Chicago Cubs: Opening Day of “The Last Dance Part II”
We are getting close to summertime! The Chicago Cubs and the rest of Major League Baseball get their season underway today! The Cubs are going to play a 1:20 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates to get their campaign going. This is a unique Opening Day for them as it is going to set the tone for the way they look at the rest of the season. Going against one of the worst teams in the league with Kyle Hendricks on the mound is a great way to get going.
The Chicago Cubs have a lot on their plate going into Opening Day 2021.
During the heart of the pandemic, most sports fans watched “The Last Dance” on ESPN. It was a documentary that went over the 1998 Chicago Bulls and everything that came before it. There were some great moments during that season but the point of the show was the demise of their core at the season’s end. It sort of feels like something similar is happening with the Cubs.
Now, it is to a much lesser degree because this Cubs core isn’t nearly as accomplished as those Bulls teams. They also aren’t going to lose the greatest player in the history of the sport like that Bulls team with Michael Jordan. They are, however, in danger of losing a core that ended a 108 year World Series drought and made consistent playoff appearances.
Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, and Anthony Rizzo are all on contracts that are expiring after the season is over. We don’t know what the future holds for any of them but their stay is not guaranteed. The big news throughout the week so far has been Rizzo’s comments about assuming he will be a free agent if he doesn’t have a deal by Opening Day.
Well, here we are on Opening Day with no deal for Rizzo so nobody knows what is going to happen. It is a shame that we are talking about 2021 being “The Last Dance Part II” instead of being excited about the future but it is what it is.
Three bold 2021 Chicago Cubs positions. light. Related Story
The Cubs still have a chance to be good in 2021. Those guys are still going to be in the lineup for the time being and there are some other good players. If starters like Jake Arrieta and Zach Davies have good years along with Hendricks, it could be a formidable rotation. They go in as one of those teams that could be awesome or could be bad. They just have to hope that it is the former.