Chicago Cubs: Ebbs and flows part of a young team finding its way

After winning four of their last five games, a very young Chicago Cubs team seems to be finding its way. But the struggles will come and go all season.

At just one game above .500 with 10 days left in May, the Chicago Cubs’ season hasn’t been a fairytale thus far. Still, we’ve seen what this very young team is capable of. Behind Kris Bryant and a dominant Jake Arrieta, Chicago blew out the Brewers Sunday afternoon – the latest promising sign for the club.

Arrieta saw his fastball velocity jump back to his 2015 levels and the offense fired on all cylinders. Even guys who’ve struggled (and had extraordinarily bad luck) contributed in the win.

It won’t be all rainbows and sunshines this year for the reigning World Series champions. A 162-game regular season is a grind and every team, even veteran ball clubs, struggle during stretches.

Fans have been talking about a World Series hangover. Well, if you ask me, these same fans are suffering from postseason amnesia. The feel-good stories of October and November still remain fresh in their minds. But many forget the regular season growing pains this same team experienced last summer.

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Midsummer struggles

From July 5-9 last season, Chicago dropped a season-high five-straight games. The Cubs finished that month 12-14, their worst record in any given month during the 2016 season. Chicago had built a lead in the Central that seemed insurmountable. But after a 5-10 stretch that month, this club suddenly looked very vulnerable.

That wasn’t even the worst part. In the midst of this rough patch. Joe Maddon‘s club went 1-9 over a ten-game period. By the end of July, their division lead – which once sat as high as 12 1/2 games, dwindled down to 6 1/2 games.

But much the same as this year’s team has had its ups and downs, the 103-win Cubs of last year figured it out and righted the ship. Chicago went 22-6 in the month of August, good for a staggering .786 winning percentage. They rode that hot streak to an early division title and a good bout of rest heading into the postseason.

The rest, as we all know, is history.

Understanding the situation

It’s not hard to understand the difference between that stretch and the start to the 2017 season. When the Cubs’ early July struggles hit, the team had built up an 11-game lead in the division. That lead served as a safety net – for both the club and its fans.

Instead of jumping off the proverbial cliff, Cubs Nation only began to sweat as the lead dwindled. Sure, there were the typical midseason Cubs’ meltdown naysayers, but, by and large, there wasn’t the level of panic that currently grips the North Side.

There are two clear reasons fans have taken this first quarter of the season so poorly. First, the struggles come on the heels of a 103-win regular season, followed by a World Series championship. In other words, expectations are higher than ever before.

But more importantly, the Cubs struggled right out of the gates. There was nothing to cushion the fall in terms of the standings. Which, in the eyes of fans, made matters more urgent than last year’s struggles.

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There’s no denying Chicago’s early season struggles. But, despite it all, the team sits just two games out of first in a very winnable division. Arrieta seems to be figuring things out, the offense is building momentum and, with another good week, the Cubs may find themselves atop the National League Central once again.