David Ross On Chicago Cubs: ‘We’ll Get Better From This’

The Chicago Cubs started the 2016 MLB season in impressive fashion and immediately became the front-runners to win the World Series. It was an amazing and historic start to the season, but the team has slowed down in a big way over the last few weeks.

After the big start that they put together, the Cubs have lost 14 of their last 19 games following the loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday evening.

David Ross is one of the top veteran leaders for the Cubs and isn’t allowing the losing streak to get him down. He believes that the team will be just fine. During a radio interview o the Mully and Hanley Show, Ross made it clear that he thinks the Cubs will be a better team coming out of the losing streak.

“The end goal is to be as good as we can at the end of the year. These times here test you and make you better as a team to withstand some adversity later on in the year. It’s a learning process. These 162 games, it’s a grind, it’s a roller coaster, and you go through some ups and downs. Right now, we’re kind of at a point where we’re not playing so great. But I think we’re going to get better from this.”

There is no question that the Cubs, who fell to 52-34 on the season after the loss to Pittsburgh, are a bit frustrated. Chicago fans, on the other hand, are in all out panic mode.

Jake Arrieta was one of baseball’s most dominant starting pitchers all of last season and at the start of this year. He has fallen off in a big way in recent starts and has become average. Chicago also hasn’t seen their incredibly high-powered offense show up on a consistent basis like they did early on.

While it is understandable to have some concern about the Cubs’ struggles, they are still one of the top teams in baseball and are sitting atop the NL Central division.

Even with the struggles, the Cubs still have the same talent that they had earlier in the year when they were the hottest team in baseball. They have the pieces to get things back on track. Heading into the All-Star break, Joe Maddon and company will have time to sit back and take a look at what the problems are and fix them.

One of the biggest issues for the Cubs to figure out is their bullpen problems. They have reportedly been interested in acquiring New York Yankees’ star reliever Andrew Miller ahead of the MLB trade deadline. That move alone could fix one of the biggest problems that Chicago has, which is closing out games.

Ross is completely correct that the Cubs will come out of their struggles better as a team. Every MLB season is full of roller coaster emotions and up-and-down success rates. Chicago still has the talent necessary to make a run at their first World Series victory since 1908.

Looking back in recent sports history, there was another highly scrutinized star-studded team that had a rough go of things and ended up winning a championship. LeBron James joined the Miami Heat and there were some issues throughout the regular season in his first season with them. When everything was said and done, he led the Heat to four straight NBA Finals appearances and won two of them.

Expect to see the Cubs break out of their slump coming out of the All-Star break and get back to being one of the most dominant teams in baseball.

Do you think the Chicago Cubs will get things turned around in the near future? Do you still view them as a favorite to win the World Series? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!

[AP Photo/Paul Beaty]