SB Nation Reacts: Confidence in the Cubs is way up

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in Chicago Cubs fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

You might recall that at one point earlier this year, the SB Nation Reacts survey had confidence in the Cubs’ 2021 season was as low as 8 percent.

According to the most recent survey, though, that number is way up. In that most recent survey, 58 percent of Cubs fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction. That’s the highest figure in this survey for the entire 2021 season and is up from 36 percent last week and 14 percent two weeks ago.

You all know the reasons for that change, the outstanding play of the team over the last two weeks, led in no small part by guys who weren’t even on the radar earlier this year, like Patrick Wisdom and Kohl Stewart. Team stars like Kris Bryant, Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo are also performing at or above career norms.

There is also no shortage of stars spread around the league this season, and the current Reacts survey asked who fans think is baseball’s most exciting player.

According to fans surveyed, Los Angeles Angels’ designated hitter pitcher superstar Shohei Ohtani is the most exciting player in the league. The two-way star earned 44 percent of the vote, beating out Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. who took 27 percent. Javy Baez earned nine percent of the vote.

Ohtani has become the first successful two-way player since Babe Ruth’s time. However, fans aren’t convinced it’s something he can do for an entire career.

When forced to pick which of Ohtani’s skills will last him the longest, a strong majority of fans believe he will be able to hit at a major league level longer than his pitching will hold strong.

Ohtani would almost certainly be the biggest star on almost any other team in the league. However, he still hasn’t quite claimed that title on the Angels – but for good reason. Ohtani’s star is still out-shined by outfielder Mike Trout, according to nearly two-thirds of fans.

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