Through good times and bad, Cubs can fill up on NL Central cooking

The Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber reacts after striking out against the Giants on Thursday. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)

The Cubs were good, are good, will be good and however else you want to say, “I wouldn’t sweat the first two months too much.”

I say that with confidence, having seen enough of the National League Central to know the division is the gift that should keep on giving for the Cubs. You know what you call the Brewers, Cardinals, Reds and Pirates? Comfort food.

These are not bad teams. The Cardinals can be a tough out. The Brewers have had a fine start but look ready to return to Planet Earth. The Pirates are without one of their best players, Starling Marte, who is serving an 80-game steroid suspension, which might be why he’s one of their best players. And the Reds? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Aside from the Cubs, there are no teams in the Central with the potential to be great. This isn’t 2015, and there are no 97- and 98-victory Cubs and Pirates teams as an answer to a 100-victory Cardinals team. Not even close.

On Thursday, the Cubs took sole possession of first place in for the first time in three weeks, and they reached a season-high four games above .500 for the only the third time this season. That’s a shrug of a start. By the standards of a World Series champion, it’s not nearly good enough.

Last year, they went 50-25 in the Central. Only the Washington Nationals, at 51-25, had a better division record, in the NL East.

So far this season, the Cubs are 15-11 in the division. That doesn’t mean the Cardinals, et al., are stronger than the picture I’m painting here. It means the Cubs haven’t played well.

Their defense has to improve, as does the starting pitching, though there have been signs of life in both categories. Injuries can change everything, of course. But the one thing in the Cubs’ favor this season, the guaranteed slump buster, is the mediocrity of the division. We don’t know if the Cubs are good enough to flip a switch and start playing better when they feel like it. We do know that the Central can flip a switch for them.

Or, to put it another way, the chances of the Cubs bouncing back from their unremarkable start are a lot better than the Cardinals topping last season’s total of 86 victories. I know that’s a risky statement, given how consistent the Cardinals have been over the years. Just when you count them out, they surprise you, and all that. But I just don’t see it.

Their pitching has been good, though ace Adam Wainwright has struggled. Opponents are hitting .316 against him. The team that led the NL in home runs last season is second from last in that category this year. This isn’t your standard-issue Cardinals team that loses key players, inserts replacements you haven’t heard of and goes about winning a ton of games.

The Brewers have hit well enough, but was it realistic to think that Eric Thames, who spent the last three seasons tearing up pitching in South Korea, would continue on the pace he was on? No, it was not. His slugging percentage, which was a silly .810 in April, is .373 in May. He recently has been dealing with leg problems, including cramps. It’s also possible he’s dealing with major-league-pitching problems.

The difference between the Cubs and the rest of the division is depth. Jake Arrieta and John Lackey can struggle, and it drops the team to above average. A lot has been made of Kyle Schwarber’s struggles at the plate so far this season, but if Jason Heyward’s sad attempts at hitting last season proved anything, it’s that this team can still win a World Series despite a frozen bat or two.

That isn’t the case with the rest of the teams in the division. They need everything going right.

The Brewers were rightly seething when the Cubs called off a game May 20 because of the threat of rain that never came. Maybe Cubs manager Joe Maddon has identified the Brewers as a real threat and was playing mind games with Craig Counsell, his Milwaukee counterpart. Or maybe Joe needed time to plan for his next dress-up party. Whatever the reason, you couldn’t help but look at the Cubs’ rainout decision and see a thought bubble above their heads that said, “It’s good to be the king.”

It’s hard to see the king not righting itself. Will these Cubs be as good as the 2016 Cubs? I don’t know. I do know the division will bring them together, and make them whole. The NL Central: holistic Cubs healer.

Follow me on Twitter @MorrisseyCST.

Email: rmorrissey@suntimes.com