Imrem: Cubs fans can never breathe easy

Being a Cubs fan never is free of stress.

Not even when the current team just swept playoff contender Miami, has baseball's best record and is one of the favorites to win the World Series.

If you listen to this week's chatter, it seems the problem is the Cubs have so many good players.

So, where will the emerging Kyle Hendricks' incredible shrinking earned run average fit into the Cubs' playoff rotation?

Will Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant win the National League's Most Valuable Player award or neutralize each other out of the top prize?

Is manager Joe Maddon up to the challenge of manipulating a bullpen with enough proven relievers to stock two or three teams?

Cubs questions were less agonizing in the bad old days.

Was the faulty manager going to pick a flawed right-hander or failed left-hander to pitch the meaningless final game of the season?

Would Carlos Zambrano break his right hand or fracture his left hand punching the Gatorade container in the dugout?

Will Kerry Wood's elbow or Mark Prior's shoulder leave an arm dangling by a thread and the Cubs' best-laid plans wallowing in shreds?

Then there was Sammy Sosa.

Would the Samminator be caught with a corked bat, a bag full of performance enhancers or a plane ticket out of town dated the morning of the season's final game?

Those years featured so many Cubs players who were dubious enough to comprise a who's who of what-the-hecks.

Also among the questions were who is the worst Cubs player ever, who is the worst manager in club history and who is the second-worst third-base coach behind Wavin' Wendell Kim?

None of that takes into account — or maybe all of it does — that ownership had no idea what it was doing.

Yet there was sort of a comfort in the consistent incompetence.

In a world punctuated by unpredictability, Cub fans knew what their team was, where it would wind up in any given season and how to cope with the frustration of waiting for next year.

Now the stakes and anxiety are higher and the most serious questions are about postseason pitching rotations, the league MVP award and how to survive having too many quality relief pitchers.

Allow me to answer these questions for you and the Cubs.

First, the pitching rotation for the playoffs should be Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, then if necessary Hendricks again and Hendricks again and again.

Current No. 3 starter John Lackey will be on the disabled list by then after his head implodes in anger at umpires, his catcher and himself.

As for the NL race for Most Valuable Player between Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, Rizzo will prevail in a runaway.

Bryant will settle for winning Rookie of the Year for the second straight season and for being on the covers of Rolling Stone and GQ.

Now for Joe Maddon's decisions concerning his bullpen: Just put any reliever in any situation and enjoy watching him wiggle out of trouble.

The only issue will be keeping everyone engaged, so don't be surprised to see an outfield of Travis Wood in left, Joe Smith in center and Mike Montgomery in right.

The Cubs have gone from being an embarrassment to having an embarrassment of riches.

Either condition can be stressful for a fan.

mimrem@dailyherald.com