Swagger ensuring Cubs will not stagger to finish
The longer Ben Zobrist argued with umpire Phil Cuzzi the other day, the more entitled the Cubs appeared.
Zobrist, after all, had been called out on strikes two innings before he brought it up again, yet felt compelled to plead his case and finally earned Cuzzi’s ejection with a crack about an electronic strike zone.
Zobrist’s argument left the same impression as Anthony Rizzo’s extended conversation with umpire Angel Hernandez that created a similar stir days earlier: The Cubs never believe they’re wrong.
That’s when it dawned on me: Whether it involves players arguing with umps longer than they should or manager Joe Maddon defending moves and lineup decisions that invite harmless second-guessing, the Cubs always insist they’re right. Always. They consider no other outcome. They have turned a perceived arrogance into an advantage, a Cubbie swagger revealing a mindset that they expect things to go their way — no matter what.
That’s an observation more than an insult, an acknowledgment that the Cubs have built an entire culture around their selfesteem. That’s the major reason they entered the weekend with the National League’s best record despite underachieving in so many troubling areas.
The Cubs should be much worse than their record given their spotty starting pitching and inconsistent hitting yet refuse to accept that truth. So here they are, a team with no signature trait prepared to leave its mark on the playoffs anyway. Ken Ravizza, the late Cubs psychologist who was the picture of positivity, would be so proud of a team that willed itself into pennant contention.
The Cubs entered the weekend ranked 20th in quality starts and 22nd in home runs but leading the NL in belief, a big reason no team in the majors has more comefrom-behind victories than their 37. They have given us many memorable thrills along the way but no legitimate reason to doubt they will hold off the Brewers and Cardinals in the NL Central and make a fourth straight NL Championship Series appearance. They have experience dealing with pressure that gives them confidence, a metric not even FanGraphs can quantify.
They have forced some of us to re-evaluate how we view this Cubs season.
All the focus on what the Cubs aren’t has obscured what they have become: a resilient bunch relying on players nobody expected and creating the identity of a team that never counts itself out — not even when trailing 3-0 and being down to its last strike with a 25-year-old rookie and former 18th-round draft pick at the plate with the bases loaded.
David Bote’s walk-off grand slam against the Nationals on Sunday night, easily the highlight of the season, fittingly came in a game recent addition Cole Hamels started. Bote is proof that player development with the Cubs includes the psyche.
Where would the Cubs be without Bote and Hamels? How absurd would that question have sounded in March?
Back then, the Cubs counted on third baseman Kris Bryant to perform like an MVP and $126 million man Yu Darvish to complete a pitching staff that made Maddon gush. How silly I feel now recalling my column comparing free-agent starter Tyler Chatwood to the fifth Beatle, joining Yu, Q, Kyle and Jon in the Cubs rotation.
Where would that rotation be without Mike Montgomery, the rejected starter who began the season as a reliever?
Even the bullpen, the team’s strength, has survived its share of surprises. Closer Brandon Morrow, as valuable as any Cub in the first half, hasn’t pitched since July 15. Enter Pedro Strop, who embraced his latest role well enough to suggest the Cubs still can accomplish all their goals if forced to rely upon the underrated righthander to get the 27th out.
As injury and inconsistency keep the Cubs searching for solutions, they continue finding ways to win. How they manage to do so is a question regularly posed to bartenders and sports-talk radio hosts around town.
“As a fan, if you are going to ride the emotional roller coaster every day, it’s going to wipe you out,’’ Maddon said the other day.
The mojo Maddon brought to the North Side in 2015 apparently helps prevent motion sickness. Still, the ups and downs do seem more pronounced during Maddon’s oddest season yet in the Cubs dugout.
Infielder Javier Baez has produced the MVP-like numbers everyone penciled in for Bryant. Zobrist quietly has exceeded the expectations for most 37-year-old super-utility players. Right fielder Jason Heyward has enjoyed a resurgence few anticipated, and center fielder Albert Almora Jr. has taken a step the Cubs needed him to take.
Team leader Anthony Rizzo has supplied his share of clutch moments batting leadoff or cleanup, from hitting big home runs to staring down Strop during a meeting on the mound. Core players Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras have been streaky but solid while shortstop Addison Russell has been way too ordinary, especially lately.
As for the well-documented disappointment of the pitchers, let’s just say Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks each has endured his share of introspection, Jose Quintana has enjoyed higher Q ratings during his time in Chicago and Darvish remains baseball’s most expensive enigma.
But a funny thing happened to the Cubs as the bad seemed to outweigh the good and Wrigleyville wrung its hands day after day over ragged arms and rickety bats: They kept going as Maddon kept tinkering, a managerial performance often overlooked amid the soliloquies during his daily one-man act. They kept making the whole greater than the sum of its parts with contributions from Bote, Hamels, Steve Cishek and other role players who adapted quickly to the cultural change. They kept believing, a psychological weapon as powerful as any bat Maddon can deploy in the cleanup spot.
Somehow, the Cubs kept winning more than any other team in the NL, and nobody should dare to complain about that.
David Haugh is a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune.