For many fans, Sunday has been circled on their calendar for months.

That’s right, pitchers and catchers report to open spring training and baseball season is upon us.

(Don’t worry, the Super Bowl will serve as a nice dessert for those who have been starving to hear the popping of gloves).

The Cubs will be the first team to officially report, as their season starts early with a 2-game set in Japan against the World Series champion Dodgers on March 18 and 19. As the Cubs prepare to kick off a pivotal 2025 season, here are three storylines to follow as camp opens:

(As a note, we’re excluding position battles in this preview as we’ll have a dedicated story on that aspect of camp).

[MORE: Marquee Sports Network announces 2025 Chicago Cubs spring training and exhibition broadcast schedule]

Is the roster complete?

Last year, at his opening press conference when spring began, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was asked where the team stood in their offseason with the possibility of more additions.

“I mean, the closer’s definitely warming up at this point,” Hoyer said at the time.

Midway through camp, the team brought back Cody Bellinger after a months-long wait between both sides.

Hoyer has liked equating the offseason to the stages of a baseball game. At the Winter Meetings in December — before trading for Kyle Tucker — Hoyer said they were “probably in the 4th or 5th [inning].” After adding relief pitchers Ryan Pressly and Ryan Brasier in the span of eight days, it would have been safe to assume they were at the back end of the game.

But — like last year — another Scott Boras client may mean the offseason “game” isn’t over — and the closer might only be warming up this year again as camp kicks off.

Alex Bregman wasn’t on the radar for the Cubs or fans for much of the offseason. But his market has failed to really develop and the possibility that he chooses to sign a shorter-term deal with opt-outs — like what Bellinger did last season — has grown. On those terms, the Cubs would be more intrigued by the possibility of adding the All-Star third baseman.

Bregman checks plenty of boxes for the Cubs. While they plan to give top prospect Matt Shaw the runway to win the job at the hot corner in spring, Bregman would immediately raise the floor at the position and would mitigate any growing pains that Shaw could suffer in his adjustment to big-league pitching. His bat (lifetime .848 OPS with 191 home runs in 9 seasons) would lengthen an already intriguing Cubs lineup.

We should find out Sunday where the Cubs’ offseason stands, but it’s fair to assume they’ll still be on the search for additions to the roster — pitching depth is always in style and, of course, what happens with Bregman will be the biggest question.

Do the Cubs have too much pitching?

The short answer is: never.

The Dodgers won the World Series but have still added so much pitching this offseason that they DFA’d a solid bullpen arm in Brasier and they’ll probably tell you they still don’t have enough pitching. If the Dodgers feel that way, then the Cubs don’t have enough pitching either.

In the rotation, the Cubs added lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Colin Rea to a group that already includes Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad. That’s six names for five spots and doesn’t factor in young arms like Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown or Cade Horton. But, just last season, the Cubs saw Taillon suffer a back injury in spring that meant he started on the IL and Steele suffered a hamstring injury on Opening Day, both of which tested their depth.

In the bullpen, Hoyer and the Cubs want to avoid some of the issues that plagued that group in 2024. Injuries and ineffectiveness early helped torpedo the Cubs’ season and the Cubs president of baseball operations admitted at the end of the season that they didn’t address the depth well enough.

Well, making five net additions to their 40-man roster helps in doing that. (They actually added seven pitchers but designated both Rob Zastryzny and Matt Festa for assignment after initially adding them to their 40-man roster.) That doesn’t factor in pitchers on minor-league deals with non-roster invites or prospects who could factor in.

The Cubs have added depth and will likely have to option some interesting names to Triple-A when the season begins because of it. But we won’t know if it’s enough pitching until the season really kicks off in April and the attrition sets in.

What about Nico?

Some confusion arose last month at Cubs Convention regarding Nico Hoerner.

Both Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins seemed bullish on the second baseman’s ability to be ready for Opening Day after undergoing right flexor tendon surgery in October.

“When you talk to him, ask him if he’s hurt,” Hawkins said during a panel at the annual fan fest. “’Cause look, I think Nico is about as tough of a guy as we have in the organization — if not the toughest.”

Hoerner wasn’t as upbeat.

“All that to be said, just working backwards from Opening Day, you take playing as many games in the season as possible into consideration,” Hoerner said at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. “It’s obviously a huge source of motivation — both for myself and for the team — making sure that I’m in a place not only just to get back to being able to play, but actually being able to be myself. We’ll go from there. I don’t have an exact answer on that yet.”

Hoerner hadn’t begun to throw or hit when he was back in Chicago. Video of Hoerner taking reps — and throwing — at the Cubs complex in Mesa has emerged in recent days, giving credence that he’s progressed in his recovery. But his status will be a key question mark.

If he’s not ready to go and misses an extended period, what do the Cubs do at second? If they don’t add Bregman, they could move Shaw to second base — he came up in college and the minors as a middle infielder — but that would then create a hole at the hot corner again.

We should have some more clarity in the next few days — on all three of those burning questions for the Cubs.