What do we know about this Cubs team? I'm really not sure anymore.  I know that the team is talented.  I know that the team has some issues.  It's close to the end of May though and I cannot point out many members of this team that I can definitively say are going to be quality players or not this year.  Everybody has great potential and question marks associated with them.

Lee, Bradley, and Fontenot are all heating up, but they all have questions about how good they're actually supposed to be.  Lee has questions about age and decline, Bradley has questions about transitioning from the hitting rich haven of Texas, and Fontenot had questions of how good he would be as a full-time starter.  Soriano's struggling, but you can never tell if it's decline with him due to age or if he's just waiting for one of his patented hot streaks.  Theriot is still chugging along, but anytime you change your swing as dramatically as he has done over the last two months it becomes hard to establish any sort of baseline for his production.  Fukudome is still doing quite well, but there will be the whispers of if he can play a full season until he does it.  Soto has really struggled, which has started to bring up the questions if his two unbelievable years were just that or if it is just a prolonged cold streak.  The only hitter that has really been consistent in the Cubs lineup over the last few years is Ramirez, and now he has question marks all over him coming back from the injury.

The same is true in the rotation.  Z and Harden have health issues that impact their production, both in the number of starts they make and in the quality of starts they make when they do start.  Dempster last year made making a norm for him almost impossible.  Plus now we learn he's been battling a blister for the last two months, and who knows how that has affected his production which has been lackluster?  Lilly and Marshall seem the only two who will maintain a reasonable consistency.

Normally, you can point to several players on your roster and say that these are the people who are going to carry the team.  The Cubs cannot do that.  They simply don't have many players who are good bets to be majorly productive.  However, what the Cubs also have is a dearth of players who you point to and say that they simply don't have the talent to play a key role on a ballclub.  The Cubs have plenty of players who could be top 10 in the majors at their position.  It's almost like dealing with prospects with the Cubs this season.  They all have so much talent that if some of them pan out, the Cubs have a good record.  I don't know about you, but I'm interested to keep tuning in and seeing who breaks out and matches or exceeds their expectations this season.  This is a frustrating club, but it's also a fascinating one to watch because you truly have no idea what is going to happen next.