Cubs' challenge starts with real-deal Reds in formidable NL Central

At least there was good news Friday when Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner trudged off the field and into the dugout in the second inning, unable to continue playing due to the tightness in his neck:

He didn’t clip the railing or stumble off a step and take any teammates out with him.

The walking-wounded Cubs, who’ve sent seven pitchers alone to the injured list since the start of the season, had to call that a win.

“It’s been a resilient group,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said.

Given the Cubs’ 20-12 record entering the second game of a weekend series against the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, that assessment was right on the money.

Cubs fans should enjoy the rest of this weekend, unseasonably nippy as it is, because Sunday’s finale against the D-Backs will be the last game of an 11-series opening stretch in which the Cubs played only one series — against the Pirates, who won two of three at Wrigley — within the best division in baseball.

That would be the National League Central, folks.

The Central is the mutant division in which all five teams entered Saturday with winning records. In the NL East, only the Braves aren’t losing. The NL West has the Dodgers and Padres and, well, have we mentioned the Dodgers and Padres? Only one American League division, the East with the Yankees and Rays, has as many as two teams with winning marks.

Then there’s the home of the Cubs, where no team even has a losing record on the road. We’re only one-fifth of the way through the season, but still — impressive.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Hoyer said. “We have to play really good baseball. It’s going to be a good division.”

The work begins in earnest Monday with the first of four games against the dangerous Reds, part of a 14-division-game docket in what could shape up as a must-hang-in-there May for a vulnerable Cubs team with potential pitching problems around every corner.

Fortunately for the Cubs, Hoerner, who has been the linchpin of their lineup, avoided the injured list and expects to be on the field against the Reds, whose own 20-12 start should be turning heads around the league considering their top two starting pitchers — flame-throwing ace Hunter Greene and lefty Nick Lodolo — have yet to appear in a game.

Greene, who had bone chips removed from his elbow in March, could rejoin the rotation right around the All-Star break, in which case he’d likely beat Cubs lefty Justin Steele back to the mound. Lodolo was in play to make his debut Thursday in the series finale at Wrigley. Add a healthier rotation to superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz, breakout third baseman Sal Stewart — the early frontrunner for NL rookie of the year — and what has been the division’s most effective bullpen, and everybody had better watch out for the team that last won the Central in 2012.

“They have a good record,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They’re playing well. I haven’t done too much [looking into] the Reds, but I know what’s happening. De La Cruz and Stewart have been incredible, and their bullpen’s been incredible.”

The young, rising Pirates have won series in both Chicago and Cincinnati. The Cardinals have played better than expected. Who’s left? Oh, yeah, the Cubs’ nemeses — the Brewers, who’ve won the Central three years running.

Betting sites favor the Cubs to finish first, but there’s about a mile of green left in that putt.

“It’s May 1, man,” Counsell said, dismissing the subject altogether.

Cubs players are detecting a growing buzz about the Reds, who were a wild-card team last year.

“They’ve got a fun team and they run the bases well,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “And, obviously, [Hall of Fame-bound manager Terry] Francona being over there, and the consistency and experience that he provides, probably helps them a lot as well.”

Hoerner mentioned Francona, too, dropping an L-bomb in the process,

“Legendary,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s a good team,” Hoerner went on. “They had great starting pitching last year against us. That was an impressive thing they rolled out. It seemed like every series, they were getting quality starts from all parts of the rotation.”

Quick reality check: Five months from now, will anyone still be calling this the best division in baseball?

“Sure, it’s possible, yeah,” Hoerner offered. “I’m always interested to see where teams are at come July and the trade deadline, and what direction teams are headed in and the belief they have in themselves. As it stands now, we’ve got a division full of teams that believe in themselves and can make it very challenging for each other.”

Said catcher Carson Kelly, “I guess, but that’s the thing about baseball — you never know what you’re going to get.”

Swanson, like his manager, just waved off the topic. Too soon, for Pete’s sake.

To their credit, the Cubs have hung in there as well as any team, anywhere. Perhaps May will be when they assert themselves even further.

“Some guys have stepped up and pitched really well, and I think our offense and our defense have stepped up and played well,” Hoyer said. “Just because we turn the calendar, there’s no moment to pause and reflect. I think we just have to continue doing that.”