Though The Muck & The Mire: 2013 Cubs Preview - Infielders & Catchers

Happy Home Opener. This is the last of a three-part preview of the 2013 Cubs. Check out Part 1 for a quick review of the 2012 season, the offseason, and rotation and Part 2 for a check on the bullpen and outfield.

Infield
Starters: Anthony Rizzo, Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Luis Valbuena
Bench: Brent Lillibridge, Alberto Gonzalez
Coming Reinforcements: Ian Stewart, Josh Vitters
Hendry Era Comp: There isn't one really - Aramis Ramirez was (and still is) far superior to any current 3B options and the Hendry teams never had young studs like Rizzo & Castro at their respective positions. 
Future Lineup (with ETA for Prospects): Rizzo, Logan Watkins (2014), Castro, Javier Baez (2015)

The highest potential Cubs on the current roster occupy the infield. Anthony Rizzo has the potential to be an annual All-Star with annual .300/30/100 lines alongside Gold Glove defense. Honestly, I think 2013 will be the first of those years and I'm not alone. Rizzo already crushes righties (.892 2012 OPS). Once he figures out how to handle southpaws (.599 2012 OPS) and draw a couple walks (just 27 in 87 games), Rizzo will be a fixture in the middle of the order for the next decade.

Cubs Season Preview Part III - The Starting Lineup

The starting lineup - responsible for two-thirds of the game. Yes, the pitching staff leads off each play, but when they don't have a defense behind them (2011 Cubs dead last in majors for fielding %) or an offense generating run support (Cubs 19th in majors in runs scored), a season can only go so far.

The reconstructed Cubs lineup will be tasked with improvements in three key areas in 2012:

• Defense - Again, the 2011 Cubs finished last in the majors in fielding percentage, leading MLB in errors and finishing last in the NL with the lowest defensive efficiency (outs as a percent of balls in play). Improvements have been made at third base (Ian Stewart vs. a declining Aramis Ramirez), right field (DeJesus career average dWAR ~1 win/season vs. Fukudome ~0.4 wins and net zero for Colvin), and backup catcher (how did Koyie Hill stay on this team for the last three years?). However, massive improvements in the middle infield (Castro) will need to be made in order for the team defense to make any noticeable improvement. 
• On-base percentage - The Cubs finished low-middle of the pack in the majors last year in overall OBP (.314 vs. league average of .322). However, they were second to last in the majors in walks (only the lowly Astros trailed). Free swingers like Colvin, Pena, and Soriano don't help with that, but this is a stat especially valued now by the new regime and the "value" lineup the Cubs have put in place will need to capitalize on every chance they get to make it on base.
• Baserunning - The Cubs were third to last in the majors in steals, something they haven't consistently seen since the failed Juan Pierre experiment of 2006 (58 steals but led league with 20 caught stealing). While the major league team is not big at this point on speed guys, the minors have some semblance of baserunning in Brett Jackson, Matt Szczur, and The Little Campana That Could. Manufacturing runs with smart baserunning will be needed and now that basecloggers A-Ram and Pena are gone, Sveum will be called on to move runners along the basepaths in many-a-game.

Here's a player-by-player breakdown of the Cubs lineup, running through the batting order as proposed by the final full-squad Spring Training game played last week: