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Cubs could take a page from soccer playbook
- Updated: May 3, 2016
The sporting world was mesmerized by Leicester City’s clinching of the prestigious Barclays Premier League title Monday. And because a certain National League squad hasn’t won the World Series since 1908, it’s easy to draw a baseball parallel to Leicester ending its 132-year wait for glory.
Yes, it is true that if the Chicago Cubs do what they set out to do this season, it will be a story that transcends the States and garners international attention from even non-baseball fans. Leicester (and do I even need to point out that it’s pronounced “Lester,” a la a certain Cubs lefty?) made worldwide waves from central England, and the Cubs can do the same from the NL Central.
But there is a discernible difference in these two stories that can’t be ignored: Leicester spent most of the previous season near the bottom of the table in the BPL, had a paltry payroll and entered the 2015-16 season facing 5,000-to-1 odds of winning the title.
The Cubs? Vegas favorites, of course. A 97-win season and an outstanding offseason will do that.
Can it be, though, that we collectively undersold the Cubbies?
Is it possible that this team is actually better than advertised?
The (still very, very early) outcomes lend some credence to the concept.
Frankly, I don’t care how early it is. When you have a +83 run differential — at any juncture in the season schedule — you’re doing something right. According to @ktsharp on Twitter, that’s the best run differential for an NL team through 24 games since the 1905 New York Giants (+90).
We’re a month into the season, and there are still four teams (including the defending World Series champs) who haven’t scored 83 runs all year. For the Cubs, that’s the difference between what they’ve scored and what they’ve allowed.
Crazy, right?
We poke holes in teams. It’s what we do in the Big 162. But while the Cubs aren’t perfect, they are a club without a legitimate weakness at the moment.
That will evolve, naturally. The target is always moving in this sport. But look at the ways this club has responded to its two (perceived) trouble spots:
1. The back end of the rotation If there was one place we thought these Cubs looked particularly vulnerable …
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