No need for Cubs fans to worry about slower start

Glenn Kinley, Staff Reporter

The Cubs won 24 of their first 30 games in the 2016 season, most of them without one of their biggest sluggers, Kyle Schwarber. The Chicago Cubs team that went on to win the World Series had one of the hottest stars in MLB history, and went on to win 103 games in the regular season.

That’s why the Cubs 16-12 record so far this spring has Cubs fans all but pleased. So the Cubs season isn’t off to a miraculous, amazing, and historic start like last year. The team didn’t come out of the gates at the 100 mph speed they did last year.

And although this start is far from what it was last year, there is no need to panic if you’re a Cubs fan. And it is far too early to say that this team is suffering a championship hangover.

The Cubs return their best four starting pitchers, and all four of their all-star infielders that made up the National League infield lineup in 2016(Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, and Ben Zobrist) . Jason Heyward is also hitting the ball again. Add those factors to the rising of young stars like Javy Baez and Willson Contreras and you should see that the future is incredibly bright for the North Siders.

In fact, one of the biggest problems the Cubs have had to deal with this year is finding a way to play all their best players, since they have so many young and talented players.

Don’t believe me that the Cubs hangover isn’t real? Take it from a man who has been in this position before. 3-time World Series Champ Jon Lester doesn’t want to hear it.

“Obviously, everybody’s comparing everything to last year, and last year we started off on a historical pace,” Lester told reporters on Wednesday.

Lester also credited the team taking it slow in spring training to be another reason that the pitching rotation hasn’t quite found their groove yet. “I feel like April was kind of the back end of our spring training,” said Lester.

If nothing else the fact that Cubs fans are upset or worried about a 16-12 start shows how far the organization has come in recent years. The team is still on pace to win over 90 games  this season. It wasn’t even 5 years ago that Cubs fans would’ve been thrilled with this number after 66 and 73 win seasons in 2013 and 2014, respectively.