Chicago Cubs: 3 benefits of 60-game season over other teams
As the Chicago Cubs prepare and adjust to playing just 60 regular-season games, here’s why they stand to reap the benefits more than most teams.
Baseball season is right around the corner for the Chicago Cubs, and new manager, David Ross already has his work cut out for him and his team. The organization has to adjust on the fly to playing a condensed schedule, with new in-game rules taking place such as the designated hitter being implemented now on a regular basis.
In addition, the Cubs are already down one starter in their rotation to begin the season, as Jose Quintana underwent surgery recently to repair a serious cut on his left thumb. Still, even though the Cubs may be short-handed to a certain degree when the season begins, there are numerous reasons mentioned below why they still have a distinct advantage over most teams to successfully navigate these strange circumstances taking place.
1. Team chemistry
While many teams over the offseason made significant changes to their rosters, the Cubs in typical fashion chose largely to remain pat with their core players. In fact, nearly every key position player who was a part of the 2016 World Series championship still resides with the team today.
Even though the team hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations set upon them following their World Series victory, let’s not underestimate how important team chemistry is. The players on the roster know each other from spending years playing together, so they won’t have to deal with that unfamiliarity that comes from joining a new team. It can take weeks, if not months or even years for new players, no matter how good they are, to adjust to a new team and its surroundings (Ask Yu Darvish). Often, this leads to teams struggling to find their footing out the gate to begin the season.
Even though David Ross is new on the job, he already has a keen sense of what works best with his players in certain game-situations, from having both played with and analyzed his former teammates, both as a player and in the broadcast booth. This will be an added boost of chemistry that the Cubs will employ better than most teams, thus giving them another advantage.