Chicago Justice

(As long as Dick Wolf keeps making shows about Chicago, I'll have pun post titles for the Cubs for the next 30 years)

The Chicago Cubs have made it to the NLCS three years in a row. Unlike the Cardinals, they're not being complete dicks about it.

The trick may have been Joe Maddon cementing his status as one of the best managers of his generation, and going one step further than he did in Tampa Bay, as well as cementing the dynasty he always wanted to jumpstart in Florida. It also may have been the arrival of youth in the manner that it did- first with Anthony Rizzo's leadership role, followed by Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, and later Albert Almora, Javier Baez and Willson Contreras. This is STILL a very young team, which has relied on a ton of homegrown talent (okay, fine Russell came up with the A's), and a lot of small moves, to keep winning all these years.

However, their BIG MOVES, such as signing Jason Heyward and Yu Darvish, haven't worked as well. Heyward at least is fine, and is recovering from a concussion, but Darvish is having his worst season yet, giving a full turnaround from his insane numbers with the Dodgers last year. Heck, even Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood haven't worked 100% like they wanted them to. This team's main problem is adjusting other people to their way of life. The only signing/trade since 2016 that's really worked is Brandon Morrow, who's been a great closer for them this year.

The team's not doing terribly, but they're in fourth place behind three ferocious teams, and their losses column is beginning to catch up to them. And yes, Bryant, Almora, Baez and Willson Contreras are all playing pretty well, but the back half of the rotation is sucking up wins, and some guys in the lineup aren't producing as well as we want them to (cough*HEYWARD*cough)

It's definitely a process with these guys, but since they're the Chicago Cubs in this decade, they definitely have an advantage.

Coming Tomorrow- His ENTIRE TEAM is getting injured...which means, if this was a horror movie, he'd be next....but mostly because he always gets injured around this time of year.