CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 28: <> at Wrigley Field on October 28, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
David Ross, the 2016 World Series champion turned Cubs manager, may just be the perfect leader for this upcoming season.
After the Chicago Cubs finally broke their 108-year long World Series championship drought in the fall of 2016, many were singing the praises of then-manager Joe Maddon as one of the best managers in the MLB. Just a few years later, Maddon was let go from the Cubs after getting knocked out of the Wild Card round in 2018 and then missing out on the playoffs altogether in 2019.
Chicago spent the offseason searching for a new skipper and landed on former catcher David Ross.
Ross has never been a baseball manager before, but he did spend an incredibly short amount of time, only a few weeks, as a special assistant in the Cubs’ front office before being hired as an analyst by ESPN.
Despite zero coaching experience, Ross was a beloved player during his time in Chicago, including when he was on the 2016 championship squad. He was also a revered leader among his teammates and had the respect and support of everyone in the organization.
Ross is a brand new manager, but has the leadership qualities and support of his players to lead the Cubs to success.
As Ross is coming back to be a member of the Cubs in totally new circumstances, he still has the admiration of the players, no matter if he played with them in the past or not.
One of these new players that has praised Ross is Steven Souza Jr., who was in Tampa Bay when Ross was finishing out his career in Chicago.
When asked about Ross, Souza said that he was “unbelievable” and is “built for this job.”
Ross may not have any sort of coaching or managerial experience, but it is clear that he has the respect and support of his players.
While he will ultimately be judged as a manager on how many wins he can obtain, if Ross is able to lead the 2020 Cubs as a manager like he led the 2016 Cubs as a player, he can certainly have some immediate success. A shortened regular season definitely doesn’t hurt either.