Perfect Cubs transition: Nationals to Phillies

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! I know what you're thinking. Here are the Chicago Cubs we've been waiting for. They just needed a four-day break to rediscover themselves. Their bullpen's coming around! There's Soriano! They have the best starting pitching in baseball! Now, we have to step out of our "Cubs fan suit" for a second and remind ourselves what we really saw this past weekend.

It was the NATIONALS!!! Going into that four-game series, the Washington Nationals were 26-61.That's THIRTY-FIVE games UNDER .500. They're terrible. This is a team still trying to find what direction they're going in, just controversially changed managers, and their only All-Star (Ryan Zimmerman) has been slumping. Now, giving the Nats their due credit, I do believe they're going to be a good team eventually. They have some pieces in place and they will have Stephen Strasburg and possibly Bryce Harper up in the next few years. They are a team that has excellent patience at the plate and some solid young players (i.e. Zimmerman, Nyjer Morgan, Garrett Mock, John Lannan). But they're NINE games behind the Cleveland Indians, the team with the second worst record in baseball. 

Now, don't get me wrong. There were some real positives coming out of that series. It sure was nice to see Sori hit the ball out of the park. Matter of fact, it was nice to see Sori hit the ball at all. Rich Harden's excllent outing on Thursday was a real positive and a confidence-booster for the rest of the season. The bullpen's been great, Jake Fox is proving to be an everyday producer, and they're finally getting production out of their lower spots in the lineup. And all in all, regardless of who it is, a four-game road sweep of a Major League team is, at best, unexpected, and more importantly quite helpful in the hunt for their third consecutive division title. 

But, here's where it gets interesting. The Cubs go from playing the worst team in baseball to the defending World Series Champs. The Philadelphia Phillies have the second best record in the National League and are entering this series on an eight game winning streak. They have been playing much better at home lately and they have arguably the scariest lineup in baseball. This is where we see who the real Chicago Cubs are. If they are serious about contending for the National League Central title, they need to perform this series. The Cardinals don't appear to be a team that's going to fade and the Cubs cannot rely on beating the bad teams all season, mainly because their second-half schedule is pretty tough. So, are they a contender or pretender? Let's score some runs! Cubs vs. Phillies. Tonight at 6:05 CDT.