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You could say that the St. Louis Cardinals have enjoyed a good start for the most part. Bats have been active and pitching has been consistent, allowing less pressure to be on everyone and more talk to be about how well the team can do if Yadier Molina remains healthy.

But all of a sudden, ladies and gentlemen, the Chicago Cubs have shown they will have at least a degree of scrap about themselves.

After securing a 1-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs move up to within two games of St. Louis in these early standings. In Chicago terms, though, none of that matters; it’s on fire.

As of 4:48pm CST, May 1, 2015

Chicago has a winning record, a good streak and pitching that has finally shown up to keep it in games. In fact, with the win against the Brewers Friday, the Cubs tied St. Louis for the No. 3 spot in baseball with three shutouts this season.

St. Louis’ pitching might just be challenged here.

The fun part—because yes here’s where it gets good—as of Friday night, the Cardinals will have 10 games against the Cubs before the All-Star break. That’s more than against any other team on the St. Louis schedule. The two play just two series after the break, meaning the Cardinals have a greater chance now to affect their positioning later in the season.

Both of the second-half series come in the second and third weeks of September.

If the Cubs are going to be a contender this season as it certainly appears that they could, now will be the time or St. Louis to play its best baseball.

Despite the obvious loss of Adam Wainwright being the headline-taker for now, the Cardinals should be thankful that their injury situation is as favorable as it is, given that now is when they will need to be healthy for these games against Chicago.

For traditionalists, it’s great to see the Cardinals and the Cubs again squaring off at the top of the division, even if it is early. But there’s no time to get caught up in the excitement. If the Cardinals are serious about taking the National League Central Division in 2015, it’s time to win.

Follow Dan Irwin on Twitter @irwinsports or on Facebook.

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Barry Bonds made his triumphant return to baseball on Monday with an appearance at the San Francisco Giants spring training complex in Scottsdale. But one lingering question remains—is he welcome?

If you ask Giants’ skipper Bruce Bochy about it, he’ll tell you it was about timing.

“The timing was right on both sides. That’s why it’s happening now,” Bochy told the media in a report that first appeared on ESPN.com by Jim Caple. “We welcome all of our former players.”

According to Bochy, the answer is yes. Bonds is welcome. But this isn’t a game that belongs to spring, the managers or the media. It belongs to the fans. Do the fans take Bonds back?

Like an ex that’s resurfaced in one’s life, looking to make amends, the feeling with most fans is still one of bitterness and resentment. But is that Bonds’ intent? Is the man who shattered Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record and broke Mark McGwire’s single-season record really looking to make up with fans?

The words out of his mouth say no, but every action and warm smile he throws up for the cameras say otherwise. When asked if he was trying to boost his image, Bonds said, “I think you guys are all adults. I have no advice for you.”

Some words he’s certainly rehearsed over and over to himself, and couldn’t wait to let loose.

Without a doubt, Bonds is back with a mission. That mission is for people to not remember him as that arrogant guy who acted like he was above everything.

Let’s not forget that this is the same guy who would take his young son with him to practice during the middle of the steroid scandal, and hide behind him to avoid questioning. Bonds knew the tough questions were coming and used his own child as a smokescreen.

And you thought your dad put you in tough situations.

But it was never about the steroids. It was about his attitude. For most fans, it was like trying to cheer on Shredder to kill the Ninja Turtles. Bonds was the king of villains.

Regardless, that’s now the past. Today, Bonds stands in with his former team, and physically he looks great doing it. He’s lost his steroid chub, and his eyes almost seem like they’re capable of a beaming kindness that simply didn’t exist before. Is he even the same person?

So Bonds is back, and he’s ready to ask baseball fans back out. But are fans even going to respond to his text message?

They should. I will admit to being one of the biggest anti-Bonds guys on the planet. But after understanding Barry’s perspective a little more, it’s hard to look at him the same.

To Bonds, being accused of steroid use was almost silly.  How can all these players—many of whom were breaking records and having Hall of Fame careers—how can they all be taking steroids and not be getting grilled by the media? Why aren’t they being yelled at, threatened and heckled? All the owners, managers and most of the other players know they’re doing it.

Bonds is a baseball player, not a P.R. person. He grew up learning about how to play baseball in a Major League family as the son of Bobby Bonds. He’s not an actor who’s supposed to know how to handle the intense media pressure that represents the shift of an era of baseball.

But he did it anyway.

He didn’t know what to do, but he never batted an eye or thought twice about attempting to move forward on his own. While other Major League players timidly watched the steroid saga unfold, Bonds was thrown rocks while he was drowning in accusations. Amid all the pressure and the absurd ideology of being singled out as the ultimate sports villain ever, a new person surfaced. No one liked him, and from the looks of Bonds latest attempt to make things right, he may not have liked himself either.

No, Bonds’ comeback isn’t about helping the Giants; he himself admits that he’s not even sure if he can help the team. But he’s in Scottsdale for a reason and he’s hoping that his smile will do a lot of the talking.

Bonds is back and wants to see if he can change his image. If you’re hung up on the past, maybe you should think about what he’s been through. Forgiveness is a powerful human attribute, and Bonds is seeking it the best way he knows; with a passive, indirect, “I’m sorry.”

As far as this fan goes…apology accepted. Doing things like hiding behind your son was low, but coming back with a smile in the face of everything you messed up is something 99 percent of people wouldn’t be capable of doing.

Follow Dan Irwin on Twitter @danirwinsports or on Faceboook.

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Adam Dunn‘s numbers weren’t very glamorous at the end of last season.

After it was all said and done, Adam had a mere .159 batting average with 415 total at-bats.  He batted only .128 in the month of September.

But Dunn’s new manager Robin Ventura is excited about him, according to this quote from csnchicago.com’s Chuck Garfien, via his Twitter account:

“Ventura on Adam Dunn: “He’s on our squad. He’s not going anywhere. I’m patient and I know it’s there.”

Encouraging news for a player who many fans have questioned even being in the lineup.

But Dunn has been his own toughest critic.  Arriving at spring training, he talked about the immediate things on the agenda, which includes working with new White Sox hitting coach Jeff Manto.

“We’ll kind of go over some things and see what he wants me to do and how he wants me to approach the season and kind of go from there,” said Dunn in the Chicago Tribune, who struck out 177 times in the 2011 season.

“My main goal is to be ready for Opening Day, and that’s what I’ll do.”

But Dunn worked hard to counter his slumping numbers in the offseason.  Working on the fundamentals of his swing by taking several batting exercises, he hopes to find the success he had in 2009 when he batted a career-best .267.

We’ll have to see if the batting practice pays off.  Surprisingly enough, if you ask Adam about it, he’s not so optimistic.

“No, other than I’ll probably be a little better in [batting practice] than normal,” Dunn said.  “Other than that, I don’t know.”

His desire to compete at a high level and bring his team success is still there.

“My goal is to be ready for opening day, and that’s the ultimate goal,” Dunn said. “It doesn’t matter to me if I go out and hit .500 with 20 home runs this spring. That probably won’t translate over to the season.”

Of course, better numbers can always turn his attitude around.

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