Before the season started, the M.O. on the Cubs was clear: They were a very good team with great pitching, a solid, balanced lineup, and a little more speed than in 2008. If all went well, they should win the NL Central handily. Sounds about right.

But the dark side of that M.O. was that by signing outfielder Milton Bradley, and relying on Derrek Lee (aging), Rich Harden (always injured) or Carlos Zambrano (too many pitches), injuries could very easily derail that prediction. The Cubs could be great. If they get hurt -- and they seem more likely to do so than other teams in the NL Central -- they wouldn't win a thing.

Throughout that discussion, catcher Geovany Soto's name rarely came up. After all, Soto is a young buck, and his first full season saw him play in 141 games. Surely there are no injury concerns there, right?

Unfortunately, yes, there are; Soto is having shoulder issues, and there's a chance he could hit the disabled list. If there was a way to sigh, but have it be really emphatic, that's what we'd be doing right now. Emphatic sigh.

The good news is that it doesn't appear to be serious. The bad news is that if the players even the Cubs didn't factor injuries in for start dropping like flies, well, it's going to be a long season. Health, people. Drink your Wheaties, and eat your milk. We really can't stress this enough.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.