Complete Chicago Cubs 2015 Season Preview

There is an overwhelming hope that the 2015 Chicago Cubs will be a competitive group. That hope comes from the fact the team made several savvy offseason moves and its prospects are finally ready to make an impact at the big league level.

In just over two weeks, the season will open at Wrigley Field and the Cubs will take on the rival St Louis Cardinals. You better believe the atmosphere is going to be the most electric it's been in Wrigleyville in several years.

Before the first pitch of that game, and the MLB season, here are five things to watch for.

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All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

New Ace of the Staff

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Jon Lester may have just been the most exciting and big free-agent signing the Cubs have ever made. That's not an exaggeration. He gives Chicago the lefty ace it's coveted for so long, and he brings a veteran presence to a very young clubhouse.

To say the Cubs will only go as far as Lester will take them is probably pretty accurate.

If they get the 2012 version of Jon Lester, they might not be as competitive as most fans think they will be.

Jon Lester's 2012 Stats (Baseball-Reference):

W	L	ERA	WHIP	K	IP
9	14	4.82	1.383	166	205.1

If they get the 2014 Jon Lester, they might just reach the postseason for the first time since 2008.

W	L	ERA	WHIP	K	IP
16	11	2.46	1.102	220	219.2

Even if Lester just puts up numbers somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, his leadership will help make him worth the $155 million contract he signed this offseason.

He holds himself accountable when he performs poorly and he has let young players shadow his routine this spring. Those are leadership qualities the Cubs will see from their new ace whether he throws a gem or gets knocked out of the game in the first inning.

Lineup Overhaul

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

While acquiring Jon Lester was the Cubs' highlight of the offseason, the changes in the lineup are going to be more noticeable in 2015. Looking at the 2014 Opening Day lineup compared to what it could look like this season really shows just how much of a facelift the Cubs offense has undergone.

2014 Opening Day Starters	2015 (Possible) Opening Day Starters
C Welington Castillo	C Miguel Montero
1B Anthony Rizzo	1B Anthony Rizzo
2B Darwin Barney	2B Arismendy Alcantara
3B Mike Olt	3B Tommy La Stella
SS Starlin Castro	SS Starlin Castro
LF Junior Lake	LF Chris Coghlan
CF Emilio Bonifacio	CF Dexter Fowler
RF Nate Schierholtz	RF Jorge Soler

If these projections hold true, the Cubs will have just two of the same players in the starting lineup on Opening Day. That's a major overhaul, but a lot of it has to do with prospects coming up through the system.

It's also worth noting that Rizzo and Castro, the only two players returning to the lineup, were both All-Stars in 2014.

At least on paper, these changes are upgrades, and that's a big reason why many people believe the Cubs will be competitive in 2015. Whether they live up to the hype remains to be seen, but their new-look lineup is something to watch in the early going.

Bullpen Questions

Al Behrman/Associated Press

While there aren't too many battles in the Cubs bullpen outside of the "lefty specialist" role, this bullpen has plenty of question marks. They were very solid, especially down the stretch, last year, but not many guys in the bullpen had much of a track record prior to the 2014 season.

That means this team could get very different results in 2015. However, this season could also be one in which the bullpen establishes consistency.

As of right now, this could be how the bullpen shakes out:

• Long Relief: RHP Edwin Jackson
• Middle Relief: LHP Phil Coke
• Middle Relief: RHP Justin Grimm
• Middle Relief: RHP Neil Ramirez
• Setup: RHP Jason Motte
• Setup: RHP Pedro Strop
• Closer: RHP Hector Rondon

While the returning members of this group had a good 2014 season for the most part, the group's lack of experience is clear. Therefore, it's hard to know what to expect from the bullpen.

Player	Full Seasons of Bullpen Experience
Edwin Jackson	0
Phil Coke	6
Justin Grimm	2
Neil Ramirez	1
Jason Motte	5
Pedro Strop	4
Hector Rondon	2

The most experienced members of this group, Phil Coke and Jason Motte, weren't even on the roster last season. Due to all this inexperience, despite their relative success a year ago, the Cubs bullpen may be their biggest wild card this season.

Kris Bryant Mania

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Just when it seemed like the buzz surrounding top prospect Kris Bryant couldn't get any higher going into spring training, he made the hype even stronger. He leads all of major league baseball with six home runs (including two multi-homer games), and he's hitting .435 in 23 at-bats.

There is no question that Bryant is major league-ready. However, that doesn't mean he will be on the Opening Day roster. In fact, it wouldn't make much sense to put the talented third baseman on the major league roster from day one.

If he accumulates 172 days of service time in 2015, he will reach free agency a year sooner (in 2020 as opposed to 2021), and as a client of agent Scott Boras, he is likely to hit free agency without reaching an extension. By rule, Boras tends to require his clients to test the open market rather than sign extensions.

By holding Bryant out of the first nine games of the season (putting him at 171 days of service time in 2015) until April 17, they will gain an extra year of team control over him while he figures to be in his prime. However, a likelier date for his arrival could be April 20, when the Cubs are playing the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

Cubs brass has liked to debut rookies on the road to cut down on the pressure. They debuted both Javier Baez and Jorge Soler on the road last season.

Just because Bryant's unlikely to break big league camp with the team doesn't mean fans shouldn't be excited for his arrival, though. They just have to wait a couple weeks and he will be up. If they're lucky, they'll get over a decade of production for their troubles.

Cubs Entering a New Era

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

There are a number of things making the beginning of this Cubs season seem symbolic of an overall changing of eras for the franchise.

First of all, the team signed several difference-makers this offseason that changed the makeup of a team that still seemed a year away.

Key players like that include:

• LHP Jon Lester
• CF Dexter Fowler
• C David Ross
• RHP Jason Motte
• C Miguel Montero

These players are going to instantly make the team more competitive from a leadership and on-field standpoint. Just having them on the roster has considerably raised expectations for the team this season.

Secondly, several top prospects will be entering their first full year or could see major league time at some point in 2015.

Players who fall into that category include:

• 2B Javier Baez
• 3B Kris Bryant
• OF Jorge Soler
• SS Addison Russell

Finally, all of the changes at Wrigley Field mark a symbolic change in baseball eras in Chicago. Renovations in and around Wrigley are going to make a very different team's home ballpark look very different itself.

In the opener alone, the Cubs will be hosting an Opening Night game for the first time ever, they will be sending their ace Jon Lester to the mound, the new video board will be up at Wrigley Field and they will be doing so in front of fans expecting big things.

That's a lot of change. And that's not a bad thing.