Who are these guys and what have they done with the Cubs we know so well? This has got to be the question on the mind of every Cubs fan, all over the world. With 8 players on the roster batting over .300, the Cubs are off to their most promising start in recent history. Although they started off with a relatively easy schedule, that included 6 games with the Pirates (all wins), the Cubs swept their 2 game series with the (former) NL East leading New York Mets and extending their winning streak to 5, and putting them eight games over the .500 mark.

The Cub that has gotten off to the most impressive start is Derrek Lee. Typically, a slow starter, Lee leads all Cubs in HRs, AVG, and RBI. Kosuke Fukudome in his first month in the majors has already looked like a star, and with Aramis Ramirez heating up, the middle of the Cubs order is downright scary. Reed Johnson has been a pleasant surprise and Geovany Soto is becoming a well above average offensive force. The Cubs have also run into a good problem at shortstop with Ryan Theriot coming off a 4 hit game against the Pirates and Ronny Cedeno coming through with several clutch hits in the recent 2 game set with New York. The scariest part of the offense however, may just be that the Cubs are doing all of this without Alfonso Soriano, who remains out with a calf injury. Bringing yet even more hope to the northsiders, is the starting pitching. After a rough first week of starts, the rotation has settled in nicely. A solid outing today by Ted Lilly combined with Rich Hill and Jason Marquis wins last week and the dominance of Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster, has the rotation looking better than ever.

The Cubs are clearly the favorite in the NL Central, as the Brewers and Cardinals hit pitching woes of their own. The big question is, can they keep it up? With tomorrow comes the start of a 5 game road-trip to Colorado, and the nations’ capital. Watch out Rockies, the Cubs train rolls into town Wednesday night.

Mike