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Just like that, the Chicago Cubs have gone from being the darlings of Major League Baseball back to being a team that must prove it’s not eternally cursed.

The hex that has haunted the Cubs for more than a century flickered to life in the second inning of their 14-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Thursday night, when Kyle Schwarber had to be carted off the field after a collision with Dexter Fowler.

And now, it seems alive and well. As reported by Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago, Chicago’s star left fielder is done for the year with significant injuries:

For now, the bright side is that the Cubs have put together a 3-0 record in convincing fashion. Against the Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels, they’ve scored 22 more runs than they’ve allowed.

But with Schwarber out, the Cubs are aware that keeping their momentum going just got that much tougher.

“He’s going to [be] missed,” veteran catcher David Ross told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “No sugarcoating it. He’s a big part of this team.”

He’s right, you know. Though they ultimately won 97 games last season, the Cubs didn’t really find their stride until the second half of the year. Schwarber had a big hand in that, as he helped boost Chicago’s offense with an .828 OPS and 15 home runs down the stretch.

The lefty slugger kept right on hitting into the postseason. His two-run home run off Gerrit Cole helped the Cubs dispatch the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League wild-card game. And in nine games total, he racked up a 1.308 OPS and five home runs.

That’s good stuff for a guy who was only 22 and just a year removed from being the No. 4 pick in the 2014 draft. And with Schwarber slotted to play left field alongside Fowler and Jason Heyward, it’s no wonder the Cubs felt comfortable trading lefty-hitting utility man Chris Coghlan in late February.

But right now, Cubs boss Theo Epstein must cringe when he thinks back on that decision.

Because his defense is suspect and left-handers have held him to a .481 career OPS, the one thing keeping Schwarber in the lineup was his ability to hit right-handed pitching. That’s something he showed he could do as well as anyone in 2015. He OPS’d .953 against righties and was right there with some of the top hitters in the game in adjusted offense:

Coghlan, who played more games in left field than any other Cub in 2015, could have done a strong job replicating such production in place of Schwarber. He has a .784 OPS against righties for his career and has OPS’d over .800 against them in each of the last two seasons.

With Coghlan in Oakland, the pressure to fill Schwarber’s shoes could instead fall to Jorge Soler. As Eno Sarris of FanGraphs indicates here, the Cubs could ask for a worse fate than that:

Soler was rated as one of the game’s elite prospects as recently as last year, after all, and he’s still only 24. And at various times—including last October—he’s looked like a superstar.

Overall, though, Soler is still an enigma. He was essentially a league-average hitter in hitting .262 with a .723 OPS last season. And with his long swing, there may be no fixing his career strikeout rate of nearly 30 percent.

If Soler can’t get the job done, the Cubs could fall back on Javier Baez. He’s another former top prospect, and he’s only 23 years old. And after adjustments he made to his own big swing last season, he caught our eye as a big-time wild card coming into the year.

But like Soler, Baez’s production is the yang to his potential’s yin. In 80 regular-season games, he’s hit only .201 with a .598 OPS. Worse, his career strikeout rate is just a hair under 40 percent at 38.5.

As such, Cubs manager Joe Maddon may have to get creative with how he fills Schwarber’s shoes. 

“Tommy La Stella can be impacted by that as well,” Maddon said Thursday, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “There are different things you can do, offensively, defensively, where Kris Bryant can go into the outfield. That’s part of the mix, too.”

On paper, plugging La Stella in at third base and moving Bryant to left field works. But since Bryant rated as a pretty good defender at the hot corner on his way to winning the National League Rookie of the Year in 2015, it would probably be best if the Cubs kept him there.

So, though the Cubs could certainly ask for worse options to fill in for Schwarber, they don’t have any ideal options either. It’s almost as if they didn’t plan on having to overcome losing him when they finalized their plans for 2016.

No matter how they do it, though, the Cubs know it simply must be done.

“We’re going to pick him up. We’ve got some guys who can hopefully fill his place. It’ll be a tough one to fill. We’ll work through it,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo told Wittenmeyer, adding: “This will be something I think that brings all of us closer.”

Or so the Cubs hope, anyway. And surely much of the baseball world is right there with them.

It’s been 108 years since the Cubs last won a World Series, but this team came into the year looking like the one destined to snap the streak. They’re projected as one of the best teams in baseball by Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs, and you don’t need to search far and wide to find predictions of them finally winning it all.

