It was Shane Victorino who set me down this path. Last Thursday, reports emerged that the 35-year-old outfielder had agreed to join the Cubs in camp in Mesa in exchange for a shot at the big-league roster on Opening Night in Anaheim. There’s a number of reasonable ways to react to that news, of course, but none of them are the way I reacted. My first thought upon hearing the news, because I’m a little bit of a nut about championships, was this: “Oh, that brings the Cubs’ ring count up to ten.”
And all I mean by that is this: with Victorino now in the fold, seven different Cubs in camp have won at least one World Series ring, and between them those seven men have won ten rings in total.
Which, whatever. I didn’t come here to make friends talk about Shane Victorino. He’s just the one who caused me to wonder this: which other Cubs have postseason experience, and when? And that led me into an hour-long Baseball-Reference.com rabbit hole, where I came upon something which I think is rather consequential. Let’s dive into it.
Here’s a list of all the Cubs in camp with postseason experience, organized by the highest postseason level which they’ve achieved, and the year(s) in which they achieved that level. Take a gander, and join me afterwards to talk about what it all means:
Wild Card Game: None.*
Division Series: Brandon Gomes (Rays, 2011); Jason Heyward (Braves, 2010; Braves, 2013; Cardinals, 2015); Matt Murton (Cubs, 2007); Manny Parra (Brewers, 2008); Addison Russell (Cubs, 2015).
League Championship Series: Jake Arrieta (Cubs, 2015), Javier Baez (Cubs, 2015); Kris Bryant (Cubs, 2015); Trevor Cahill (Cubs, 2015); Dexter Fowler (Cubs, 2015); Justin Grimm (Cubs, 2015); Jason Hammel (Cubs, 2015); Kyle Hendricks (Cubs, 2015); Tommy La Stella (Cubs, 2015); Miguel Montero (Diamondbacks, 2007; Cubs, 2015); Clayton Richard (Cubs, 2015); Anthony Rizzo (Cubs, 2015); Hector Rondon (Cubs, 2015); Kyle Schwarber (Cubs, 2015); Jorge Soler (Cubs, 2015); Pedro Strop (Cubs, 2015); Travis Wood (Cubs, 2015).
World Series: None.
Champions: John Lackey (Angels, 2002; Red Sox, 2013); Jon Lester (Red Sox, 2007; Red Sox, 2013); Jean Machi (Giants, 2014); Juan Carlos Perez (Giants, 2014); David Ross (Red Sox, 2013); Shane Victorino (Phillies, 2008; Red Sox, 2013); Ben Zobrist (Royals, 2015).
Setting aside for a moment the fact that neither you, nor I, nor pretty much anyone else remembered that Jean Machi or Juan Carlos Perez were World Champions in 2014 (they’re both non-roster invitees this year), let’s talk about the big blue clump in the middle of the block of text above. You’ll note, I hope, that of the 28 Cubs in camp with playoff time under their belt, 17—fully 60 percent—reached the highest postseason level of their careers last year, and reached it with the Cubs.
(If you want to push the numbers up slightly, add Addison Russell to that list, who would have certainly played in the 2015 NLCS had he not tweaked his hamstring one series earlier.)
That’s a big number, and I think it’s deeply meaningful as we think about this team’s mental state heading into the 2016 season. For 17 men in Cubs camp, last year finished with a trip as close to the top of the mountain as they’ve ever been. And they’re itching to go back, and climb higher.
Don’t just take it from me.“Last year was good,” David Ross told Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci last week. “Really good. But this year, I don’t want to say it’s night and day, but it’s even better. The young players have a year under their belts, the postseason experience … and everybody thinks in terms of, what can I do to help the team [win a championship]. I’m telling you, it’s special. It’s genuine.”
Indeed. Cubs players won’t ever feel again the way they felt in 2015, when the team was young and fresh and untested, and the burden of high expectations had not yet fallen heavily on their shoulders. Winning a title in 2015 would have been special in a way that winning a title in 2016 could never be. If the Cubs win it all this year, it’ll be because they were the best team on paper, and they delivered on that potential. But if the Cubs had won last year, it would have been unexpected. And, sure, there’s a magic in that.
But there’s also magic to be found in the completion of unfinished business, and the Cubs—most of whom ended last year as close to the summit as they’ve ever been—now have a lot of unfinished business on their minds. That’s new, and that’s led to the sense of purpose Ross identified in the Verducci quote. I’m certain, moreover, that it’ll pay dividends for the team down the line. There’s nothing like having been somewhere before to help you get there again.
When the bright lights shine on Kyle Hendricks yet again in 2016, he’ll know where his focus needs to be, because he’ll have performed under those lights before. When Jake Arrieta is asked to take the mound for a critical game late in October, he won’t have to wonder how he’ll react to the pressure. He’ll know. And when Anthony Rizzo faces down a fireballing closer with the eyes of the nation on him, all he’ll be thinking about is the next pitch. He and the team he leads have already been tested in the fire of the postseason, found themselves equal to it, and now wish only to prove themselves greater.
A title in 2015 would have been a glorious end to a glorious season. But its absence has forged in this young Cubs team a core of purpose and resolve that couldn’t be achieved any other way. So as they methodically go about their business this spring, it’s the bitter taste and bright lights of last season’s playoff demise that are giving them all the motivation they need to stay focused on their ultimate goal.
*Everyone else on the spring roster (35 names—spring rosters are big) has either never tasted the postseason, in any capacity, or has not yet made their big-league debut.
Lead photo courtesy Jerry Lai—USA Today Sports.