Five Cubs players who will not perform the way they did in 2016
There are many reasons why a player, or a team, regress from year to year. Usually, injury plays a part in the regression of a player, but that is not the case all the time.
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016, everyone knows that by now. They ended a 108-year championship drought, and in the process put up some great statistical numbers.
As a team, the Cubs scored 808 runs (3rd best in baseball), posted a team OBP of .343 (2nd in baseball), and had a team OPS+ of 107 (3rd best in baseball).
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On the pitching side of the ball, the Cubs were equally as good. The Cubs posted a 3.15 team ERA (best in baseball), struck out 1,441 batters (3rd best in baseball), and recorded a 1.11 WHIP (lowest in baseball).
As you can see, the Cubs ranked high on many leaderboards during the 2016 season. Due to that, some of the players that helped the Cubs achieve that may not be up for the task in 2017. The reason why is not injury-related, it’s simply that the Cubs were so good that their 2016 numbers will be hard to beat.
Here are five Chicago Cubs players who will regress in the 2017 season.