Schwarber’s injury doesn’t make that impossible, but it at least makes it slightly more improbable. Between the present and the Cubs eventually living up to their expectations, there is no easy way.

They can either take that as a reality of being cursed or just a challenge to be accepted.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber will miss the remainder of the 2016 season after suffering a torn ACL and LCL on Thursday, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. Rogers reported Schwarber also suffered a severe ankle sprain.

MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reported the Cubs called up infielder Munenori Kawasaki to take Schwarber’s place on the 25-man roster Friday.

The 23-year-old exited in the second inning of a 14-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday following a collision with teammate Dexter Fowler:

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo reacted to the news, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times: “It’s just tough man. He did everything to prepare to break out and become an even bigger star. Losing him and what he brings to the lineup is going to be tough. We’ve got guys ready to step up. I know that.”

The former No. 4 overall draft pick entered 2016 with major expectations. In 69 games last year, he batted .246 and slugged .487 to go along with 16 home runs and 43 RBI. Schwarber is a key piece of the youth movement the team hopes can deliver its first World Series title since 1908.

Baseball Prospectus’ Dan Brooks summed up the general reaction of Cubs fans:

FanDuel’s Will Carroll noted Schwarber’s injury could carry significant long-term effects:

Few teams are better prepared to lose a player of Schwarber’s quality than the Cubs. Manager Joe Maddon can move Jorge Soler, who was the designated hitter in Chicago’s wins over the Los Angeles Angels, to left field on a full-time basis. He also shifted Kris Bryant from third base to the outfield after Schwarber’s injury Thursday, which could be another option in the future.

There’s no question, though, that Schwarber figures to be a large part of the Cubs’ future. The team has a number of talented young stars, but nobody else, not even Bryant, possesses Schwarber’s power. While losing him for the rest of the season doesn’t eliminate Chicago as a title contender, it will make ending that World Series drought a lot harder.

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When Kyle Schwarber was carted off the field Thursday after a scary outfield collision with teammate Dexter Fowler, Chicago Cubs fans everywhere held their breath. 

Why wouldn’t they? We’re talking about a former first-round pick with game-changing power who’s fresh off a breakout rookie campaign that saw him crack 16 home runs in 69 games.

And we’re talking about a franchise that, preseason hype aside, is perennially waiting for the other accursed shoe to drop.

As of this writing, the extent of Schwarber’s injuries is unknown. X-rays on his ankle came back negative, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, and an MRI is scheduled for Friday.

Here’s the play in question, in case you missed it:

The negative X-rays are already good news, though MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reported a potentially troubling wrinkle:

Even if Schwarber misses significant time, however, the North Side faithful can take heart. Tough as it would be to shelve one of their shiny young pieces, the Cubs are blessed with the depth and versatility to soldier on.

After Schwarber exited Thursday’s 14-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix in the bottom of the second inning, Kris Bryant slid into left field with Tommy La Stella spelling Bryant at third. Having the reigning National League Rookie of the Year in Bryant ready and waiting to take over is a luxury most teams don’t enjoy.

Then there’s Jorge Soler, who lost his starting job when the Cubs re-signed Fowler to play center and inserted offseason pickup Jason Heyward in right. Soler is raw defensively, but the 24-year-old Cuban import has the tools to be a special player.

“He’s not going to get lost,” skipper Joe Maddon told reporters of Soler on Tuesday during the Cubs’ series against the Los Angeles Angels. “He’s going to play—and he’s going to play well—during the course of the season.”

Then there’s Javier Baez, who is working his way back from a series of injuries, including a thumb bruise. Baez suffered a “setback” and is unlikely to be ready for the team’s home opener Monday against the Cincinnati Reds, per Gonzales.

But when the 23-year-old Baez—another first-round pick—returns, he can take reps in the infield. That, in turn, frees up Bryant to log even more time in the outfield, where he played 19 games last season.

Oh, and toss Matt Szczur, who is 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI on the young season, into the mix as well. 

Of course, Schwarber isn’t just an outfielder; he also figures to see time behind the dish. There, too, Chicago is covered with veteran receivers Miguel Montero and David Ross.

