubs are probably going to end somewhere in the middle there. The National League is loaded this year so it will be fun to see if the Cubs can compete with there being an extra playoff spot this year. This is the roster that will try to get it done:

Catchers:

Willson Contreras

Yan Gomes

Infielders:

Nico Hoerner

Nick Madrigal

Alfonso Rivas

Frank Schwindel

Jonathan Villar

Patrick Wisdom

Outfielders:

Clint Frazier

Ian Happ

Michael Hermosillo

Jason Heyward

Rafael Ortega

Seiya Suzuki

Pitchers:

Jesse Chavez

Scott Effross

Mychael Givens

Kyle Hendricks

Chris Martin

Daniel Norris

Ethan Roberts

David Robertson

Michael Rucker

Drew Smyly

Justin Steele

Marcus Stroman

Keegan Thompson

Rowan Wick

Injured List:

Adbert Alzolay

Codi Heuer

Wade Miley

Alec Mills

Andrelton Simmons

Brad Wieck

The Chicago Cubs 2022 Opening Day roster is a lot different from recent years.

This is an incredibly interesting roster. There are some elite players there that have to hope that the depth around them holds their own. The starting lineup has a chance to produce a fair amount of runs but everyone needs to contribute.

They also need guys like Schwindel and Wisdom to be just as good this year as they were last year. If that happens, it could be a really fun year on the North Side. It is a new era of Chicago Cubs baseball so this is an incredibly important year.