Chicago Cubs: Five Cubs players who will improve in 2017

With Opening Day so close, which Chicago Cubs players can you realistically expect to make at least minor improvements this season?

It’s scary to think the reigning World Series Champions could actually get even better in 2017, but it’s entirely possible. Major League Baseball will make its return on Sunday evening with the Chicago Cubs set to face off against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

So who can we expect to improve?

It’s important to remember the Chicago Cubs are still a relatively young team. And for many young players on this team, the ceiling still has room to get even higher. There are even some veteran players who are capable of taking a step forward from where they were last season.

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This isn’t to say some of these players haven’t reached their peak. It might just be that they had somewhat of a down year last season and are looking to take a step in the right direction this time around.

Realistic expectations

All things considered, we have to be realistic about this.

Is Kris Bryant going to make major improvements at the plate this season? Probably not. And that’s not a knock on him. Quite the opposite actually. In 2016, Bryant was an 8.4 WAR player with a wRC+ of 149. Those numbers are insane. He may very well make it a repeat campaign for the NL Cy Young award, but to expect those particular numbers to get even better is just unrealistic.