None of that is to say the Cubs won’t miss Schwarber dearly if he’s out for an extended period. No doubt long-suffering Cubs boosters with visions of billy goats and Steve Bartman dancing in their heads will heave a weary sigh.

But this is the genius of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. He built a glistening farm system laden with talent, then he augmented his young forces with offseason cavalry such as Heyward and second baseman Ben Zobrist, who can also play all over the infield and outfield if needed.

Entering the season, FanGraphs projected the Cubbies as the best offensive team in baseball. You don’t get there without hitters behind hitters behind hitters.

“The Cubs have scored no fewer than six runs in all three games this season, and while that is a super small sample size, it is representative of what this team can do on an everyday basis,” CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa noted. “Schwarber is a huge part of the club. There is zero doubt about it. But they have offense to spare as is.”

Then Chicago plated 14 runs in its win Thursday against the D-backs, to cement the point. 

The best thing for Schwarber, the Cubs and the game would be for the MRI to come back clean and this whole thing to be a cringe-inducing bullet dodged. Whichever laundry you root for, it’s always regrettable when a rising star is sidelined. 

But that breath-holding moment in Arizona reminded us all of an undeniable fact: These Cubs are loaded. And it’ll take a lot more than an injury scare, even a big one, to change that.

All statistics current as of Thursday and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Chicago Cubs star Kyle Schwarber reportedly suffered a torn ACL and LCL in addition to a sprained ankle against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday and will miss the remainder of the season.

Continue for updates.

Schwarber Releases Statement on Twitter

Saturday, April 9

Schwarber told reporters Thursday his knee and ankle were “tight” and “sore” and that he hoped the “MRI [wouldn’t] show further damage.”

Schwarber Tears ACL and LCL

Friday, April 8

Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reported Schwarber has a “full torn ACL and LCL” and a severe ankle sprain that will force him to miss the rest of the year.

Schwarber’s Bat Was Key to Cubs’ World Series Title Hopes

This is a significant blow for a team with World Series aspirations. He is one of the most dangerous bats in the entire order and gave the Cubs another power threat alongside Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward.

Schwarber drilled 16 home runs and tallied 43 RBI in a mere 69 games in his rookie season, and his ability to play multiple positions also proved to be valuable for manager Joe Maddon. Schwarber originally came up from the minor leagues as a catcher, but he saw plenty of action in left field in his first campaign.

The silver lining for Chicago in the face of this (or any) injury is the overall versatility on the roster.

Javier Baez is one of Maddon’s secret weapons as someone the manager can deploy at almost any spot in the field, giving him the ability to mix and match his lineups with Schwarber out. Look for Ben Zobrist and Tommy La Stella to man second base if Baez is asked to cover for Schwarber.

It should be noted Baez started the season on the disabled list, but he could still serve as a long-term replacement once he returns.

Chicago also has enough depth in the outfield outside of just Baez, with Jorge Soler, Heyward and even Matt Szczur as options. Even Bryant can play right or left field if needed when Baez or La Stella sees time at third base.

The Cubs will also continue to use Miguel Montero and David Ross behind the plate without Schwarber, which isn’t much of a change from their typical lineup.

Chicago boasts a number of players who can play multiple positions (including Schwarber), which lessens the impact of this injury. Still, Schwarber’s bat is what makes him valuable to this team, and it is difficult to envision the Cubs ending their World Series curse without the powerful lefty in the lineup come October.

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One year ago this spring, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Co. had no idea where the keys to the batting cage were.

OK, so that’s an old joke. But it’s a good one: Veteran tells rookie, “Go get me the keys to the batting cage.” So the wide-eyed rookie dutifully bounds off to find them.

There are no keys to the batting cage.

Get it?

The young Chicago Cubs get it. They get most things. They did when they won 97 games last year and raced all the way to the National League Championship Series. And they certainly do now.

What was supposed to have been a learning-curve year last summer instead became an advanced-degree season. Now battle-tested and roaring with confidence as they break the seal on a season that brings their best chance in decades at a World Series title, their experiences in 2015 will only make them sharper.

During spring training last year, no matter how many snakes he sent slithering by depositing home run balls all across the Arizona desert, Bryant still knew he was headed to Triple-A Iowa to begin the season. For business reasons.

“Everybody knew,” Bryant said toward the end of spring camp. “Everybody talked about it.

