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Are Cubs as good as they thought? Welcome to 'baseball reality' for Theo Epstein

From Opening Day until early June, the Cubs almost existed in a dreamlike state, making October baseball at Wrigley Field seem automatic. Winning 97 games and two playoff rounds last year — plus an offseason splurge on free agents that cost almost $290 million — equaled the game’s most dominant team.

One that might challenge the 2001 Seattle Mariners and their 116 wins, with enough elite homegrown talent and promises of big-market spending power to make Cubs fans dream about a New York Yankees-style dynasty.

And then the Cubs started breaking down in every phase of the game, feeling the effects from injuries and a brutal schedule, getting no days off between June 17 and July 10, losing 15 of their last 21 games before the All-Star break.