The Chicago Cubs will have the opportunity to open the Major League Baseball season on Sunday night when they play host to the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. The game will not only provide them with a chance to play on a nationally televised stage, but it will also give them an opportunity to show off the bumper crop of free agents and young prospects that they hope will lead them to bigger and better things this year.

That group is headlined by new manager Joe Maddon, who has brought the team instant respectability as he takes the helm from Rick Renteria. Maddon has been through the wringer when it comes to playoff baseball and turning teams from doormats into contenders, and he looks to replicate his success from his Tampa Bay years on the North Side.

Ace pitcher Jon Lester leads the group of new players that will be looking to make an impact on the field for the Cubs, and he will be throwing the first pitch of the big league season on Sunday night. He signed a huge $155 million contract with the team, and he instantly adds the ace at the top of the rotation that the team has been seeking out for years.

Other new acquisitions that will likely make their debuts with the Cubs on Sunday night include outfielder Dexter Fowler, who will probably bat lead-off and play center field, and catcher Miguel Montero, who will be looking to resurrect his career after a couple of down seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Those players will join a lineup that has several young stars in the making on the North Side. Shortstop Starlin Castro had a huge bounce back year in 2014 after a subpar 2013 season, and he will man the infield along with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who finished in the top-10 in MVP voting last season and has become one of the preeminent left-handed sluggers in baseball.

Young prospect Jorge Soler will also join the Cubs on the field Sunday night as he looks to build upon the great start to his career last season. In his brief stint with the club, Soler socked five home runs and drove in 20 RBI in 97 plate appearances. He will likely bat in the second or fifth spot in the Cubs’ lineup to start the year, and he adds some serious power to an offense that looks to make a leap forward this season.

Backing up those bats is a newly-bolstered pitching rotation. Lester is the man who will lead things off for the Cubs, but Jake Arrieta is no slouch on the rubber. The 28-year-old will strive to show that his splendid 2014 season wasn’t a fluke, and having an ace in the rotation could help take some of the pressure off of him as he goes for the encore performance.

Jason Hammel will help anchor the back portion of the Cubs’ rotation, as the pitcher inked a two-year deal to return to the Cubs after heading to Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija trade last summer. Hammel will be joined by youngster Kyle Hendricks, who looked great in the second half of the 2014 season for the Cubs, and left-handed hurler Travis Wood will be in the fifth spot as he looks to reclaim the form that landed him in the All-Star Game during the 2013 season.

The Cubs’ bullpen was also strengthened during the off-season, adding a couple of veterans to the group of young fireballers. Hector Rondon will continue to be the closer for the Cubs, and he will be helped by new set-up men Jason Motte and Phil Coke. Pedro Strop and Neil Ramirez will also add to the mix for the Cubs’ pen as they try to nail down more leads in more crucial games as the season wears on.

While players like Rizzo have said that the team will win the NL Central this season, and owner Tom Ricketts has said that the year will be a disappointment if the team doesn’t capture the crown, there are some truly great teams standing in their way. The Cardinals have a solid pitching rotation headlined by Adam Wainwright (who will face the Cubs on Sunday night), and their offense was bolstered in the off-season by the acquisition of Jason Heyward from the Atlanta Braves.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will also provide a formidable opponent for the Cubs in the Central. With hitters like Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, the Pirates are not a team to be trifled with, and although their lineup and rotation took some hits in the off-season, they will still be a viable threat in the division.

Ultimately, the thing that will decide the Cubs’ fate is whether or not their young stars can come up to the big leagues and contribute. Kris Bryant will be up at some point in the not too distant future, and he’ll have to make adjustments at the plate as he breaks into the league. Javier Baez should also make his way back to the majors after continuing to work on tweaks to his swing at the triple-A level, and he may be joined in the middle of the Cubs’ infield by Addison Russell, who has the defensive capability and the offensive skill to be one of the top shortstops in the league.

It all gets started for the Cubs on Sunday night when they strive to make a statement in front of a big audience and against their biggest rival.