By the time the Cubs wrap up their midweek series against the Dodgers, they will have played 26 games, with all but six coming against National League West opponents.
That quirk of the schedule isn’t nothing. The Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks — the three teams accounting for 20 of those 26 games — had three of the five best winning percentages in the NL entering play Monday, with a combined .672 winning percentage.
In other words, the early-season schedule hasn’t been an easy one for the Cubs.
‘‘On paper, we knew this was going to be an April that presented challenges,’’ second baseman Nico Hoerner told the Sun-Times on Saturday. ‘‘There’s different types of challenges throughout a season, but just the quality of opponents and travel, it was a good test of the group. It’s always hard to predict baseball, good or bad, but we knew it’d be a test, and I’ve been impressed with how everyone’s handled everything.’’
Indeed, the North Siders have managed to pass that test with flying colors so far.
In addition to simply playing against such good teams, the Cubs have had to jet all over the country — heck, all over the world — to do so.
They started the season with two games against the Dodgers in Tokyo, then returned to their spring home in Arizona before continuing their regular-season schedule with four games against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. They went up to Sacramento, California, to play the Athletics, finally made it home to Wrigley Field for their first homestand, then flew back to the West Coast for series in Los Angeles and San Diego before returning to Chicago.
Still, the Cubs have managed a 14-10 record in their first 24 games and left their series victory Sunday against the Diamondbacks with, statistically, the best offense in the majors. They entered Monday leading MLB in runs scored (145), hits (218) and walks (97). They led the NL with an .809 OPS and ranked second in the NL with 34 home runs and 31 stolen bases.
Recently against these challenging teams, the Cubs not only have held their own — a 5-4 record across their last three series against the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks — but they sometimes impressed in eye-popping fashion, such as with the 16-0 pounding they gave the Dodgers and with the 13-11 comeback against the Diamondbacks that saw them slug three homers in the eighth inning after blowing a six-run lead.
It’s obviously early and fortunes have a way of changing — fans only need to remember the offensive struggles from last season — but the Cubs so far are accomplishing what they set out to do in the spring. They think they’re a well-rounded bunch that can win games in plenty of ways besides just launching homers on days when the wind is blowing out of Wrigley Field.
‘‘I think we’ve been ourselves,’’ Hoerner said. ‘‘We’ve played really high-quality baseball. We’ve had some tough losses, but it feels like every time we’ve had a tough loss, we’ve responded the next day with a really quality game, which is impressive about the mentality of the group. I’m excited for what’s to come.’’
April games aren’t terribly helpful as measuring sticks in the six-month marathon of a baseball season. How the Cubs are playing now — and how their opponents are playing now — has little to do with how they’ll be playing come October. But the Cubs’ championship-level aspirations figure to have them butting heads against teams such as the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks at some point in that all-important month.
So call it what Hoerner did: a test for a team looking to stand among the NL’s big boys all summer long.
‘‘We’re in a pretty good spot,’’ starting pitcher Jameson Taillon said Sunday. ‘‘We’ve faced great arms, great lineups, and I think we can play with anybody. Just a good reminder there.’’
NOTE: The Cubs acquired left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz, 36, from the Mariners for cash considerations. He had been pitching in Triple-A for the Mariners and will be assigned to Triple-A Iowa.
Pomeranz, who is 48-58 with a 3.91 ERA in his career, last appeared in a major-league game in 2021 with the Padres.
