Chicago Cubs: 3 wildly optimistic Opening Day predictions

3 wildly optimistic Cubs Opening Day predictions: #1: Cody Bellinger pops his first Cubs home run - an absolute moonshot

If Cody Bellinger miraculously reverts back to being the player who could change a game with one swing and was a one-man wrecking crew during his Rookie of the Year and MVP campaigns, the Cubs are going to be a problem in the NL Central.

As I've noted multiple times leading up to the season, given how good he is on the basepaths and with the glove, he doesn't even need to be that guy for the Cubs to find value here. But on the off-chance he all of the sudden becomes a 40-homer guy in the middle of the lineup again, hold onto your hats, folks.

For what it's worth, though, I think Bellinger comes through with a clutch home run on Opening Day. He's just 2-for-9 in his career against Burnes, but one of the two hits left the yard. His career slugging percentage is 80 points higher against righties as opposed to lefties and he's got a career .953 OPS against Milwaukee.

Call it wishful thinking, but between that mark against the Brewers and a .964 OPS at the Friendly Confines, I'm preparing for the first Belli-bomb of 2023 right out of the gates.