With Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish and Kris Bryant, Cubs relying heavily on hope

The Cubs have the best record in the National League, so it might seem odd that they would be overly reliant on something as ordinary as hope going forward.

But for them to get to where they want to go this season, they’ll have to rely on an extra helping of hope.

The trade that brought starter Cole Hamels from the Rangers was met by a decent amount of yawns in Chicago, mostly because the Cubs weren’t able to land one of the top pitchers on the market. But he’s better than nobody at all, which sounds defeatist but isn’t. The Cubs need arms. The hope — our word of the day — is that Hamels will be so excited to be part of a playoff contender again that he’ll revert to being the pitcher who went 15-5 with a 3.32 ERA in 2016. More to the point, the hope is that he’ll leave his 5-9 record and 4.72 ERA this season on the side of a Texas highway.

You want something that really will pander to feelings of hope? In his previous two starts before facing the Cubs on July 25, 2015, Hamels had a combined 19.89 ERA for the Phillies. Then he came to Wrigley Field and threw a no-hitter, the first against the Cubs since Dodgers great Sandy Koufax no-hit them in 1965. Six days later, the Phillies traded Hamels to the Rangers.

Maybe the Cubs will make him better again.

There are a lot of miles on Hamels’ 34-year-old left arm. The Cubs are praying that there’s enough life in it to help solve their pitching puzzle, which involves a reliever, Mike Montgomery, being used as a starter.

But Hamels is amateur hour in the hope department compared to right-hander Yu Darvish. Last Sunday, Cubs president Theo Epstein said the team can’t bank on Darvish being a presence down the stretch. He has been injured or sick for much of the season.

‘‘[He is] factored in,’’ Epstein said, ‘‘but I think if you put yourself in a position where you’re overly reliant on something that hasn’t been dependable up to this point and then it doesn’t come through, that’s probably more on you than on the fates.’’

I think Epstein is being nice, so as to not put any more pressure on Darvish than is already there. The Cubs are very much counting on Darvish, though maybe we’re dealing in semantics here. They are hoping and praying Darvish’s right triceps will get better in time to help them in the stretch run and into the playoffs. How’s that? Better than saying they absolutely, positively must have him back if they want to have any chance of winning another World Series? Less pressure? Good. They need him, and it has nothing to do with the massive contract they gave him in the offseason. They need Darvish in top form to have a chance against the Red Sox, Yankees or Astros.

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They traded for Hamels to shore up the rotation, but Epstein goes to bed at night dreaming of Yu standing on the mound in October.

Speaking of hopes, prayers and dreams, third baseman Kris Bryant is the subject of all of them inside and outside of the Cubs’ dugout. His injured left shoulder recently sent him to the disabled list for the second time in a month. Since returning from the DL on July 11, he hasn’t been the hitter we’re used to seeing, going 10-for-40 with two home runs and nine strikeouts. And now he has reinjured the shoulder he first hurt on a slide in May.

The fear isn’t that Bryant will fail to return this season because of the shoulder injury. The fear is that he’ll return as the reduced player he has been for much of the season.

But hold on. We’re talking about hope here. The Cubs, with aspirations of October success, are hoping Bryant can work out the soreness in his shoulder and return as the player who won the 2016 NL Most Valuable Player.

Manager Joe Maddon said he thinks the Cubs can win the division without Bryant for a long stretch. Now that’s faith.

A lot of fingers are crossed on the North Side, an odd reality for a first-place team. Right now, all of it has the feel of someone trying to keep the plates spinning at the same time. The Cubs are doing a good job of it, winning games without some of their marquee players. Now they’ve added Hamels, betting on his past more than his present.

And pay no attention to closer Brandon Morrow’s biceps injury.

Hope is everywhere. The preference would be for certainty to be everywhere. But you work with what you have.

Sun-Times sports columnists Rick Morrissey and Rick Telander are co-hosts of a new podcast called “The Two Ricks: Unfiltered.” Don’t miss their candid, amusing takes on everything from professional teams tanking to overzealous sports parents and more. Download and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Google Play, or via RSS feed.