Rozner: Chicago Cubs fans learning to live a new normal

The greatest of athletes speak often of staying in the moment.

Your early-morning newspaper friend might have a better chance of explaining how the Earth and Sun change the curvature of space and time than what precisely this means.

But boiled down into the simplest of terms, it allows the best of all time to perform without thinking, without distraction and without feeling the pressure.

They just do it because they can, because they are unaffected by the sheer madness and magnitude.

It is not for everyone.

But in the moment, there is nothing else.

It is interesting to wonder right now if Chicago Cubs fans realize the moment they are in with their local heroes, unaware of today and locked in on what happens in October.

You have been to three straight NLCS after a painful rebuild and your expectation is to reach the World Series.

For most of you, it is to win the World Series.

You are so deep into this period of time in your life as a baseball fan that you may not even grasp the scale of the moment.

This is what fans have been waiting for their entire lives - and it is here.

It's been more than a century since the franchise reached the goal of sustained success. It's something that's been present in other cities for decades, the process repeated over and over and over again.

And perhaps there is a subconscious fear that it will not last.

So there is anger that Yu Darvish has not done what he was paid to do.

There is concern because Kyle Hendricks has looked like 2016 Kyle Hendricks only once in his last 10 starts.

There is disappointment that Jose Quintana has been mostly mediocre in his one year with the Cubs, averaging 5⅔ innings over 33 starts with a 3.97 FIP and 1.25 WHIP. In 2018, those numbers are less satisfying, with an average of 5⅓ innings, a 4.55 FIP and 1.38 WHIP.

You know the pieces the White Sox got in return, and you know Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease are moving quickly toward Chicago.

There is shock that Tyler Chatwood has walked a league-high 79 batters in 89 innings, posting a FIP of 5.43 and a WHIP of 1.75.

There is much concern about the rotation - as there should be - and you want solutions.

You are in the moment and you know only that the Cubs should be making plans for another trip to the Fall Classic, hardly giving a nod to what should be a third straight division title, something the franchise has never achieved in 49 years of division play.

And this is good. This is how Yankees fans think. This is how Dodgers fans talk. This is what Red Sox fans have grown accustomed to since Theo Epstein took over in Boston in 2003.

You have arrived and you are in the moment, thoughts only of how to win the big prize.

Think about how far the Cubs - and you - have come since 2015.

Epstein has given the team what it needs to win again in 2018, but a projected top-five rotation has not done its job, and he ponders daily what he can do to fix it.

But over the last month he has made it clear that if the starters don't return to form, there may not be solutions outside the organization.

He also doesn't want the sustained success the Cubs have found to end any time soon, so he offers clues when he speaks.

As for significant additions in the next week, Epstein said Sunday that it will be harder to do than it was the last two summers, in part because of the market and in part because of what the Cubs have already dealt.

"I don't think it's impossible, but certain years lend themselves to being able to participate in more (conversations)," Epstein said. "Whether it's because of the way your prospects are performing, or because of your desire to keep growing the farm system, or the nature of what's available or what you need, you have to be more selective, and that's fine.

"Sometimes those end up being the best deals."

Obviously, the Cubs will be looking to add more arms to an overused bullpen, but Epstein indicated it will be more along the lines of Jesse Chavez than Aroldis Chapman.

"We think (Chavez) is a really good fit for us," Epstein said. "Kind of what we'll be looking to do in the future."

That's all fine and good, but you want to know when the next ring ceremony will take place.

You are in the moment. It is the new normal. And it's a good place to be.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.