MESA, Ariz. — In case there were any doubts about the Cubs outfield configuration, manager Craig Counsell cleared the air Sunday afternoon.

“Kyle Tucker is going to play right field. Ian [Happ is] going to play left field. Pete [Crow-Armstrong is] going to play a lot of center field,” Counsell said at his opening press conference at the Nike Performance Center. “And that’s going to lead Seiya [Suzuki] to the DH most days.”

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Suzuki felt like the odd man out even before the team acquired Tucker in a blockbuster trade in December. At the end of the 2024 season, the Cubs’ best lineup featured Crow-Armstrong in center, Cody Bellinger in right, Happ in left and Michael Busch at first base, which meant Suzuki was the full-time DH.

Over his final 37 starts, Suzuki made 36 of them at the DH spot and hit .326 with a .933 OPS, 5 home runs and 18 RBI in that span.

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“Seiya did a fabulous job of that last year,” Counsell said. “I mean, he essentially did that the last two months of the season.”

But it isn’t the role he envisioned for himself. At the Winter Meetings in December in Dallas, Suzuki’s agent Joel Wolfe expressed Suzuki’s displeasure with being a full-time DH, something Counsell is aware of, too.

“I understand he wants to be in the field, and I get it,” Counsell said. “He wants to be in the field. The DH is not the position he wants to necessarily play.”

But it’s also not the time to be stressing it — not when there’s not a regular season game for over a month. On the contrary, the Cubs are looking at it as a good problem to have.

“I think it’s a place if things happen, when things happen, we’re very covered there,” Counsell said. “And that’s a good thing. Again, on Feb. 9, that’s the plan, right? But obviously things can change.”