This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on May 8, 2016.

By Nick Tavares
Pʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ Tᴇɴsᴇ

It’s early in the season and bold predictions still have a high likelihood of blowing up and looking idiotic by the time the playoffs start.

But I’d like to go out on a limb with this one: The Cubs are really, really good.

So perhaps that’s not the riskiest statement ever. They were really good last year, of course, winning 97 games and advancing to the National League Championship Series with a team full of rookies and, occasionally, David Ross.

But even with that foundation, the start the Cubs are off to has been more than a little ridiculous.

The 21-6 record entering this weekend was enough to raise eyebrows. They were 14-13 at the same point last season, still waiting for some of the younger players to hit their stride and just before Jake Arrieta really took off in his domination of the league.

This year, there’s been no waiting. Arrieta has already thrown another no-hitter and practically makes national news when he gives up a run.

Truly, Arrieta alone is worth the cost of an expanded cable package. He’s 6-0 entering his Sunday start against Washington. He’s only surrendered four earned runs all year. He has an 0.84 ERA and an adjusted ERA+ of 497, which leads the National League and is behind only the quietly magnificent Jordan Zimmermann in Detroit. Arrieta is in a contract year and is pitching with an eye on Clayton Kershaw’s title as the game’s highest-paid starter.

Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo already has nine home runs and Dexter Fowler leads the league in on-base percentage. Addison Russell and Javier Baez are settling into the game and getting better. In addition to Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey and Jason Hammel have been solid leading into a strikeout-heavy bullpen.

Their success has been enough to mask Jason Heyward’s .573 OPS and the loss of Kyle Schwarber, perhaps the biggest power threat in a loaded lineup, to an ACL tear in his second game.

That they’ve been good isn’t even the whole story. It’s how much better they’ve been than every single team that’s just as headline worthy. Their run differential so far is +96, which is 49 runs better than the next-best team, the Nationals. For context, the Red Sox are in first place in the A.L. East with a +26 mark. The Cubs run differential for the entire 2015 season was just +81.

Through all of this, there’s still an edge and a sense that the Cubs aren’t totally satisfied with their play. Certainly, that extends to manager Joe Maddon, who defended his players after barbs were traded and Ben Zobrist was hit with a pitch during their series in Pittsburgh.

But again, he’s keeping his team relaxed. He hired a mariachi band to play in the Cubs’ clubhouse before their game on Cinco de Mayo and had the team wear ridiculous suits on the plane to start the trip. It’s baseball, it’s a long season and it helps to keep things loose.

And it’s obviously early. The history books are littered with teams who lit it up in April and found themselves on the outside looking in by October. Having an amazing first five weeks does not make the Cubs the next ’27 Yankees or Big Red Machine yet. But that doesn’t mean we can’t step back in awe while this is happening.

At the very base of it, the Cubs are really good. That’s reason enough to pay attention.

Nick Tavares' column appears Sundays in The Standard-Times and at SouthCoastToday.com. He can be reached at nick@nicktavares.com