“This year, I can just relax and go play. You know where you’re going to be. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

This time last year, Russell was checking out the amenities in Des Moines while preparing for Triple-A, too.

“I didn’t even think about trying to make the team,” Russell said. “I was just trying to make sure all the Cubs guys saw me and make them think they could use me down the road.”

“Down the road” for Russell came late April last year, when the big league club summoned him to Chicago and installed him as the second baseman. Then, on Aug. 7, manager Joe Maddon moved him to shortstop for good and flipped Starlin Castro over to second base.

The Cubs never looked back.

There was no lost year. There was no sacrificed summer during a development phase.

And now, they’re so much better for it.   

“Oh, they’re much more comfortable, they’re much more relaxed, they feel like they belong here,” Maddon said. “They have a whole different focus, literally.

“You look at their eyes, their eyes can actually focus now as opposed to being glazed over with what’s going to happen now, what’s going to happen next, how do I do this sort of thing?

“That’s pretty obvious to me, the fact that that one year of experience makes all the difference in the world.”

It doesn’t guarantee a ticker-tape parade this fall.

But it absolutely makes a loose and confident team even more dangerous. 

“Playing all those tight games down the stretch last year, it definitely helped,” outfielder Kyle Schwarber said. “And I’m definitely more comfortable. I built a relationship with all of these guys. I still had the same goal in the spring as I did last season: go out and get better and prepare for the season.”

Add three key new pieces in outfielder Jason Heyward, super-utilityman Ben Zobrist and starter John Lackey, and the Cubs unquestionably are better on paper.

In the clubhouse, it appears that way, too. Coming off his historical Cy Young season, Jake Arrieta was filthy on opening night in Anaheim, chopping through Albert Pujols and Mike Trout like a weed whacker through brush.

This spring, Arrieta worked hard to mentor some of the Cubs’ young pitchers, such as Pierce Johnson. After so much talk about a losing culture in Wrigley Field over the years, this is how that turns around.

“That’s the kind of stuff that matters,” Maddon said. “And hopefully it’s going to make us really good for years to come.”

The manager talks about his “lead bulls” paving the way, the battle-tested veterans who know the ropes. But on Chicago’s North Side, some of the young players are becoming lead bulls far more quickly than expected.

These Cubs are deeper, and each of the young players who was a “prospect” at this time last year is seasoned beyond what might have been reasonably expected at this point. Club president Theo Epstein last spring fretted that this group was being so hyped that maybe it wouldn’t be afforded that quiet growing period that, say, the Kansas City Royals‘ nucleus had.

So far, it hasn’t seemed to matter.

Having Bryant and Schwarber housed in nearby lockers has made it easier for Russell. And having Russell and Bryant in the same clubhouse has made it easier for Schwarber. On and on it goes.

“Whenever you’ve got young guys in the clubhouse, it makes it easier [to develop],” Russell said. “I played with KB in the Arizona Fall League, and at Triple-A.

“He’s a good dude all the way around. He’s very humble, and he likes to have fun.”

Said Maddon: “Just roll back the clock to a year ago, all that controversy over KB making the team or not making the team. Addison, we had Starlin at shortstop and other options at second base. Although, we hadn’t even played him at second base so we had to give him that opportunity to know that he could.

“There were so many things that were different about last year at this time compared to where we’re at right now. All positive, obviously, that guys got the experience necessary to go into their second year. And they feel like they belong here.

“I think a lot of guys last year, I don’t want to say they were in survival, like Stage 2, but they just didn’t absolutely know that they belonged here, even though we knew that they did. They had to find that out for themselves. So once a player finds out for himself that I belong here, I can do this, an entirely different level of confidence arrives.”

Even for a veteran like starter Jon Lester, in your second year in a place—job, school, whatever—you become far more comfortable.

“Knowing me better, knowing everybody else around you better, that matters,” Maddon said.

“I’ve been in their shoes, where I had a good first season,” said Heyward, who signed in Chicago for $184 million over eight years to chase a World Series title with the Cubs. “You don’t have anything to sit on [in that first season], you have no numbers.

“They’re trying to become the best version of themselves they can be.”

Bryant slammed 26 homers and knocked in 99 runners in 151 games last season. Russell cracked 13 homers with a .307 on-base percentage. Schwarber crunched 16 homers in only 69 games and then ripped five more in nine postseason outings. Outfielder Jorge Soler, also a rookie last season, produced a .324 on-base percentage and 47 RBI in 101 games.

