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.

Arrieta, Bryant, Rizzo and Heyward

The optimist in me wants to list every Cubs player on the roster. But I have to be selective about this. I’m a homer, I admit it. But in this case, they really are THAT good. These four are the ones that I can see being a big part of the Cubs chances in 2017. And for one, it’s possibly his last year in Chicago.

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Jake Arrieta is in his final year of his contract and is looking to get paid big time at the end of the season. While he had a “down” year in 2017, it’s hard to replicate what he did in the second half of 2016. With a hefty payday in front of him, I believe he’ll produce at a strong level once again.

Kris Bryant? See previous slide. His trajectory is up and will stay up for a while. He’s smart enough to see what pitchers are looking at after last season, and adjust before they do. It’s been a quick rise to the NL MVP. And this season shouldn’t play out any different for Bryant.

Anthony Rizzo has been a consistent force in this Cubs lineup since well before they were the champs. Last year he finished fourth in the MVP voting, won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award. I can see the potential of Rizzo making a run at the NL batting title this season, possibly at the cost of some power–but not much.

Let’s be honest, the only way for Jason Heyward to go was up, am I right? While the results haven’t consistently been there this spring, he’s shown improvement at times. He’s doing a better job of driving the ball and not weakly rolling out to second base. A return to the type of player he was with the Cardinals in 2015 (.293/.359/.797) and continued Gold Glove play will go a long ways for the Cubs.

Javier Baez – 2B, SS, 3B

The Cubs’ Javier Baez is quickly earning a reputation that most fans in Chicago already knew. The kid is a wizard in the field. And with his recent performance, it seems that the entire world may be taking notice. I mean, on the World Baseball Classic stage, who tags a guy without looking?

Yes, Baez does. As the wandering nomad on the infield, he excelled wherever Maddon put him in the infield. It’s likely he may find himself as the primary second baseman this season, but we’re all very aware of what Maddon likes to do. Baez will still move around this year.

As Baez has cut down on his strikeouts he’s become a complete hitter. No longer looking to drive the ball out of the park with every swing, he’s learned to put the ball in play–even with two strikes.

If Baez takes the next step at the plate–which I believe he will–the Cubs will have another power bat that can also put the ball in play when necessary. He proved that throughout the NLDS and NLCS, and is just one more superstar in the making for the Cubs.

Addison Russell – SS

When you look at the season that Addison Russell had for the Cubs, does it feel like he only batted .238? Which is four points lower than his 2015 average? Not at all. Part of that was his stellar defense at shortstop. The rest was his timely hitting that seemed to overshadow his low average.

For Russell, it’s not believing he’ll get better. It’s knowing exactly what he needs to do to get there. Evaluating oneself isn’t always easy. But Russell seems to have it down as Maddon pointed out to Bruce Miles:

He’s such a gifted athlete. He’s just so quick. And he cares so much. And he’s turned out to be such a good self-evaluator.

After struggling in the division series, Russell exploded for three home runs in the NLCS and World Series–including nine RBIs against the Indians. His grand slam was one of the many big hits the Cubs had and seemed to come from the most unlikely source in Russell. But he showed his long ball potential by improving his home-run-to-flyball ratio from 9.8 to 14.2 percent.

In the field, Russell and Baez could become one of the best defensive tandems in baseball. Unseating Brandon Crawford for the Gold Glove won’t be easy. But once he does he might not let it go.

Kyle Schwarber – OF, C

Kyle Schwarber played in just two games before going down with a horrific knee injury that appeared to end his year. Against all odds, Schwarber returned to the Cubs lineup for the World Series after being cleared to hit. In five games he batted .412 with two RBIs–but his hit to start the 10th inning might have been his biggest of the year.

There is so much untapped–or unknown–potential with Schwarber. He’s played in just 71 regular season games. He played in 14 postseason games, setting the Cubs postseason record in 2015. Last year, he wasn’t even supposed to be there. It just highlights the young man’s ability to hit Major League pitching–after missing an entire season.

This year, left field will once again be his. He’s a little wiser in understanding the routes to take, and still carries that same stick he has for the past two seasons. The perception that the Cubs don’t really have a place for him because he “isn’t a good catcher or outfielder” is, well, asinine. When someone hits like Schwarber does, you find a place for him.

Kyle Hendricks – SP

I always like to feel like I was on the Kyle Hendricks “bandwagon” before, well, there was one. The comparisons were there. He reminded people of Greg Maddux. But of course, he wasn’t him. The velocity was similar and Hendricks loved to throw changeups and work the zone. You can remind people of someone, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be them. And then cue the 2016 season.

When you look at last season compared to that of 2015, not a lot stands out. The innings pitched, strikeouts, walks and home runs are all very similar. What isn’t is the 2.13 ERA that led the NL last season. Hendricks dropped it from 3.95 the year before. Was this a fluke? Did the numbers look good because he played for a better team? I mean, Jason Hammel won 15 games and he didn’t pitch as well as Hendricks.

Hendricks is the real deal

This was no fluke. Hendricks was precise in picking apart hitters and their approach. The one place he did benefit was in the defense behind him. And while that helped, it was his execution that helped him win the ERA title and garner him a third-place finish in the Cy Young.

But while many don’t see him replicating last season, I see him improving on it. He’s worked to improve his curveball, making it more than just a “get me over” pitch. With so many quality pitchers in the National League, Hendricks might not win a Cy Young or finish in the top three in voting. But that’s not an indicator that his season won’t be better. The professor is going to be holding class all summer.

There are so many other players on this team that could be ready to have a big season for the Cubs. Players like Albert Almora and Willson Contreras who will be getting their first full seasons in. Jon Lester is another that could repeat his fine 2016 season.

Next: How do the Cubs measure up against the '76 Reds?

But every season has to start somewhere, so these are my guys I’m taking to start this campaign. This team will see more than it’s share of success stories if they stay hungry and motivated like they were last year. And now they have experience. They have depth. And they have the desire to be the first repeat champs since the Big Red Machine in 1976.