Chicago Cubs: Five players poised for a big 2017 season

There’s plenty of excitement surrounding the 2017 Chicago Cubs. With a chance to be the first team in the NL to repeat as champs since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds, which Cubs’ players will help to reach that goal?

This Chicago Cubs team is full of so much potential. As I scan the roster looking for players I think will have a big 2017, there’s so many I can see having a breakout year. Or in some cases, a bigger breakout year. For others, it might simply be returning to form of the type of player they were before.

For starters, I’m not picking Kris Bryant with this group. It doesn’t mean I don’t think he’ll have a stellar year. On the contrary, I think he’ll be even better this season. But I wanted to find players that I believe are ready to take that next step. When you have seven players that make the NL All-Star team, there won’t be many surprises.

So let’s start this list off with a few honorable mentions to get this thing going. These are the guys that could have an improved year, or simply keep up the pace and level that they did in 2016.