One season in, how real are those numbers? How dependable? Are they high? Low? What?

“I’m more comfortable this year,” Soler said, smiling.

All of these Cubs are.

“Definitely, a year ago, I was in spring training for the learning experience,” Schwarber said. “And I got experience. That was my goal last spring.

“My goal this spring was: I want to stay on this team. I don’t ever want to go back to the minors. I want to help this team win.”

Like Heyward said, they’re all working hard to produce the best version of themselves.

“KB is as comfortable here as he was at the University of San Diego,” Maddon said, referring to Bryant’s baseball home before the Cubs made him the second overall pick of the 2013 draft. “Addy’s as comfortable right now as he was in Pensacola (Russell’s hometown in Florida). Schwarber, it’s just like he’s back at Indiana (the Cubs picked him fourth overall in the 2014 draft out of the University of Indiana).

“I’m certain they’re that confident and comfortable as they were when they were coming from that level of strength, regarding their performance and their status in the game at that point. They were the best college players, they were the best high school players, I think they’re back there in a professional level in the major leagues right now.”

The first two games in Anaheim, it sure looked like it. Their eyes were no longer glazed over. Not even close.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein confirmed he’s in discussions with the organization on a contract extension and expects a deal “sometime soon.”

Continue for updates.

Epstein, Cubs Discuss Recent Extension Talks

Tuesday, April 5

Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reported Epstein, whose current contract is set to finish at the end of the 2016 season, and Cubs owner Tom Ricketts both expect a new agreement in the near future. The architect of one of the league’s most talented rosters said it hasn’t been a top priority. 

“We had good, productive conversations,” Epstein said. “Neither one of us had a ton of time to focus on it. No cause of concern. We had good talks. We both feel like it will get done sometime soon.”

Ricketts added: “We talked about it at spring training. I think we’ll get to a conclusion pretty soon.”

Epstein, 42, joined the Cubs in late 2011 and has proceeded to oversee a comprehensive rebuilding project. The fruits of that labor finally began to show last season as Chicago, which finished last in the NL Central in each of his first three years, advanced to the National League Championship Series.

The Cubs opened the 2016 campaign Monday night with a 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. It marked the start of what should be another highly successful season, led by budding stars like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber.

Rebuilding is often a painful process, especially in a city like Chicago, where the Cubs have gone more than 100 years without a World Series title. But Epstein never wavered from the course, adding free agents like Jason Heyward while waiting for the organization’s prospects to reach the big leagues.

Cubs Insider highlighted the vast difference in lineup strength as a result:

Now, just like Epstein’s stint with the Boston Red Sox, his efforts have put the team in position for long-term success and, in a perfect world, multiple championships.

Getting him locked into a contract extension so he can see the process through is crucial. While the overhaul of the organization is complete, it’s still going to take some tweaks along the way to keep the Cubs on an upward trajectory, and he’s proven as adept as any front office executive at that.

With the Red Sox, he added cornerstones like David Ortiz and Curt Schilling. But he also picked up players like Kevin Millar and Bill Mueller to fill key voids. That’s going to become the task for the Cubs for the next handful of years: finding the right fits to complete the roster each season.

Ultimately, it doesn’t sound like Epstein or the Cubs have any concern about getting an extension done. That could change if an agreement isn’t in place within the next few months, though.

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This is a weird thing to say about a pitcher who dominated like a fiend en route to winning the National League Cy Young in 2015, but here goes:

Jake Arrieta appears to be just fine, thank you very much.

The 30-year-old right-hander looked very much like his 2015 self in the Chicago Cubs‘ season-opening 9-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Monday night. He pitched seven shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and six strikeouts.

To put a finer point on it, Arrieta hasn’t looked this good since the second half of 2015. That’s when he was busy compiling an all-time-great 0.75 ERA in 15 starts, a stretch that lowered his overall ERA to a Cy Young-worthy 1.77 across 229 innings.

