The Nationals should be a challenge for the Cubs — should be

We erect barriers as a challenge, and the Cubs regard them as if they were made of straw. Regard them with a smirk.

Sure, we said, you can fill up on the empty calories provided by the Reds and the Brewers, but what about the Cardinals, who stack winning seasons like plastic beer cups? The Cubs won two of three in St. Louis last month.

What about the feisty Pirates, who won 98 games last season to the Cubs’ 97? The Cubs just swept the three-game series in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 20-5.

OK, what about the Nationals, who have the second-best record in the National League? The two teams open a four-game series Thursday at Wrigley Field, and surely, this will be the team that finally gives the Cubs a challenge. Right?

Maybe.

Possibly.

But don’t quote me.

Every time we put a measuring stick next to the Cubs, it seems to come up to their shin. On paper, at least, this one figures to be a lot taller. The Nationals are 19-8. They have Max Scherzer, Bryce Harper and a bunch of talented players. Their manager is former Cubs skipper Dusty Baker, who will enjoy coming back to Wrigley with a good team. Washington has all sorts of reasons to want to beat the Cubs, the biggest being that the 20-6 Cubs have the best record in baseball and are, by almost any measure, the best team in baseball. They haven’t lost two games in a row this season and have lost just one series, to Colorado.

They’re the measuring stick for everybody else.

The Cubs won’t have to face Stephen Strasburg, who is off to a hot start. The Nationals will have to face Jake Arrieta, who is off to the Hall of Fame the way he’s going.

The Cubs have played a lot of poor to middling teams so far, and that’s not going to stop this season. There are teams that don’t want to win, hoping to draft higher (sound familiar?), and there are others that are bad for no other reason than they’re bad. But records look worse after running into the Cubs.

And now come the Nationals, who should be a challenge. Should be.