Chicago Cubs: This season is not uncommon among past winners

After breaking the 108-year curse last season, the Cubs were expected to come back, and perhaps be even better in 2017. Well, the Cubs have fallen victim to a recent trend among past World Series winners, and this season has taken the fans on a roller coaster ride so far.

The Chicago Cubs returned nearly everybody from a 103 win team, added Wade Davis and Jon Jay, so there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t be just as good, if not even better, than last year. That….has not been what’s happened. What the Cubs are doing this season, er, not doing, this season, is not uncommon among past World Series Champions.

Since the start of 2010, only one of the last seven champions has made the playoffs the next year:

• 2010 Giants: Won WS, 2011: 86-76, missed the postseason.
• 2011 Cardinals: Won WS, 2012, lost in NLCS.
• 2012 Giants: Won WS, 2013, 76-86, missed playoffs.
• 2013 Red Sox: Won WS, 2014, 71-91, missed playoffs.
• 2014 Giants: Won WS, 2015, 84-78, missed the playoffs.
• 2015 Royals: Won WS, 2016, 81-81, missed the postseason.
• 2016 Cubs: Won WS, 2017, ?????

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Having a down year the year after winning a World Series is not exactly uncommon, according to recent trends. If 100 fans were surveyed before the season started on whether the Cubs would make the playoffs, the fans would give a lot of blank stares, and probably laugh at the survey.

Not what was expected

But, alas, here we are. A little regression can be expected, sure, maybe from 103 wins to 93-94 wins, but, there is not one person around baseball who expected this to happen. Baseball can be such a cruel game sometimes, can’t it?

There is plenty of time for the Cubs to turn it around, and all it takes is one big run, especially in a bad division, like the Central has been so far this season.

A major part of the struggles has been due to players not living up to billing, such as Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, Jake Arrieta, and so on. But, hey, that’s baseball, and that happens. Guys have good and bad years. It’s very rare, though, in this case, that all guys on one team are underachieving, that sure is something.

Next: Schwarber recalled from AAA Iowa

Arrieta has shown flashes of coming out of this little funk, ESPECIALLY his last start against the Reds, where he gave up one hit over seven innings. Russell has been up and down but has had a few hot stretches. One thing is for sure…when the Cubs do get hot, look out baseball, the sleeping giant will awake.