When the 2016 season began for the Chicago Cubs, there was a lot of pressure and expectations on the young team. Joe Maddon did his best to talk about, using his “Maddonisms” to help drive home the fact the Cubs would be a target. His “Try not to suck” and Embrace the target” were more an open dialogue for the team than anything else.
The Cubs were a young team, but not untested. An unexpected run into the NLCS in 2015 helped to raise the bar for a team that simply hadn’t needed it raised.