Cubs: 3 way-too-early overreactions to the team’s first 5 games

It’s that time of year again. We’re not even a full week into the regular season and fans are already calling for the jobs (and sometimes, heads) of underperforming Chicago Cubs players. I guess we’re just a passionate bunch? Something like that.

I can’t help but roll my eyes whenever I hear people clamoring for a roster overhaul, DFAs and trades five games into a 162-game season. Throw in the dramatically shortened spring training and a highly irregular offseason, as a whole, and it makes me take these people even less seriously.

Let’s dive right in: here are my three favorite overreactions (and, no, they’re not all negative) I’ve seen making the rounds here after five games.

3 way-too-early Cubs overreactions: Frank Schwindel, Patrick Wisdom are trash

Apparently, despite what Frank Schwindel and Patrick Wisdom accomplished last year, they are, in fact, absolutely terrible ballplayers. At least, that’s the word on Cubs Twitter.

Wisdom went 0-for-4 on Wednesday, striking out two more times and raising his strikeout rate on the young season to a staggeringly poor 47 percent. He hasn’t looked even remotely comfortable at the dish throughout the first two series and after a drastic downturn late in the year last year, he’ll need to get it going sooner rather than later.

As for Schwindel, it seems like he’s been late on everything – especially stuff up in the zone. He’s seeing more than 4.5 pitches per plate appearance, which is great, but he hasn’t punished the ball in the same way he did last year. I have more faith that Schwindel has a future as a big league regular than I do Wisdom just because of the swing-and-miss in Wisdom’s game – but it’s too early to judge either player.

3 way-too-early Cubs overreactions: Nick Madrigal can’t cut it as a big leaguer

Seriously, I don’t understand the thinking of a large swathe of Cubs fans. Nick Madrigal is off to a slow start at the plate, sure, but why would you throw the towel in already on a guy who’s never hit below .300 – dating all the way back to his high school days.

That’s right. Not in high school. Not in college. Not in the minors. Not in his admittedly brief body of work in the big leagues. This is a guy who was a first-round pick for a reason. Not one, but two front offices (at the very least) seem to think so given the White Sox drafted him and the Cubs traded a future Hall of Fame closer for him last summer.

Going 1 for your first 15 in your first week with a new team is hardly the first impression one hopes to make. But here we are. Madrigal just hasn’t found his footing at the plate and it’s really shown. But if you dig into the metrics just a bit, you see that he’s suffered through a bit of tough luck, as well.

He’s hitting the ball harder and finding the sweet spot more than he ever did with the Sox – the results just aren’t there yet. I’m not writing off someone with this track record over a cold 15 plate appearances to start the year and neither should you.