Are Cubs destined for big things this season? Remember it's early

Jumping to conclusions during the opening weeks of a baseball season is awfully dangerous.

A good example came last April, when Cubs catcher Willson Contreras told the Daily Herald that "(Seiya Suzuki) is the best player that I've ever played with."

To be sure, Suzuki looked terrific to that point, hitting .414 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs in just 11 games.

But it was only April 20.

The rest of the way, Suzuki hit .250, had a .310 on-base percentage and drove in just 35 more runs. Injuries limited him to 111 games.

Fast-forward nearly a full year and now we have catcher Yan Gomes believing that the Cubs are going to make some serious noise this season.

"It's important to understand what we're building here," Gomes said after Monday's 3-2 victory over Seattle at Wrigley Field. "The second half went really well last year.

"(If) we lose a series or we lose a couple games that look ugly, we can't hang our hats on it. We got way too good of a team, way too good of a coaching staff, way too good of a fan base that is behind us every single game. ...

"I feel like we've built a team that from top to bottom can really do this."

Nothing wrong with unabashed optimism.

But, again, it's so early.

Jed Hoyer was asked about Gomes' comments before Tuesday's game against Seattle. The Cubs' president of baseball operations definitely agreed that comeback victories can help build chemistry, but he's also a big believer that blowout wins - or losses for that matter - truly show what kind of team you'll have over the long haul.

"The measure of a really good team is being able to blow teams out," Hoyer said. "Wins (by) five runs or more are more predictive than close games. Close games are ultimately going to be right around .500.

"As far as the measure of a quality of a team, I think the blowout wins and losses are more compelling. But I do think (comebacks) are important for the camaraderie of the group."

Three of the Cubs' six victories have come by 5 or more runs - a 12-5 win at Cincinnati on April 4, a 10-3 win vs. Texas on April 8, and Tuesday's stunning 14-9 comeback win over Seattle. Only one of their four losses was by 5 or more runs.

Gomes was understandably giddy after Nico Hoerner's single in the 10th inning drove in Nick Madrigal to give the Cubs a thrilling win. The good times spilled into the locker room, where Gomes had Madrigal don a cowboy hat for his interview.

"Some sort of celebratory hat I've been assigned to," Madrigal joked.

Said Gomes: "I just kind of saw the hat and was like, yeah. He's the new sheriff in town."

Then came Tuesday night, when the Cubs erased a 7-0 deficit with an 8-run third inning. It was their first victory after trailing by 7 or more runs since April 14, 2018 when they wiped out a 10-2 deficit against Atlanta and prevailed 14-10.

So, hmm. Maybe Gomes is on to something here.

"They've put together a group here with guys who have a lot of experience that have done a lot of great things in the game," said Ian Happ. "There's an understanding of what it takes to get through 162 (games) from the group, which is really important.

"And Yan's seen that ... a lot with the teams in Cleveland, but also the (2019) Washington team (that won the World Series) was a group like that with some veteran players that knew what it took.

"He's been around a long time. So if he's saying it I believe it."

We'll see if these good times can roll on during a six-game road trip to Los Angeles and Oakland, and the ensuing seven-game homestand against the Dodgers and Padres. Suzuki should make his season debut out west, and pitcher Kyle Hendricks figures to join the rotation in early May.

Those additions can only help, so maybe it's not too early to start thinking big.

Just remember - it's a LONG season.

And it's only just begun.