Throughout his career, Jon Lester has called the typical baseball season a roller coaster.
"I think we're on the Six Flags roller coaster right now," the Cubs' veteran pitcher said. "We're not on the kiddie side of anything."
Three-month shutdown. Deadly pandemic. Surgical masks. Empty stadiums. Every-other-day testing for COVID-19.
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"That being said, I think everybody's just glad to be doing it," he said.
As strange as that sounds, maybe that explains it. Maybe the Cubs are just glad to be here.
Anthony Rizzo, the most tenured player in the clubhouse, said that much in February - said how much he intended to enjoy every day of this season because the nine players left from the 2016 championship were on borrowed time as a group, likely to be ripped apart at the trade deadline with a poor start.
Whatever it is that has brought them to this point, get a load of the Cubs five months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down spring training.
After the Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak wiped out the Cubs' series in St. Louis and sidelined them for four days, the Cubs responded by outscoring Cleveland 15-3 to sweep a two-game series - albeit, after that team put two of its best pitchers on the restricted list for violating safety protocols.
The Cubs return home with a 12-3 record that ties its best through 15 games since it went 13-2 in 1907 on the way to a World Series championship. (Of course, the other time it went 12-3 was 1970, when the rest of the season was not so good).
The biggest difference this year, of course, is that 15 games already represents one-fourth of the season, assuming Major League Baseball can pull off this nine-week, 30-team long shot.
So it would be like starting 32-8 in a 162-game season.
Or maybe not a lot different than starting 25-6 - which is what the Cubs did in 2016 on the way to 103 victories and a World Series championship that finished in the same place they just knocked around the best team they've played so far this season. (The Cubs were 11-4 through 15 games in 2016.)
"It's kind of cool," Lester said of the short season. "It's kind of cool to have this pressure on you from Day 1. I think sometimes we can all get into the, 'It's the first month; hey, we've got a long way to go.'
"Obviously, we can't say that. I feel like guys are grinding a little bit more early on. I think it shows in our at-bats. I think it shows in our approach on the mound."
As they open a 10-game homestand Thursday against the Brewers, the Cubs' starting rotation is 11-3 with a 2.65 ERA. After a shaky first week, the bullpen has generally performed well. The fielding is among the best in baseball.
And the lineup just scored seven runs each of the last two nights against a pitching staff that hadn't allowed more than four in a game - after an unexpected layoff.
"There have been so many things going on this whole year I think that nothing's going to faze us now," said Kyle Hendricks (3-1), who pitched six strong innings to win Wednesday.
Talk about a push-button operation for a first-year manager.
"Yeah, you haven't sat in this seat," manager David Ross said with a laugh when it was suggested he had nothing to complain about 15 games into the season.
"We've got good players. That's what it is," he said. "There's nothing to complain about because the talent's there. The character's there. The commitment, the focus, the energy, the work - all those things that seem easy to bring every day; it's not. It's not easy. Especially in this environment we're dealing with now.
"It's all about the players, man."
Maybe adding a designated hitter is a difference maker for a National League team that had the luxury of good developing and platoon hitters on its bench.
"I can't really remember a time playing for this team where it was really like that, where 1 through 9 there was damage all through the order," former MVP Kris Bryant said. "I think it shows in our record and the baseball that we're playing right now, too."
"It's everything right now. Everything's clicking."
Maybe some of it's the right new manager at the right time, like the front office has suggested? Maybe some of it's the growth of Rizzo as a leader and tone-setter in the clubhouse, like Ross suggested?
Maybe it's the kind of urgency and focus the front office talked about last year - but that a 60-game sprint through a COVID-19 minefield demands.
"If I had to compare the mindset this season, it's been more of a playoff scenario," Lester said, "where every day you show up you pay a little bit more attention to detail, a little bit more attention to that scouting report and what you're trying to do.
"You don't have that window to make a mistake. The big thing for us is energy, and I think when we [bring] that, when we show up with energy every day, you see a good product on the field, whether we win or lose."
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Why Cubs say 'nothing's going to faze us now' after historic 12-3 start originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
