Cubs have high expectations, but they realize it will be a long haul

The wait is over. The preparations have been made. The Cubs’ table is ready.

It’s time to play ball.

“It’s here,” third baseman Alex Bregman said.

It’s going to be an Opening Day that will get the juices flowing for Bregman, 32, who signed a five-year, $175 million contract as a free agent in the offseason. This will be his 11th season, and the gleam in his eye still suggests a sincerity about everything that Opening Day at Wrigley Field will be when the Cubs host the Nationals at 1:20 p.m. Thursday.

“The excitement is at an all-time high for me,” Bregman said. “First year with the Cubs, experiencing Opening Day at Wrigley is going to be incredible.”

Bregman has played before raucous crowds in high-stakes games, including the World Baseball Classic two weeks ago.

He has played 10 seasons, all but one in Houston, where he played in four World Series, winning two. And he’s going to be nervous.

“Opening Day jitters? Oh, yeah,” Bregman said. “When you lose that, it’s time to hang ’em up. -Every Opening Day, there are nerves and excitement. This being a new chapter in my career adds excitement to it, as well.”

As first impressions with a new team go, Bregman has played to strong reviews this spring for his attention to detail, preparation and willingness to share information with teammates. The intangibles have value, but the kind of production he showed during camp — a team-high five home runs, four doubles, two strikeouts and a 1.869 OPS in 21 at-bats over nine games — would have more of an impact on winning than anything.

“It was a good spring training,” he said. “Guys are focused, motivated and ready to compete. We have a good ballclub capable of making a deep run in October, but we know the season doesn’t start in October. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to take care of.”

Everyone from manager Craig Counsell to the every-day players and pitchers has dwelled on the one-game-at-a-time approach. When there are 162 to play before the postseason, it’s the only way to survive and succeed.

“There are these expectations and all these things,” right-hander Cade Horton said, “but what this team is good at is focusing on the day-to-day process. Coming in and getting work, going about it the right way. Hopefully, that will take us to where we need to go.”

The Cubs are favored to win the National League Central, but doing so would fall short of their goals.

“The expectations are high, but that’s seven months from now,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “The challenge is, it’s day to day, week to week. That’s where we want to be in seven months, but we get there by playing really good baseball on Thursday. And then doing it again and doing it again.”

Conversations in camp were worthwhile, setting the tone for the 162-game marathon.

“We’re talking about little things that can help us win ballgames,” catcher Carson Kelly said. “This group in particular has a very good mix of veterans and younger guys, a lot of guys who are back from last year who know what it takes and have been to and won the World Series. Having those experiences helps everyone get better, and to know what it takes to win a World Series.”

Bregman said the attention to detail and the focus were evident in camp.

“There’s also a good togetherness that’s important in building a playoff team,” he said.

The mission starts Opening Day, and Happ entered his 10th season with the Cubs at a place where it never gets old.

“Every Opening Day is special, and when you get to have it at Wrigley Field, the fans, the experience, it’s unbelievable,” Happ said. “There will be 40,000 excited people there. Fans have waited all winter. To do it in front of those fans is really special.”