Cubs say they're taking nothing for granted in 2016
MESA, Ariz. - So much has happened so fast for the Cubs.
As spring training opened last year, many fans were hoping for an improved season over 2014, maybe 82 to 85 wins in 2015.
The Cubs went way beyond that, winning 97 games during the regular season and advancing all the way to the National League championship series in the postseason.
As spring training 2016 opened Friday, expectations are naturally off the charts. Is it even possible that things have happened so fast for the Cubs that they'll go into this season overconfident, silly as that might seem?
To a man, they say no.
"We're too young to be like that," said third baseman Kris Bryant, one of many position players on the field Friday, when pitchers and catchers officially reported for spring training. "Last year obviously was good for us to go through all that, the adversities, the bumps in the road, getting swept by the Mets (in the NLCS). All of that was really good for us. We all have really good heads on our shoulders. I think the veterans will put us in track if any of us gets out of line. We've got a good balance here."
That balance most likely stems from the culture the Cubs have been building these last few years. The word "culture" can be overused, but it's one the Cubs seem to believe in as they went from 61 wins in 2012 to their big total last year.
The building of that culture started with team president Theo Epstein, who took over in the fall of 2011. He says it's a big reason the Cubs won't get too full of themselves now that they've enjoyed some success.
"I don't think we are too concerned about all the pressure, all the expectations or being overconfident or taking things for granted," Epstein said as he sat alongside general manager Jed Hoyer and field manager Joe Maddon during the first news conference of the spring. "Fundamentally, we trust the character of the players. Beyond that, we are proud of and trust the culture of the organization, which I think transcends the circumstances you may find yourselves in any one year, whether you're picked to finish first or picked to finish last and have some things to overcome.
"This is a special place and a special time to be in this place … I think there's an appropriate amount of confidence in that clubhouse. There's an appropriate amount of respect for the journey ahead and recognition of the fact that we haven't done anything yet and that the work begins today, in essence, coming together as a club, putting the work in and figuring out how to win as a group under Joe's leadership."
Maddon is sure to come up with something to keep the Cubs focused on what's important. He talked last year of this time of making the playoffs, even if few might have believed him.
"My aim, point of focus, is going to be to embrace the target," he said. "I don't want us to become outcome biased in a sense, or outcome based. Yes, talk about winning the division. Yes, talking about winning the last game of the season. But you don't want to just get caught up in that thought.
"How do you do that? That's where I've really been focused. To 'embrace the target,' what does that mean? You talk about the expectations and the word pressure, which I believe are really positive words. So you take those concepts or those thoughts, and what does that lend to, what does that lead to? To me that leads to really focusing on the day, focusing on the process of the day, and the process needs to be our anchor."
In other words, bring on the expectations and the pressure. Or let Maddon express it in his own way.
"I'm really a big believer in running toward the fire as opposed to away from it," he said. "I really want our guys to get comfortable with the concept of everybody speaking so glowingly of us and embracing the target because the biggest threat is probably among the teams that might not be in the running. When you're not in the running or you're not playing up to your potential and the other team's record isn't as good as it can be, that's the team that can really press you because they're going to get up to play against you constantly.
"Beyond the teams that will be in the running with us through the entire season, the teams that may lag behind are going to play their best game against us, there's no question in my mind. The target's gotten bigger is my point. We have to embrace the target. While you're doing that, understand what that means, and that's what I'm going to attempt to do tomorrow with the guys and when the next group gets in, to try to apply a definition that they can wrap their minds around."