3 awful spring training performances Cubs fans are overreacting to before Opening Day

The Chicago Cubs open play in Japan late Friday night in an exhibition matchup against the Hanshin Tigers as they prepare for next week's Tokyo Series. After that two-game tilt against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team will fly back to Arizona to close out spring training before opening up the remaining 160-game stretch of schedule against Corbin Burnes and the Diamondbacks on March 27.

To this point, Craig Counsell's club has fared well in Cactus League action, riding some big offensive performances to an 11-5 record, the second-best mark in amongst Arizona-based teams this spring. That being said, there have been a lot of big names struggling in the early going, prompting way too many Cubs fans to hit the panic button before the season has even started.

The Kyle Tucker trade isn't a bust because he had a bad spring

On Sunday, Kyle Tucker finally snapped a spring-long hitless streak this week, going yard against the San Francisco Giants and allowing the fanbase to breathe a collective sigh of relief in the process.

Even so, Tucker is the not-so-proud owner of a .043/.233/.174 in 23 at-bats this spring. That, paired with Cam Smith's domination in the Grapefruit League as a new member of the Houston Astros, isn't sitting well with folks - and is causing what is, at the end of the day, a lot of very unnecessary concern.

We're talking about a guy who put up 4.7 bWAR in less than half a season a year ago, a former three-time All-Star and World Series champion. There's a reason he came at such a premium price: he's one of the 10 or so best offensive weapons in all of Major League Baseball. For the first time since being drafted a decade ago by the Astros, Tucker is adjusting to a new organization and playing his spring games in a different complex (and state, for that matter).

Has he struggled? Sure. Is there any reason whatsoever to believe he's poised to, all of the sudden, turn in the worst year of his professional career? Absolutely not. He'll be fine and Cubs fans will soon be back to daydreaming about what it will take to keep him here the rest of his career.