Now at 20 Games Over .500, I Think It’s Safe to Say the Cubs Are Pretty Flippin’ Good

The Cubs are 20 games over .500.

The Cubs are 20 games over .500.

I had to type it twice because it just didn’t sink in for me right away. At 71-51, the Cubs have equaled their 2011 win total, surpassed the totals of 2012 and ’13, and are sitting only 4 shy of last year’s mark. They have 40 games yet to play. Miggy Montero was right, folks: We are good.

Think about this: the Cubs can go 19-21 over the remainder of their schedule and still finish with 90 wins. That’s 5 more victories than I had boldly predicted in the preseason. At the time it really did seem bold. I mean, to call 90 wins would’ve been downright crazy. Then again, all the Cubs have done all season is defy the odds, not to mention odd people.

Lose three straight to the Phillies? No big deal, we’ll just go out and win 16 of the next 18. Drop three straight to the White Sox and Tigers? Psssht, we’ll just sweep a 4-gamer with the Braves, the fourth such sweep the Cubs have pulled off this season and the first time they’ve done so since 1945.

It’s okay to embrace it at this point. This team isn’t going to flirt with double digits every game, but it sure looks as though the offense has come around. I’ve long been banging the “you can’t continue to hold this lineup down for long” drum, and I’ve not been alone. We knew it’d be scary if these guys all started to hit, and boy is that ever the case now that they’ve found that rhythm.

It almost doesn’t seem real or fair. Is this what it’s like to cheer for the Blue Jays right now too? I think Tom Ricketts may have to have to call in a favor from their big-money beer sponsor pretty soon though; the way the bandwagon is filling back up, it’s gonna take a whole lot of Clydesdales to pull it.