SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Around midday Sunday, most of the Cubs regulars, as well as manager Joe Maddon, were on a flight to Florida for the team’s exhibition games against the Boston Red Sox, thus skipping Sunday’s game at Surprise against the Royals.
I decided to skip this one, too, figuring ahead of time that few regulars would be playing, and that turned out to be correct, with only Ben Zobrist, Willson Contreras and Kyle Hendricks among expected 25-man roster players appearing in the Cubs’ 5-3 win over the Royals.