It’s been a slow week for Cubs related news as there haven’t been any free agent acquisitions over the past few days. Now is a great time to take a look back at the magical 2015 season, which really set the stage for the championship run.

Winning the World Series was the ultimate goal, but you could make the case that the 2015 season was more memorable. This was the year that the Cubs officially let the rest of MLB know that they were here and ready to win.

Arrieta Dominates on the Mound

Jake Arrieta was already starting to turn into one of the best pitchers in baseball at the start of 2015, but he took things to another level after the All-Star Break. The man was simply unhittable for a three-month stretch, and his ERA was well under 1.00 for the entire rest of the year.

One of the best memories of the 2015 season was Arrieta tossing a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball. This was the capper to a dominant stretch that ended with a Cy Young Award.

Arrieta would then go on to shutout the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game after basically guaranteeing he would do so on Twitter. A number of Cubs players stepped up in 2015, but it was the pitching of Arrieta that set the tone.

Bryant is Rookie of the Year

Kris Bryant started the 2015 season at AAA, which was pretty disappointing for many Cubs fans. It wasn’t long before Bryant was up in Chicago, and he made a pretty immediate impact as well.

There was no denying that Bryant was one of the most talented players in the league, but he also showed the clutch gene throughout 2015. Everytime that the Cubs needed a big hit it seemed as if KB stepped up and delivered.

Bryant would go on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in 2015, and it was a well-deserved honor. His play set the stage for what was to come a year later.

Cubs Dispatch Cardinals

The 2015 season might not have ended with a World Series title, but there was a postseason series win that might have meant just as much. The NLDS that year featured the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals against the up and coming Cubs.

The Cubs used a barrage of home runs to dispatch the Cardinals in 4 games, and several of the young Cubs stars became postseason legends as well. This wasn’t just a series win over St. Louis, but it was an absolute beat down.

It was pretty clear that the Cubs were trending in the right direction, but the Cardinals were always going to stand in the way. Winning this series over St. Louis proved that this team was ready to win a title, and that would come just 12 months later.

Oh, and it was quite the party after the series-clinching win at Wrigley Field.