Amazin' Avenue: The Cubs are in second place in the NL Central with a 15-15 record. What were your expectations for the 2015 Cubs and has their start affected your overall expectations for the team this year?
Bleed Cubbie Blue: This start is about what I would have expected. The Cubs won 73 games in 2014. I figured them to be a .500 club or, if everything went right, maybe a bit over and possibly in the wild-card conversation. So far, many things have gone right, but the bullpen has been horrific and that's one reason the Cubs have lost eight of their last 10.
AA: Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler are a few of the Cubs' most prized young position players. Having gotten to watch them play in the big leagues these past few weeks, what are your initial impressions?
BCB: All three have performed very well. Soler had some rough spots after a good start, but he is still hitting for a decent average and playing well in the outfield.
Russell was called up due to injury and had a terrible start (2-for-18). After that he went on a 12-game hitting streak in which he hit .326/.356/.581. He's played excellent defense. The strikeouts are a bit concerning (29 in 64 at-bats), but he is just 21.
I can't say enough good things about Kris Bryant. Even with a power outage (no homers in his first 20 MLB games), he played good defense and made several heads-up baserunning plays, and also drew a ton of walks. His 17 walks ranks seventh in the N.L. -- this despite spending the first eight games playing in Triple-A.
AA: Unlike those three, Javier Baez had an horrific big league debut last season and is struggling in Triple-A. The upside potential is clearly enormous but his contact issues appear to be currently untenable. What are the Cubs' near term plans for him and do you think his issues are ultimately fixable?
BCB: Baez does indeed have contact issues. He'll have to work on them before being a viable major-league player. I would characterize some of his debut last year as good -- he did hit nine home runs in 213 at-bats despite all the K's. Right now he'll have to get straightened out in Triple-A and he's currently blocked at several positions. His best contribution to the Cubs might be as trade bait.
AA: Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Jason Hammel have gotten off to strong starts but Travis Wood and Kyle Hendricks appear to have been shaky early on. If they continue to struggle, what do the Cubs' backup/future options look like and is Edwin Jackson at all a consideration, given his contract?
BCB: The Cubs have Tsuyoshi Wada on rehab assignment at Triple-A and he's probably the next choice for starter if Wood and/or Hendricks continue to struggle (and Hendricks threw very well on Sunday). Wada made 13 pretty good starts for the 2014 Cubs and they'd certainly go to him before Jackson. Jackson made a couple of good appearances out of the bullpen but lately has looked bad.
AA: Similarly to the Mets, the Cubs appear on the cusp of exiting a long rebuilding phase thanks to the promotion of many top young prospects, along with the signing of Jon Lester and the hiring of manager Joe Maddon. What are Cubs fans' thoughts on the rebuild to this point and how soon do you think this team develops into a legitimate playoff contender?
BCB: I think a lot of Cubs fans thought that the signings of Maddon and Lester could make the Cubs a contender this year. That still could happen, but the offense will have to produce more and the bullpen needs to stop blowing leads. The rebuild appears to have produced, at the very least, three solid everyday regulars in Soler, Bryant and Russell, and those guys all have a chance to be stars. If the latter happens, watch for a long string of contending seasons.
Thanks again to Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue for giving us a preview of the Cubs!