Innocence still not lost with these Chicago Cubs

CINCINNATI — Perhaps the most endearing thing about the 2015 Chicago Cubs was the surprise nature of their 97-win season and the fun kind of innocence that went with it.

That innocence was based largely on the youth of the team.

Those young players are still young, and for that reason manager Joe Maddon agrees the innocence hasn't been lost.

“I think it's a combination of the youth and the veterans,” he said before Sunday's regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Reds. “The veterans on this team are very youthful. I think also, and this might sound crazy, but the way we celebrate every victory helps.

“When the games over, we've won, we go inside and it's like we just did get into the playoffs every night. I like it. And it's for 30 minutes at the most.

“And if we lose, contrarily, we don't sulk. We don't become gloomy. The next day, still the sun does come up. We've been able to strike a nice balance. I think that's it. I don't think it's very complicated.

“Part of it is I want to believe the guys feel like they can be themselves. There's no contrived version of anybody in that room. There's no eyewash. There's no, 'I've got to act a certain way to be accepted.' There's none of that.

“So I think a lot of that lends or leads to a nice fresh approach on a daily basis. That's what I want to believe.”

No fire and brimstone:

The Cubs will take Monday off before holding a simulated game Tuesday at Wrigley Field. They'll work out Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for Friday's opener of the National League division series at Wrigley Field against the winner of the Giants-Mets wild-card game.

Maddon will address his players, but don't expect any rousing speeches.

“My goal is going to be to talk about — succinctly, it's not going to be a long meeting — in playoff baseball, things are going to go wrong,” he said. “And how do you deal with (it) when things go wrong and just be able to maintain your focus? When things are going well, it's easy. We call can do that.

“So I just want to remind them to be able to maintain our focus, maintain our methods even if something goes awry.”

Not ready yet:

Joe Maddon was not ready Sunday to announce his playoff rotation. Even so, it's likely to be Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey.

“Not a chance,” he said of a Sunday announcement. “I haven't talked to them yet.”

Praise for Robin:

When Joe Maddon came to Chicago, he replaced Rick Renteria as Cubs manager. Now it appears Renteria will replace Robin Ventura on the South Side of Chicago as manager of the White Sox.

“When you say Robin Ventura to me, I'm going to say it one more time,” Maddon began. “It might have been 1995. I was a new coach with the Angels and I'm walking in the front door at Comiskey, and I'm nobody. He took the time to talk to me. And he knew me. And he was very, very complimentary.

“From that moment on, I became a Robin Ventura fan. I don't know what's going on there internally, but I think he does a great job. As a friend, I've had dinner with him. He's a wonderful man.

“Renteria, I only got to visit with him this past spring when he came up to me on the field. We just talked briefly. I know (former Padres manager) Buddy Black loved him in San Diego. People here liked him a lot, too.

“Until it's official, I don't have anything to say other than Robin Ventura is always going to get high marks in my book for that one day in 1995.”