Jose

Macias

Macias was penalized for his participation in the brawl between the Expos and Florida Marlins on March 10.

MLB asked manager Frank Robinson for an advance lineup to prepare for the historic event. Macias will be making his second straight start; he played center field on Thursday.

Macias is recovering from athroscopic surgery 10 days ago. He is scheduled to be back by the third week of April, but could push up the timetable.

Well, we were trying to be optimistic. If Neifi Perez can’t be in the lineup, Dusty Baker apparently has to play his clone. Macias is hitting .296 this season, but that still leaves him with just a 668 OPS. He’s not a very good 25th man and he’s certainly not someone a contender can have starting in center field for any length of time. Also, if he does absolutely, positively have to play, he should be hitting behind Michael Barrett.

Macias will be eligible to play on Sunday.

Macias will be available to play tomorrow.

With Macias avoiding arbitration, the Cubs won’t have any non-tenders. Macias, who turns 33 next month, hit .268/.292/.376 in 194 AB last season. As long as he isn’t getting a significant raise from the $750,000 he made last season, he’s OK to keep around as a 25th man.

It’s a $75,000 raise. One of these years, players like Macias aren’t going to earn more than twice the league minimum. We’re not there yet, though.

Only Dusty Baker would want Macias getting more at-bats than anyone else in the lineup. Macias may be hitting a respectable .271, but he has a .284 OBP and a .323 slugging percentage to go along with the average.