The Cubs' 2-7 start may be distracting, but their big picture goals remain the same

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It sure looked like Opening Day on Monday, with blue and red-clad fans flooding Clark Street, drunk off their first real taste of warm weather, the return of daytime baseball and a bunch of morning beers.

It sure felt like Opening Day on Monday when, with a gentle breeze blowing in, Cubs starter Jon Lester just missed the outside corner with his first pitch — a 90 mile-per-hour fastball — under a cloudless sky.

Take in the whole scene - the Cubs back in pinstripes, the bleachers packed to the gill, the organist playing vaguely-recognizable pop hits - and it’d be hard to blame people for feeling like today was the Cubs’ “real” Opening Day. Maybe a decidedly disastrous (and weird - since when do NL Central teams open on the road in the AL West?) road trip can be left in the rear view mirror? Is it possible to hit that sort of a reset button this early in the year? The Cubs aren’t exactly buying it.

“I think this entire sense of urgency narrative has taken on a life of its own completely outside the clubhouse,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said before the game. “This was a movement where the players and staff — everyone together— assessed ways that we could perform a little better this year and learn some lessons from the way last year ended.

“We came up with a number of things we wanted to focus on, and one of them this year was making sure we apply the appropriate amount of focus and intent and preparation every single day for 162 games. It seems obvious, but with 162 games, sometimes it can be harder than it seems.”

At least outwardly, the prevailing notion around the Cubs has been that they’ve been a bit too hung up on coming out of the gate strong (in his pregame press conference, manager Joe Maddon shot down the idea that they’re “pressing”, but did admit that sometimes the team is ‘trying too hard’). The offense has showed up through the first week or so, but the defense and pitching — the bullpen especially — has already cost the Cubs games.

“The stabilization has to come out of the bullpen,” Maddon said. “We do have to pitch better in general, but we've done a lot of good things on the field. We've swung the bats pretty well. We have to stabilize the bullpen - I thought Kyle (Ryan) did a great job and I thought Webster looked really good yesterday also.”

And while the results haven’t been there yet, the Cubs’ struggles don’t stem from a lack of effort.

“We want to make sure we show up and put our best foot forward every day,” Epstein added. “That storyline is completely over in the clubhouse. I know that until we start winning, it’s going to be perpetuated outside, but our guys are professional, they’re preparing hard each day, they’re showing up focused and ready to win. We just haven’t played well yet.”

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