(670 The Score) The Cubs have heard the talk surrounding their 2019 season, with some pundits and projections expecting them to disappoint. There's a belief in some circles that the Cubs are no longer the hunted.
If so, that's just fine with them.
"We like being the hunters," Ben Zobrist said on the McNeil & Parkins Show on Tuesday afternoon.
The Cubs won 95 games in 2018 but fell to the Brewers in Game 163 with the National League Central crown at stake and then were eliminated in the NL wild-card game by the Rockies a night later. That was a precursor to some unkind projections for the Cubs in 2019, including from Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA algorithm, which predicts they will go 79-83 and finish last place in the NL Central.
The Cubs have taken notice.
"Whatever those predictions are, especially if they're unfavorable to us, it's just bulletin board material," Zobrist said. "It's something to motivate us to be just even better and be the hunters. We like having the target on our back, but we also like going after something. We're excited about the pursuit again this year and separating ourselves from the field."
For the 37-year-old Zobrist, who's entering the final season of a four-year deal with the Cubs, this season will be different. He hasn't committed to playing baseball beyond 2019 and is approaching this as if it could be his final season.
Zobrist considered himself a level-five player, a line used by manager Joe Maddon that refers to accomplishing personal goals during a career. With that comes helping younger teammates stay motivated toward the goal of winning a World Series.
"For me, it is all level-five and trying to help young guys get to that same place," Zobrist said. "We all know that if we're able to get back to the top of the mountain again this year and win the World Series, ultimately all those individual things that you really want to do, they're going to be accomplished, too. But the focus first and foremost on winning as a ballclub. If we all do that, the numbers are going to end up being there."
