The Cubs spent most of the first month of the 2018 campaign trading off wins and losses.
They were never able to put together a quality stretch of games and the reason was ridiculoulsy easy to find: The starting pitching had been shockingly ineffective.
The resumes of Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana plus the predicted potential of Tyler Chatwood meant nothing for the first four weeks.
With May just around the corner, it's safe to say the Cubs rotation has rounded into form nicely.
As they hosted the division-rival Brewers into town over the weekend, the starting staff put together maybe the best run ever in a four-game series, allowing just one unearned run and 17 baserunners in 27 innings. They also have turned in six straight quality starts.
A week ago, not one Cubs starter had ventured into the seventh inning. Now, they've accomplished that milestone in 5 of the last 6 games with only Darvish failing to do so in his start Friday.
Without making excuses, the Cubs pointed to an inconsistent schedule for the first few weeks. Starting pitchers are creatures of habit and they were unable to get into any sort of rhythm with so many rain/snow outs and weather issues.
MLB
Even when the Cubs did play, they've had to endure record-setting terrible conditions, from cold to wind to rain or snow.
The weather in Chicago is expected to climb into the 70s for the coming week and the Cubs rotation appears to have gotten hot along with Mother Nature.