And though there was never too much doubt about Arrieta‘s ability to get back to emasculating hitters, Monday night’s outing is still worth an exhale and a “Phew…”

There was a rough patch in between Arrieta‘s best days in 2015 and his 2016 debut, after all. He ran out of gas last October, losing effectiveness and, in a related story, velocity. He was then held back this spring and struggled with his command by walking six batters in 11.1 innings. And at one point, a blister on his right thumb was casting an ominous specter over his Opening Day assignment.

None of these signs pointed toward outright doom for Arrieta in 2016. But to borrow words from Dayn Perry of CBS Sports, the notion of him suffering from a “workload hangover” had to be given the time of day. Heck, even Joe Maddon was trying to keep expectations in check.

“Just understand, it’s going to be very difficult for him to do what he did last year,” the Cubs skipper told Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. “I still expect that he’s going to pitch extremely well. But that was unworldly a little bit in the second half of the year. I would not anticipate that many innings out of him again. I think it’s really important that we temper that.”

But his current 2016 workload, such as it is, makes Arrieta‘s future look positively peachy.

So much for any concerns about him carrying over last October’s velocity dip. Per the raw data at Brooks Baseball, he sat around 94.5 mph with his heat on Monday night. That’s a tick above the 94.1 mph he averaged last October and right in line with the velocity he had last April.

Also, so much for any concerns about Arrieta carrying over his spring training command struggles. Beyond the one walk, he threw 64 of his 89 pitches for strikes. They were good strikes, too, as he mainly worked lefty batters away and righty batters around the outside corner.

And though he didn’t really need to prove this part, Arrieta‘s stuff was also in good shape. He confirmed as much when he made Mike Trout, perhaps the most dangerous hitter in the American League, look like a chump with this beauty:

This seemingly impossibly good pitch is Arrieta‘s changeup, which is actually his fourth-best pitch. That was one of only three changeups he threw against the Angels, but the sheer quality of that pitch brings up something Arrieta told Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (h/t Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation).

“I’m becoming more comfortable with [the changeup], it’s gotten better every year,” he said, adding:

But to stay sharp with it, you need to work on it on a consistent basis. I use it a lot in my side sessions. It was a pitch for me that I could use from time to time and get some big outs. I want to be able to have that and establish it in just about every start. Just to kind of have another look that guys have to worry about.

Arrieta really didn’t start leaning on his changeup last season until September, but it paid off in a flurry of whiffs when he did. If he has more changeups like the one he fooled Trout with, it wouldn’t be out of the blue if the pitch became a larger part of his dominant routine.

And if not, oh well.

Arrieta still has his military-grade slider and curveball, and those pitches were also in fine form against the Angels. Arrieta got whiffs on a quarter of the breaking balls he threw, which is in line with what he did last year and then some. And even when the Angels made contact against him, they had a hard time getting the ball out of the infield.

In all, Monday looks like just the latest chapter in the story about how hard it is to doubt Arrieta‘s career revival with the Cubs.

The former Baltimore Oriole might have been a fluke when he broke through in 2014, but his 2015 season nixed that idea. And though it was possible to question if Arrieta‘s efforts last season took too much out of him, for now the answer is “not yet.”

If it stays that way, this enormously hyped Cubs team might just be the championship contender the masses want it to be. 

The Cubs may have the best lineup in the National League—if not all of Major League Baseball—but the road to their first World Series title in 108 years is going to go through NL aces like Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Gerrit Cole and Adam Wainwright. If Arrieta can remain his best self, the Cubs will have just the guy to match up against them.

After what he did Monday night, the Cubs must be feeling confident in Arrieta‘s ability to be that guy. Now all he has to do is do it another 35-40 times, and they’ll be on their way.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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A young Chicago Cubs fan knocked his promposal out of the park thanks to Kris Bryant.

The fan, Vince Santoria, tracked down the third baseman before the first pitch of Chicago’s spring training game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday to recruit his help. 

That’s when he snapped the photo above of Bryant holding a sign with the big question: “Julia, will you go to prom with Vince?”

Vince even added “yes” and “no” boxes with “check one” at the bottom of the board. As if Julia really needed the latter option (note the all-caps response):

[Twitter, h/t MLB.com]

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Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is dealing with a blister on his right throwing hand, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. However, he is not expected to miss time during the regular reason.

Continue for updates.

Maddon Comments on Arrieta Blister

Sunday, March 27

Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM noted on Sunday that Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Arrieta will be good to go for Opening Day against the Los Angeles Angels.

