Reds to play Cubs in Las Vegas as highlight of 2017 Spring Training schedule

Kris Bryant is from Las Vegas, and if there's one thing Major League Baseball can't get enough of right now, it's Kris Bryant.  Fortunately for Cincinnati Reds fans, it appears they'll have a firsthand chance to do just that on a spotlighted stage in March, and they'll get to do so with their own team on the field as well.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced this morning that the Reds and Cubs will play on both March 25th and March 26th at Cashman Field, home of the Las Vegas 51s, for the 2017 edition of their annual Big League Weekend.

It's the 27th consecutive year in which Vegas has hosted such a weekend, and the Cubs will be a part of it for the 13th consecutive year.  This year, however, you'll be able to convenient bet on their 1-9 odds of winning the 2017 World Series in the process should you attend, something I'm sure each and every Reds fan will be itching to do. The Reds, for their part, last participated in this event back in 2011, topping the Cubs on that March 12th day 9-8 behind big days from Zack Cozart, Devin Mesoraco, and Danny Dorn.

No word yet on if Pete Rose will be in attendance.

In other news, the entire Reds Spring Training schedule was released as well, with the club announcing that pitchers and catchers will officially report to Goodyear, AZ on February 13th, with position players due in camp by February 16th. Their 36 game Cactus League schedule will begin a bit earlier that normal due to the World Baseball Classic overlapping again in 2017, with their first game set for February 24th in Scottsdale against an odd-year San Francisco Giants club.

That, of course, will lead up to April 3rd, when the Reds will play the Philadelphia Phillies on Opening Day to jump start the regular season.  There, I mentioned Opening Day on November 17th, and I'm already happier for having done so.