Chicago Cubs to Start Cody Bellinger Trade Return in Spring Training Opener

This recent acquisition for the Chicago Cubs will make the start for the team in their spring training opener on Thursday.

Sep 25, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Cody Poteet (72) follows through on a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Every Major League team must choose someone to start their spring training opener. But the Chicago Cubs are in a unique situation given the schedule.

The Cubs, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, started spring training before the other 30 teams because they will play each other in the regular-season opener in Japan in March.

The Japan Series will be played more than a week before the rest of baseball is done with spring training. So the Cubs, based on their choice to start their spring training opener, could be approaching how they arrange their pitching build-up differently.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs will start Cody Poteet in their opener on Thursday against the Dodgers.

Poteet was the pitcher the Cubs received from the New York Yankees in the Cody Bellinger trade.

It’s not clear how Poteet fits into the Cubs’ pitching picture yet. With the Yankees last year he went 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in five games, four of which were starts. He threw just 24.1 innings, struck out 16 and walked eight.

He spent a significant portion of last season on the 60-day injured list with a right triceps strain and was activated before the postseason, which saw the Yankees win the American League pennant and play the Dodgers in the World Series.

The 30-year-old right-hander saw his career derailed in 2022 after he suffered an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. With Miami in 2021-22, he went a combined 2-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 19 games (nine starts), with 53 strikeouts and 27 balls in 58.2 innings.

After the surgery, he was released by Miami. He signed with Kansas City in 2023 on a minor-league deal. He pitched one inning at Triple-A and was later released.

The San Diego, Calif., native played his college baseball at UCLA and was the Marlins’ fourth-round pick in 2015 MLB draft. When he was called up in 2021, current Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was his first strikeout victim.

Chicago is expected to start Shota Imanaga in one of their two Japan Series games against the Dodgers. Los Angeles is expected to start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first game and to pitch potential NL rookie of the year candidate Roki Sasaki in the other game. The Cubs have not announced the second starter for the two-game series.  

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