“As of right now, it seems to be pretty good,” Maddon said of Arrieta‘s blister on Saturday, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

“(Trainer) P.J. Mainville feels very strongly that’s he’ll be fine. He thought it was a lot better immediately the next day. So let’s just see what happens. When (a blister developed Thursday), we didn’t jump to any conclusions. Just play it all the way through.”

On Friday, Maddon expressed concern over the blister:

“[Blisters] can become more chronic and you don’t want that to happen,” Maddon said, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Opening Day is very prestigious. So’s winning the World Series.”

“We don’t want to lose him, we don’t want to miss him, but I don’t think it’s anything awful,” Maddon said on March 24, per Muskat. 

Cubs Pitching Coach Discusses Arrieta

Sunday, March 27

Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com noted that “Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio calls [Arrieta‘s] blister a ‘complete nonissue‘ after Sunday’s side session.”

Arrieta Comments on Blister

Friday, March 25

“It’s good, we’re good,” Arrieta said, per Levine. “No one’s dying.”

“It really won’t be a problem at all,” Arrieta noted, according to Muskat. “It really wasn’t even a blister. From the environment here, the skin, having to deal with dry skin, cracking all that stuff, it’s just managing it. Once we get out of Arizona, it’ll no longer be an issue at all.”

“[We] noticed in the bullpen I was having a hard time with it,” Arrieta added, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “No point in staying out there and having the same thing happen over and over again to each hitter.”

Arrieta Developed Into League’s Best Pitcher in 2015

Arrieta got off to a rocky start in his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles before coming to Chicago and lighting it up over the past two years. The 30-year-old veteran has a tale of resilience that can leave quite an impression on a Cubs clubhouse filled with supremely talented youngsters.

Arrieta posted a 22-6 record and a 1.77 ERA last season to help the Cubs to the National League Championship Series. In his first two playoff starts, Arrieta defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a complete-game shutout and won his next time out against the St. Louis Cardinals.

There’s little cause for concern regarding Arrieta‘s long-term outlook in what figures to be a rather insignificant injury. His troubles in Baltimore stemmed from injuries and control problems, which have seldom surfaced with the exception of Thursday, when again, he was dealing with a mere blister.

Shoulder tightness loomed before the 2014 campaign for Arrieta, but he wound up fine en route to a 10-5 record with a 2.53 ERA. He’s been quite durable since arriving in the Windy City, so there’s no reason to press him back into action.

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One alarming concern for the Chicago Cubs is a bone chip in Jon Lester‘s throwing elbow.

On Friday, Lester said it’s been a “non-issue,” according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times:

It’s just a matter of hopefully it stays put, and we don’t have any worry about it. And then if it does become a concern, if I start having inflammation or missing starts because of it, then that’s when we’ll probably sit down and talk to somebody about getting it removed.

As of now, knock on wood, I haven’t had any concern with it.

Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan first reported the chip existed in his new book, The Arm, which is set to be released in April. The book, which discusses the epidemic of elbow injuries suffered by pitchers, chronicles Lester’s path to joining the Cubs.

Lester’s bone chip was discovered when he underwent an MRI in 2014, well before the Cubs signed him to a six-year, $155 million deal in December of that year.

Passan reported (h/t Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic) that Lester’s ulnar collateral ligament—the tissue that, when torn, requires Tommy John surgery—looked fine. Passan noted that “at some point it would warrant surgery,” though doctors weren’t recommending it at the time.

Lester is fearful that surgery could spark a separate injury.

“It’s kind of one of those deals if it’s not bothering you, don’t mess with it,” he said, per Wittenmyer. “You start getting cut on and doing rehab, and that’s when maybe they’re in there, taking that bone chip out, and it puts more stress on something else. You don’t know. If-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it-type thing.”

Lester, who has a track record of good health, was upfront about the issue with the Cubs, who weren’t fazed, per Passan.

The North Siders are a little more than two weeks away from embarking on one of their most highly anticipated seasons in recent memory.

Coming off a 97-win campaign in 2015 that culminated with a berth in the National League Championship Series, expectations are sky-high for the franchise that hasn’t won a title since 1908.

Last year, Lester was overshadowed by NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, who emerged as the ace by the All-Star break. But the hard-hurling lefty will be as vital as any other piece of the team if it hopes to make another lengthy run in October.

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