Are the Cubs This Good?

The Chicago Cubs, everybody's choice for 2016's best team in baseball, promptly lost one of their top sluggers and consequently have skidded to a 25-6 record. Can they keep this up?

The obvious answer is no, no team is winning 80% of its games over a 162-game schedule. It's unlikely the Cubs win 25 in any other 31 game stretch this season.

That said, here's something else we know about a team that starts 25-6: it's not just a fluke. This is not only the best start for the franchise in 109 years, it's also a harbinger.

For one thing, the Northsiders have assembled a formidable roster on both sides of the ball. They've scored the most runs and allowed the fewest. Their run differential of +103 is not only 50 more than the next best team, it's more runs than the Braves have scored.

For another thing, mediocre teams don't win 25 of 31. That 1907 Cubs contingent? A not-too-shabby 107-45 and a World Series title. In fact, since 1936, eight teams have kicked off the season winning 24 of their first 30; seven of them made the World Series.

Is there anything that suggests this Baby Bear squad will fall back to the pack? Not with a young lineup, a veteran pitching staff, plenty of ready reserves on the farm, a top-3 manager and one of the best front offices in the game. 

But what Spring sows, Summer and Fall can burn. Joe Maddon has to navigate his team through 130 more games during which complacency and injury will be constant threats.