Chicago Cubs: Early season fears are already too much to deal with

Before the Chicago Cubs even stepped foot onto the field in St. Louis, there were concerns about what this team would be. Now we’re a whole three games in, and we could be reaching critical mass.

After being a Chicago Cubs fan for so long, I’m never surprised by much. The highest highs and the lowest of lows–and all of it within three games. Cubs’ fans can take anything and make it something, especially when it’s nothing. But for the fun of it, let’s look at some of the things the fans are concerned about.

Former Rookie of the Year and current NL MVP Kris Bryant is 0-for-13 and has struck out six times. Is he striking out too much? Did he try to make too many adjustments over the offseason? Could this be the collapse of Bryant? Good gracious, come on people. The sky isn’t falling.

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Yes, this has been a rough start for Bryant, but it’s not unexpected. And it’s shouldn’t be what fans expect moving forward. In the season opener, Bryant was carved up by a very good pitcher in Carlos Martinez. And, to be honest, Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn aren’t too shabby. It’s simply a rough start for Bryant who will indeed get things going soon–and Milwaukee is as good a place as any to start.

And what about Jake Arrieta‘s fastball? Is the Cubs’ adonis losing strength? Clearly not signing him will be the smart move if that’s the case. Again, it’s ONE start, and he was fantastic minus these numbers that are indeed questionable. But maybe not for a legitimate reason.

To save some time, here’s the explanation of how they are taking velocity readings this year. PITCHF/x is out, Statcast is in. And while most pitchers seem to be trending upward, Arrieta was down 2.6 MPH. He was at the bottom of the list. So something is clearly going on with him, right? Not necessarily. Arrieta had a “down year” last season and went 18-8. His velocity is down and yet he throws six innings of shutout baseball. I think we may be blowing things out of proportion.

How about the Cubs’ bullpen? After the opener, the questions came in bunches. What if the set-up guys can’t hold the lead for Davis? What if Davis is a bust? Look, I have questions about this bullpen. Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop have been the anchors on the backend for a few years. But things have changed. And the Cubs new closer Wade Davis was coming off of some arm issues last season. Trouble brewing?

Since that first game, the Cubs bullpen has been brilliant. Wade Davis has come in and closed out two in a row, and they Cubs have used solid defense to help the pitchers get the job done. Carl Edwards got out of a big jam on Thursday and Koji Uehara has impressed in the first few days of the season. Things will go wrong just as well as they’ll go right, but this bullpen should be a positive all season.

Next: Top prospects for the Cubs

It’s just hard to travel around the internet and not get upset about some of the things you’re bound to read about the Cubs. Now, it’s not all Cubs’ fans that say these things or feel this way. But they make up a solid majority of them. Whatever thoughts you may have–good OR bad–save them until at least the end of May when the sample is at least verifiable. Three games? Ugh, patience folks.