Chicago Cubs: Six keys to the Cubs success in 2017

The expectations for the Chicago Cubs are there once again as they enter this season. The roster hasn’t changed all that much. And the goals of the individual players have had the bar raised.

Understanding what the “keys” are to a team’s success–especially the Chicago Cubs–is a fluid situation. What those keys are now might not be come May or June. The Cubs will enter the 2017 season as the defending World Series Champions. This is uncharted territory, at least for this generation of fans. Being a “clear favorite” means nothing once the season starts. So where is the focus of the Cubs?

Manager Joe Maddon–as usual–plans to do some different things this year. Who will win the No. 5 starter spot? That very well might be two pitchers. With Dexter Fowler gone, who is the new “you go, we go” at the top of the lineup? We take a look at six of the more important ones for the Cubs as the season begins. So without further ado, the questions that you as Cubs’ fans might be asking yourself–or not. But we’ll ask them for you.

Everyone!

Okay, not everyone. But there’s a strong likelihood that Maddon is going to institute a No. 5 and a 5a in the rotation. The current favorites for the jobs are Mike Montgomery and recently acquired Brett Anderson. And in the grand scheme, this isn’t novelty–this is brilliance. Especially when you look at the health of the starters, as well as Anderson’s over his career.

The Cubs’ starters have been healthy–knock on wood–but have logged a heavy amount of innings over the past few years. The Cubs brought in several former starters including Anderson and Eddie Butler as a safety net. With Jake Arrieta looking at free agency after this season, this could be a two-fold move. First, to take the stress off the starters and keep them fresh. The second as an audition for next season when the Cubs are likely to have two spots to fill in the rotation (John Lackey is in his final year of his contract).

Have a six-man rotation isn’t “new”, but most managers haven’t gone to it for a full-season. Many have used it towards the end of a season to give pitchers an extra day of rest. Although, many have stressed that they prefer the schedule of every fifth day so they can keep their routine. Could the “Mad Hatter” in Maddon be on to something here?

The bar was set pretty high in 2016

The Cubs had four pitchers win 15 or more games. Four made 30 or more starts, and John Lackey missed that mark by just one with 29. Kyle Hendricks won the NL ERA title with a 2.13, and none of the starters had an ERA over 3.83 (Jason Hammel). This type of success for a staff over a season is almost unheard of. No trips to the DL for the starters. Four pitchers on the staff had 180+ IP. This is consistency at its finest. But repeating it could be a tricky task.

Maddon is already looking to use a sixth starter this season, for many reasons. He’s a smart enough manager to know that what happened last year would be like catching lightning in a bottle again–highly improbable. So the plan is to rest the starters for an extra day and give pitchers like Montgomery and Anderson a chance to develop a solid routine for a potential postseason run.

For Montgomery, his spot starts last year may have very well helped keep the Cubs starters fresh–fresh enough to claim their first World Series in 108 years. His role with the Cubs moving forward could change, as could Anderson’s depending on how Spring Training goes. But the role this rotation will play in the hopes of the Cubs returning to the World Series will be paramount.

Contreras looks to be the anchor of the staff

It all starts with the catcher. The success of any pitching staff needs a quality backstop to help lead them. Last season, the Cubs had veteran David Ross mixed in with Miguel Montero and Contreras. It was a three-headed catching monster that worked for the Cubs, mainly due to the versatility of Contreras and his ability to play the field. Depending on how you look at it, the Cubs will once again have a third catcher on the roster in Kyle Schwarber. You can save the “he’s not a catcher” talk because for now, he is.

Contreras caught a good portion of last season once he came up, picking up three out of five starts behind the plate. But the biggest question now will be his ability to catch Jon Lester, who has had his “security blanket” in Ross retire. The familiarity Ross had with Lester was something special. Now, it will be up to Contreras to build that with Lester. The talent and the arm are there, it’ll be forming the trust with Lester that he had with Ross.

Schwarber is returning to catching duties slowly after his injury, working just two to three days a week behind the plate. What–or if–he has a role as a catcher this season is yet to be seen. At the worst, he’ll be the Cubs “emergency catcher”. Montero and Maddon appear to have squashed their issues and are looking towards the future. Miggy is likely to catch Jake Arrieta as he did last year, but outside of that, we’ll have to see.

Not your prototypical leadoff man, but is there still such a thing?

What was once a rumor has indeed become fact. Schwarber will be the Cubs primary leadoff hitter to start the season. To some baseball historians, the move doesn’t seem to make much sense. But then again, with all the changes to the rules of the game, history is becoming just that. It’s no longer about speed and stealing bases like it once was. It’s about contact and patience. After not playing for an entire season, Schwarber proved his doubters wrong in the World Series. It was if he hadn’t missed a beat.

For that reason, it’s why I can’t question the idea of Maddon, or the ability of Schwarber to do it. And besides, Schwarber, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo to potentially start a game? How many pitchers want to face them right away? None. At least none that have any sense about them.

But Maddon is a step ahead of this already. In his first year, he batted the pitcher in the eighth spot rather frequently. After going away from that in 2016 we may see a return to that this year. As we have pointed out before, you’re only guaranteed to be the leadoff hitter once a game. With the pitcher once again in the eighth spot, Schwarber could still get his opportunities to drive in runs. Once again, it’s an idea so crazy, it just might work.

Can Maddon trust the bullpen in 2017?

There’s no questioning that Maddon struggled to trust the bullpen–at least most of it–in the World Series. It’s not unusual to see a starter make a relief appearance in the World Series. But Lester’s wasn’t necessarily because he was the right choice. Maddon simply didn’t trust the other guys out there. So how will things change this year?

There’s no more Aroldis Chapman. No more Travis Wood. Maddon will have some “new” faces. Wade Davis isn’t new to Maddon(played for him in Tampa Bay), but new to the Cubs. Koji Uehara has had a solid career and joins the pen as well. Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop will see their roles shift from the eighth and ninth innings to earlier in the game. Similar to how things changed when Chapman arrived.

The health of the pen will be the most important factor for the Cubs. With the injuries to Strop and Rondon last year, Maddon seemed to lose faith in them. Montgomery was one of the arms he trusted, but he’s likely to find himself in the rotation. So when Maddon looks to–under the outfield? That will take some getting used to. Anyhow, who will he have the confidence in to go to?

The path to a repeat is NEVER easy

The Cubs don’t appear to have a lot of questions right now. The roster is similar. The key pieces are still in place. But this is baseball, and things can change quickly. We watched last season as the Cubs offense seemed to be unstoppable. Then, they simply could get anything going.

It’s 162 game season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Maddon has spoken about keeping his guys rested and fresh with this early stretch of games this spring. That’s going to be the theme throughout the year. The Cubs believe they have the team to get to the World Series once again. But the path to a “dynasty” as some have called it won’t be easy.

But then again, could things have worked out ANY more perfect for the Cubs last year?