Jason Heyward is only 28 years old. And he's already had a pretty full career. Which is nice.
I'll say that this may be Heyward's best season since joining the Cubs. Yes, last year was kind of nice, but this is the first we're seeing of 2015-esque league dominance Heyward, and it's a welcome presence in this lineup. He understands, I think, that he's not a home-run hitter anymore, but he's still great at hits and RBIs, and is one of the main producers of a team of dominators. Yes, thankfully the Cubs have Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo to hit home runs, but Heyward might be one of the more consistent members of the team, which is nice.
The Cubs, currently a game over Milwaukee, are doing pretty well. Javier Baez is running the team, Kyle Schwarber's having his best season to date, David Bote and Ben Zobrist have been lights-out off the bench, and Cole Hamels has been back to his old self in 3 starts with the team. There's a pretty specific element of power with this team, one that wasn't even this prevalent in previous iterations of this team. The pitching, while not at 2016 levels, is still sharp- Mike Montgomery has been great as 5th starter, and while Jon Lester's start quality has gone down, Kyle Hendricks has picked up the ace mantle.
This team needs to get a definite lead over the Brewers if they want to truly pave the way to a great postseason. They're at the point where they could do well, but they could get lost in the picture. Remember, the Cubs have made the NLCS three years in a row, and they'd need one more push to make it to tying the Cardinals' recent record of 4. I think they can do well this postseason, but...with the Brewers right behind, it could be tricky.
Coming Tomorrow- With injuries to the top performers, it's up to a perennial standout to try and save the hype of a Surefire Playoff Team that fell far from the mark.
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