McKnight: Nothing scares this Cubs manager

Just one month into the season, Cubs fans already have had two of their biggest questions answered.

Kris Bryant arrived and Addison Russell followed shortly thereafter. While the team puts on a more-than-respectable show at a less-than-ready Wrigley Field, it's been fun to hear how the chatter around the ballpark has changed.

Now, instead of fans giving each other odds on “if” and “when” the kids would arrive, they're betting on whether they'll be any good. In fact, I'm told that in the upper deck, down the third base line, you can get 20-1 on Anthony Rizzo's OBP staying above .475 come June 1.

It's early. And in baseball, for some teams, it's early right up until the point it's not. It's too early to worry about Jorge Soler speeding past 30 strikeouts. Too early to worry about Jon Lester's WHIP. Too early to worry about the emptiness in left field. Too early to bet on Rizzo's OBP. (Though if you're getting 20-1, maybe drop a 10 spot.)

There are things it's not too early for. They're not so much on the field, but in the brain of the guy making calls.

Like probably everyone else, I'm fascinated by Joe Maddon.

First, he seems committed to the pitcher batting eighth. At best, it's a strategy that gives the top of the order a few more at-bats by the end of the season. Perhaps those extra at-bats result in getting a run or two across. And maybe, just maybe, those runs score when it matters.

Worst case? Nothing. Sure, you can argue that someone (anyone) else might have knocked in a run with the bases loaded when Jon Lester came up to the plate. Then again, maybe not. Even Kris Bryant strikes out.

Regardless, it's fun to see convention discarded like a rosin bag.

Oh, and has anyone really noticed the Cubs have been carrying three catchers while playing an entirely NL schedule so far? Of course you have. I think you'd admit it has worked out pretty well. I'm not sure how long that luck can hold, but it's darn interesting.

Cubs fans were sold several promises this season. That Bryant would come eventually. That there was a commitment to actually winning this year. That the lease on the NL Central Cellar was finally up.

One promise I think you can actually cash in on is Maddon. He really is that kind of guy. He's bucking convention and rolling the dice. He will take the mile if given the inch. He's not a savior — baseball is too cruel to allow one to exist (even Mike Trout can't do it alone). At some point, Maddon will get it wrong, maybe even have it blow up in his face every now and then.

He's not scared, though. Not of failing and not of the magnitude of the job in front of him. The dice will keep rolling; the roulette wheel will keep spinning.

I like that.

Now … where's that guy giving 20-1 in the upper deck?

• Connor McKnight can be heard regularly on WGN 720-AM and is a co-host of The Beat, the station's sports talk show on the weekends. Follow him on Twitter @McKnight_WGN