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

3 way-too-early Cubs overreactions: This is an elite starting rotation

Look, the first four starts of the year by Cubs pitchers went about as well as humanly possible. Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele, Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly combined to allow just two earned runs – and Chicago won three of those contests.

But, odds are, that’s not going to continue over the long haul.

Hendricks has been inconsistent for the last year or so – and we got another glimpse of that again on Wednesday in his outing against the Pirates. I think Stroman is gonna be the real deal and he’s going thrive in Chicago, especially in his home starts. Steele was solid against Milwaukee but you need a larger body of work to issue judgment on what he’ll be this year.

As for Smyly, he’s a prime candidate to eat innings at the back end and potentially wind up getting traded at the deadline to a contender looking for rotation depth. Keep in mind the schedule allowed David Ross to skip a starter – in this case, the injured Alec Mills, the first time through. But the Cubs face a daunting stretch here in coming weeks and this rotation is going to be tested in big ways.

We’re looking at matchups against the Rockies – in Denver, hardly a fun place to pitch – Rays, Braves, Brewers, White Sox, Dodgers and Padres over the next three or so weeks. By the second week of May, we’ll have a much better idea what this rotation has to offer – and the same can be said for the other guys mentioned on this list.

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Right now, though, it’s just too soon to tell. I love the enthusiasm from Cubs fans, but it’s a marathon – not a sprint – and we need to keep that in mind here early in the year.