MESA, Ariz. — Fans have heard all the superlatives regarding the team’s offense in recent years from “projection over performance” to the infamous year of reckoning following the 2019 season.
But as the Cubs open spring training with camp officially opening on Wednesday, Cubs faithful will have to ride it out with this group one last time.
The “year of transition,” as team president Jed Hoyer has come to call 2021 has seen the team undergo several changes organizationally. The team’s rotation will almost be a completely different group from what it looked like a year ago, with three-fifths of its starters pitchers playing on different ball clubs.
The offense, which has been the cause of fans’ ire, has seen very little change during the offseason other than the swap of Kyle Schwarber for Joc Pederson. But despite recent individual struggles and collective struggles, the team is betting on the group to rebound in 2021.
And to be honest, they have no choice.
“We believe in this group. and there’s been moments that we’ve been proven right, and there have been moments recently that we haven’t been proven right,” Hoyer said. “But ultimately, I think this is a really talented offensive group.
“We’ve struggled in certain aspects of the game that we have to improve on. And I think, [manager David Ross] and I have spent a ton of time over the course of winter talking about how we can get this group back to where they belong.”
Javy Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are not only each in walk years, but the trio still represents a significant part of the Cubs’ offensive success. Baez, Bryant and Rizzo each had down seasons in 2020 and were nowhere close to the players the team has seen over the last six years.
While the situation could be an understandable distraction for a player ahead of his looming free agency, combined with trying to have a bounce-back year, Ross sees the situation as one that will take care of itself. Both for the Cubs and his stars.
“I also know if all those guys get their numbers, we’re going to be in a really good place,” Ross said. “If Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, get there to get their numbers, Willson Contreras gets [the] numbers that’s on the back of their baseball card, we’re gonna be a really good team.
“These guys know how to win. That’s all they’ve really done since they’ve been here. Maybe not to the level of their expectations and what we’ve created here are the expectations, but they’re still winners, and they’re winners virtually every year. Last year, we won a division in a year where they didn’t ... get their numbers. And so that, to me, speaks volumes about the defense and the little things that they do well to find a way to win a game.”
Rumors specifically about Bryant have surrounded the Cubs all offseason and Hoyer shot some of them down on Tuesday. The Cubs will continue to answer phone calls if it rings, but the roster as currently assembled is likely to be the one that heads north for Opening Day on April 1.
“Could someone make that phone call? Yeah, someone could, but am I not anticipating it,” Hoyer said. Because right now, we’re not engaged in anything. And we haven’t been for a bit. So you know, I don’t expect it. ... But you never know. Who knows what injury could happen, or what thing could change in someone else’s camp? But I’m not expecting it, I’m expecting that, for the most part, this is going to be the group that we open up against Pittsburgh with.”
