Cubs

Counsell opens his first season as Cubs manager Thursday against the Rangers.
Opening Day is here. Let the playoff expectations begin.
The network will air the Cubs-Rangers season opener exclusively, with the “Sunday Night Baseball” crew of Karl Ravech, analysts David Cone and Eduardo Perez and reporter Buster Olney on the call.
The Cubs look like a better team than last year, but they’ll have to prove it.
Notes: Manager Craig Counsell provides injury updates on left fielder Ian Happ and right-hander Jameson Taillon.
The Cubs gave Luke Little, Jose Cuas, Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal some good news.
To say they were a long shot to win the division would be putting it mildly. On March 26, however, the Cubs made the first of three trades that would help turn their luck.
The Cubs were playing the Cardinals at Wrigley Field that weekend in a series that would mark a turning point in their playoff-drought-breaking season.
‘‘You did what we weren’t able to do,’’ Sutcliffe remembers Ron Santo saying to him soon after clinching the NL East. ‘‘These Cub fans deserve to be in the playoffs.’’
David van Dyck was one of the most respected sportswriters in Chicago. He had a gift of getting to know behind-the-scenes people who tipped him to scoops and gave his reporting depth. He later worked for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Cubs and Dodgers were privately informed they will meet in Tokyo. The report added the Cubs will return to Arizona and open the domestic season on the West Coast before returning to Chicago.
Adbert Alzolay, Mark Leiter Jr. and Julian Merryweather return with the determination to remain healthy and effective through an entire season and help the Cubs attain the National League playoff berth that seemed a lock last season until their late swoon.
MLB
The league has launched its own gambling probe into the superstar and his former interpreter.
Justin Steele is confident that his bruised left knee won’t prevent him from starting Opening Day. Ian Happ, however, might not be ready to go because his recovery from a left hamstring injury has plateaued.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell had all the intangibles to be a skipper that can’t be taught, former Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said.
“The Voice of Wrigley Field” is hosting and producing a YouTube series.
Over the last year, he has come into his own on the mound and as a leader.
Notes: Manager Craig Counsell provided injury updates on Jameson Taillon and Patrick Wisdom.