Early March isn’t traditionally the time when teams must make pivotal roster decisions.

Nothing about the start of 2025 is conventional, though.

The Cubs are just two days away from boarding a charter flight that leaves Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and they’ll have to trim their roster from the current number of 42 to 31 — 26 for the two-game set against the Dodgers, plus a five-man travel squad as they also have two exhibition games before the regular season slate.

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So, what’s that 31-man group going to look like? Let’s take a stab with our roster projection:

PITCHERS

STARTERS

Shota Imanaga
Justin Steele

This duo is straightforward. Manager Craig Counsell announced early in camp that Imanaga would pitch in Japan, then made it official by saying he would be the team’s Opening Day starter. Steele — who opened the season against the Rangers and was injured on Opening Day last year — will get the ball in the second game of the season.

Steele was scratched from a start last week with flu-like symptoms, but he’s set to toe the rubber against the Brewers on Tuesday in the last game before they fly out. Imanaga, meanwhile, will start on Monday against the Guardians

[MORE: How ‘Kung Fu Panda’ helped Cubs pitcher Daniel Palencia regain his mojo]

BULLPEN

(Note: names are listed in alphabetical order)

RHP Ryan Brasier
RHP Porter Hodge
RHP Brad Keller
RHP Julian Merryweather
RHP Tyson Miller
RHP Eli Morgan
RHP Nate Pearson
RHP Ryan Pressly
RHP Colin Rea
RHP Keegan Thompson
LHP Caleb Thielbar

The best way to look at the Tokyo Series roster is to look at almost like a playoff roster from the days of the one-game Wild Card rounds. A team doesn’t need to carry 5 starters for that round, so they’ll want to maximize their bullpen, especially given the length they’ll need to cover with starters not being stretched out.

Imanaga and Steele won’t pitch complete game shutouts (although, as noted on the most recent episode of the Cubs Weekly Podcast, that was the belief in 2020 when Kyle Hendricks actually did so). Likewise, relievers aren’t likely to pitch back-to-backs this early in the season, so having an option like Rea in the mix can help cover innings.

Keller has impressed in spring and, as reported by Patrick Mooney of the Athletic, has an opt-out in his minor-league deal and the Cubs could lose him, so they’ll likely add him and provide innings, too. The one hurdle the Cubs will face in adding Keller to this roster will come in the form of their 40-man roster. They have a full roster there and would have to trade or designate someone for assignment to make space for Keller.

The rest of the bullpen is pretty straightforward — Pearson, Miller and Hodge were Counsell’s most trusted relievers near the end of the year in 2024 and Pressly and Brasier were added to help in leverage situations. Thielbar is the lone lefty in the bullpen and had a 3.21 ERA across 179 outings from 2020 to 2023 with the Twins. He had a 5.32 ERA last season in 59 games with Minnesota.

Merryweather, Morgan and Thompson are all intriguing options in relief. Merryweather and Thompson are both without minor league options.

POSITION PLAYERS

LINEUP

1. LF – Ian Happ
2. RF – Kyle Tucker
3. DH – Seiya Suzuki
4. 1B – Michael Busch
5. SS – Dansby Swanson
6. 3B – Matt Shaw
7. CF – Pete Crow-Armstrong
8. C – Miguel Amaya
9. 2B – Jon Berti

[MORE: Cubs 1B Michael Busch ‘locked in’, leads MLB in spring training]

Shaw’s status for Japan is very much up in the air.

“No decision has been made there,” Counsell said on Friday. “Again, we’re getting close and that means a decision has to be made soon, but we haven’t made a decision there.

“So, I think all things with Matt are still on the table.”

Ready or not for Japan, Shaw clearly is the Cubs’ long-term answer at the hot corner this season. So, we’re including him in this projection. Like Keller, the biggest question with Shaw’s addition will come in the form of a 40-man spot.

The rest of the lineup features no real surprises. Nico Hoerner has already been ruled out for the trip — he has yet to appear in a Cactus League game — so Berti, signed on a one-year deal this offseason, will start at second base.

BENCH

UTIL – Vidal Bruján
C – Carson Kelly
INF – Justin Turner
INF – Gage Workman  

Workman, a Rule 5 draft pick this winter has turned heads this spring, slashing .385/.433/.769 (1.202 OPS) with 3 home runs and 11 RBI. He has never played above Double-A, but last season at that level, he slashed .280/.366/.476 with 18 home runs. The 25-year-old crushed right-handed pitching to the tune of a .290 average and .889 OPS, and all his home runs came against that sided pitching.

He can play third base, shortstop and in the corner outfield spots, too.

Kelly will likely split catching time this season with Amaya and Turner was signed as a veteran right-handed compliment to Busch at first. Counsell will find the right pockets to deploy Turner.

Bruján, a former top-100 prospect without minor league options, has had a strong spring, hitting .304 with a .958 OPS and going 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Speed was a part of his billing when he was ascending the Rays minor-league ladder, but one that hasn’t developed at the majors. He makes this roster with his performances in Cactus League play.

[MORE: Could Vidal Bruján be a difference-maker for Cubs?]

TRAVEL SQUAD

LHP – Matthew Boyd
LHP – Brandon Hughes
INF – Nicky Lopez
C – Reese McGuire
RHP – Jameson Taillon

As alluded to earlier, think of this roster like a Wild Card playoff roster. You don’t need 4 starters for two games, but the Cubs do play two exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers and Taillon and Boyd are still ramping up for their regular seasons. Expect the two to each start one of those games and then be placed on the temporary inactive list (they wouldn’t be optioned or placed through waivers for this special series) against Los Angeles.

The Cubs won’t want to burn their pitching staff entirely in those 36 innings, so Hughes provides some cover there, too. Hughes would also offer Counsell another southpaw, an area he isn’t necessarily flushed with options.

McGuire will be there as catching depth and in case of emergency if anything were to happen to Amaya or Kelly in the grueling position.

Lopez has hit .474 this spring and has some defensive versatility. It’s not out of the question to think he could contribute at some point this season, so he makes the 5-man travel squad in this prediction.

[READ: Nicky Lopez on what the Tokyo Dome experience will be like for the Cubs]

Lopez, McGuire and Hughes are not on the 40-man roster, so adding them will require some sort of move to clear up a spot there.