Chicago Cubs: Considering how this year has gone, the Cubs are doing fine

It’s funny how a World Series title changes fans from amongst the most loyal in baseball to some of the most intolerable. From Opening Night on, too many have second-guessed Joe Maddon and all of his daily decisions.

After the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last year, everyone was running high on a euphoria. And that didn’t stop as the 2017 season got underway. The Cubs essentially kept last year’s team together, so the hopes of a repeat were high. But the Cubs came out with a thud, and everyone from Chicago and beyond started second guessing Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon. Because, you know, he doesn’t know ANYTHING about managing baseball. Smh.

The Cubs have been one of the hottest teams in the National League – minus the unstoppable Los Angeles Dodgers. When the Cubs were down five games before the All-Star Break to the Milwaukee Brewers, fans were saying they were done. Now they’re in first place, they lose a game to the Phillies – and they’re done. Kyle Schwarber, Jose Quintana, Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Joe Maddon should all be demoted, fired, etc. -according to some of the fans.

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First off, it’s a long ride. As far as the Cubs only being in first by a few games? Irrelevant. They’re in first place. Repeating as World Champs is hard. The Cubs are one of the first teams to hold a lead in the division this late in the year after winning the series the year before.

Last year was a perfect storm for the Cubs, much like this year has been for the Dodgers. Everyone had career years, or inexperienced rookies came up and had an immediate impact. It was a perfect story with a perfect ending. But this season, no one likes the twists and turns. And that’s not right.

When the Cubs had a bad season, and it was apparent the playoffs weren’t going to happen–people were “Cubs fans till the end”.

Now, when they lose to a team they should beat? Fire them all. They’re all terrible. It’s a narrative that needs to change. This team is in first place. They overcame a terrible start to rise to the top of the NL Central. No, the rest of the division isn’t that good. Nobody really seemed to talk much about that last year.

The Cubs need to hold on to the lead for another month. Two out of three–even if you as a fan think they should beat every team with a worse record–will be fine. If the Cubs play .650 ball or better the rest of the season, they’ll win the division. Once they’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. Injuries are starting to take their toll on all teams, not just the Cubs. The Cubs are showing they can withstand losing Jon Lester, Addison Russell and Willson Contreras for an extended period.

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I know you might not like losing to the Reds or the Phillies. I don’t either. But I try to look at this team in a larger sample than one game. In baseball, that will simply drive you insane. Be upset. Complain a little, but end it after the day. The same way the Cubs don’t let a win–or a loss–affect them. If you’ve been a Cubs fan for longer than a year, this is something you should be able to do.