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March sure is mad, eh?
With Seiya Suzuki’s PCL sprain putting Opening Day in question, the Cubs may have an additional bench job available on day one. And, as we’ve discussed, it’s conceivable the Cubs would use that spot on another righty bat that doesn’t even factor into the outfield mix (because they could still carry two of Michael Conforto, Dylan Carlson, Chas McCormick, and Kevin Alcantara if they wanted). Who is in camp that would fit that bill? It’s first base prospect Jonathon Long, who is fully back from his early-Cactus-League elbow sprain, and hopes he has a real chance of making the team:“It’s really motivating, but at the same time, I can’t make the decisions as much as I would like to,” Long told the Chicago Tribune. “So I always try to just stay within myself, in a sense, and control what I can do because I’m not in charge of making the roster, so I can only put my head down and try and do my best to put myself in the best situation to eventually, hopefully make the team.”
Long, 24, was the Cubs’ minor league player of the year after a monster 2025 season, and he hits the crap out of the ball. But there’s probably a bit more polish there to be had on elevating a bit more, and the positional limitations (first base and MAYBE a little left field) make it a little challenging for him to get any kind of regular big league starts absent a significant injury or two. Because he’s Rule 5 Draft eligible after this season, the Cubs are going to have to put Long on the 40-man roster before November in any case, so that isn’t really a huge impediment to him coming up at some point this year, and it’s not out of the question that the Cubs could see Long as a better option at DH against lefties on day one than Moises Ballesteros. The other consideration there, though, is that you still might prefer to use those days where you’re facing a lefty as a partial day off for other guys who can DH while Matt Shaw plays their position. Thanks to the Chicago White Sox, essentially, the Chicago Cubs will have four games available this year locally on WCIU (and Chicago Sports Network, but if you have access to that, then you probably also have Marquee):Chicago Sports Network and Weigel Broadcasting Co.’s WCIU, The U, announced today a partnership to simulcast ten Chicago White Sox games during the 2026 season, including four Crosstown Series matchups against the Chicago Cubs. pic.twitter.com/MPUlbOfe5C
— Chicago Sports Network PR (@CHSN_Media) March 19, 2026 Now, those broadcasts will be White Sox broadcasts, which might take you into the wayback machine of the days when there would sometimes be only the White Sox broadcast available of a Cubs-White Sox matchup if you were watching on WGN. But a free, over-the-air Cubs game is nothing to scoff at, and this deal means four Cubs games now fit into that category. The Cubs, themselves, have experimented only mildly with a return to airing some games locally over-the-air, but it’s happening in a whole lot of other markets (including a recent announcement in Milwaukee). It’s like a reinvention of the weird way things used to be with the Cubs, having most of their games on CSN/NBC Sports Chicago, and then a handful on WGN-9 and ABC-7. Turns out, that might wind up the best approach for some clubs/markets, balancing guarantees (from cable providers) against wider distribution (from free channels). I try not to get TOO deep in the weeds on this stuff in advance of the CBA fight after this season, because I think the broadcast landscape for MLB games could change so dramatically. But any version that ultimately makes SOME games available to SOME fans for free (whether over-the-air, or on FAST digital channels) is going to be a very good thing for the sport. It has been exceptionally hot in Arizona this week, which is presenting an additional challenge for the Cubs (and other clubs) trying to get in their work, stay safe and healthy during games, and then obviously for fans, too. Pretty, pretty, pretty good:THE PROFESSOR IS IN ✅Kyle Hendricks received 94% of over 36,100 votes and is now officially inducted into the Hall of Pretty Good. ?? pic.twitter.com/LsPzcoMuY2
— MLB Hall of Pretty Good (@hallofgoodpod) March 19, 2026 There needs to be a level between the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Pretty Good. The Cubs of the last 15 years have had a TON of those guys, many of whom will make the Cubs Hall of Fame, but very few (any?) will make the Baseball Hall of Fame. Is Jon Lester the guy with the best shot? Kyle Schwarber if he goes on a David Ortiz-like later-career run? Speaking of the Cubs of that era:Willson Contreras on the WBC: "I think it’s the best experience of my life. I played in the World Series in ‘16 and it was big but playing the WBC for your country, for 37 million people, means a lot more to me."
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) March 19, 2026 I expect there will be some Cubs fans who take an issue with Willson Contreras’s comments, but I think it’s fair. First of all, Contreras isn’t saying the WBC is full-stop a bigger deal than the Cubs winning the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Maybe he would say that, too, but it isn’t what he said here. If he DID say that, then, well, yes, I’d argue with him about it. Second of all, Contreras is simply speaking to his own personal experience, where he was playing (with his brother) to represent his home country in a tournament that a HUGE portion of his home country deeply cares about. Sure, the WBC is important to a whole lot of American baseball fans, but it’s just not the same sense of total national connection and pride that we’ve seen for the Latin American countries over the years. Of course the WBC means more to Contreras (especially a decade after the World Series win, which came when he was so young and with another team). Speaking again of the Cubs of that era, Anthony Rizzo will be on hand to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field next week. Brandon Woodruff’s status for Opening Day is still TBD by the Brewers, even with less than a week to go (he fell to 88-ish MPH in the 4th inning of his start yesterday when he passed the 50-pitch mark, which he attributed to the build-up process, and said he feels healthy). That Brewers rotation as a whole has such a wide range of possible success this year, depending on how Woodruff returns, on how Jacob Misiorowski performs over a full big league season, on whether Kyle Harrison or Brandon Sproat break out, on whether Chad Patrick repeats, and so on and so forth. Lots of upside there as always, lots of downside risk (he types, hopefully). MORE CUBS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN NewsletterThe newest episode of the BN Cubs Podcast is up and available anywhere you get the pod. Thanks to @ankinlaw for sponsoring. Listen/watch NOW. t.co/HgNJ5LctHE
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 19, 2026Bears Insider Mock Draft Has Bears Thinking Safety in Round 1 t.co/kJPTKB1wL0 pic.twitter.com/Uw6Kl2tAGN
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) March 19, 2026Blackhawks 2, Wild 1 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways t.co/v8YFBhM0HO
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— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) March 20, 2026Hence then, the article about long and the bench broadcast options hall of pretty good woodruff and the brewers and other cubs bullets was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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