There were some rumblings that Addison Russell wouldn't be healthy enough to start on Opening Day for the Chicago Cubs, but that talk quickly disappeared. As a matter of fact, after missing a week with a back issue, Joe Maddon put Russell back in the lineup for Thursday night's game against the Houston Astros and objectively speaking he was amazing.
I know there's been a lot of discussion on who the next big breakout player will be for the Cubs and the popular choice right now seems to be Willson Contreras. I mean, it's not like you could go wrong picking anyone, but Russell is still only 23-years-old and has a lot of room to get better offensively. Since last year, his teammates have been calling him a future MVP and it's easy to see why. Russell is already an elite shortstop and his power numbers are going to keep increasing. He hit 21 home runs in 2016, and on Thursday night Russell hit his sixth of the spring.
Russell is also driving the ball to right and right-center, which is a great sign.
So, any panic you might have had about Russell's back can now be squashed because he looked pretty damn good coming back.
Sunday can't get here soon enough.
