MESA, Ariz. \u2014 The Chicago Cubs are not shying away from lofty goals.<\/p>\n
Pitchers and catchers held their first spring training workout Wednesday, and on Day 1 they already are embracing the challenges they will face over the next nine months.<\/p>\n
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3 Chicago Cubs storylines to watch in spring training, including how they will optimize their bench<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t talk about them they\u2019re not real, so we\u2019ve got to absolutely talk about our goals,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cEverybody in this industry wants expectations. You work hard to get expectations. \u2026 You work really hard to build a roster that has expectations, work really hard to get on a team that has expectations. So that\u2019s what we want.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re truly excited that we have expectations. It\u2019s not easy to get them.\u201d<\/p>\n Coming off a 92-win season and National League Division Series appearance<\/a> elevates the standard of what this group can accomplish.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s unfinished business,\u201d president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Wednesday. \u201cIn a lot of ways, that\u2019s the best kind of spring training when there\u2019s hunger. So I think the expectations don\u2019t create anxiety, they create hunger with this group, and this group\u2019s excited to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs aren\u2019t going to be a plucky underdog. They come into camp projected to be one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. Anything less than a playoff appearance and deeper run in October would be an underwhelming season. Returning all but one of their starting position players plus signing star third baseman Alex Bregman with Kyle Tucker\u2019s departure<\/a> gives the Cubs a proven group to complement a rotation that added hard-throwing right-hander Edward Cabrera<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a place now where guys are coming to necessarily just hope they can steal some playing time \u2014 we have a good reputation on the coaching side and the development side, but I also think guys come here now expecting to win, which is a cool shift to see and feel,\u201d veteran starter Jameson Taillon said. \u201cThe work seems different than years\u2019 past. I know it\u2019s a spring training clich\u00e9, but guys show up and it doesn\u2019t seem as rah-rah exciting, it seems more like let\u2019s-get-to-work exciting, if that makes sense, so it should be an exciting year.\u201d<\/p>\n