CINCINNATI -- Who predicted 103 wins for the Chicago Cubs this season?

Actually, the victory total isn’t all that surprising when you consider that the Cubs won 97 games last year and added to their team.

The subtraction of slugger Kyle Schwarber could have set them back, but it didn’t. Nothing did. Only the schedule prevented the Cubs from winning more games, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Let’s take a look at some defining moments of a regular season not seen on the North Side of Chicago since 1910.

February

It was asked early and often: How did the Cubs view the upcoming year after they surprised everyone with 97 wins in 2015? Second-year player Kris Bryant might have given the best answer.

“I view it as a continuation of last year with just a three-month break,” Bryant said in February. “We just want to pick up where we left off.”

Before the season kicked off, there was a big surprise: Leadoff man Dexter Fowler shocked the baseball world when he marched onto the mound at a practice field next to Sloan Park, the Cubs' spring stadium. His signing with the Baltimore Orioles was falsely reported, which provided cover for the spring shocker.

“It just looks right,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Fowler's return.

Now? It’s one of those defining moments of the year, especially when you consider that three games into April, the Cubs lost Schwarber.

“Signing Dexter was a big part of our season,” Maddon said Saturday.

Fowler’s return completed the spring locker room, reuniting him with David Ross and Anthony Rizzo. Fowler on one end, Rizzo in the middle and Ross on the other side brought balance to a loose clubhouse, and the chemistry looked like it would carry into the regular season.

April/May

Bryant’s words proved true, as the Cubs indeed picked up where they left off the previous season by starting 25-6. The early exclamation mark might have come the first weekend in May, when they swept the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field. In choosing to walk reigning MVP Bryce Harper a record 13 times in a four-game series, the Cubs didn’t let him beat them. Ryan Zimmerman didn't beat them either; batting behind Harper, he left a record 14 runners on base in one game. The sweep concluded with a 13th-inning, walk-off home run by Javier Baez on Mother's Day. That weekend, the Cubs reminded the baseball world that they were for real, and Wrigleyville came alive.

June/July

From mid-June until the All-Star break, the Cubs faced their biggest challenge, as their schedule, combined with fatigue, wreaked havoc on their play and their results. The Cubs limped to the break with a 5-16 record in 21 games. However, there is little doubt that a stretch of 23 of 33 games on the road, combined with playing 24 straight games due to a makeup contest, had a major effect. Seemingly every aspect of the Cubs’ execution slumped all at once -- save for one player, Kyle Hendricks.

Within that losing skid came an important game: July 10 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the final contest before the All-Star break, and the Cubs had been reeling for weeks. That 6-5 victory felt like more than just any old win.

“As much as it was a must-win game, it was today,” Rizzo said at the time.

Maddon recalled that game this past weekend and stressed its importance.

“If you really want to pick a [signature] game, the last game before the All-Star break against the Pirates,” Maddon said. “That kind of helped our psyche.”

August

Maddon might be onto something with his less-is-more approach, which is traditionally on display in the month of August. It’s at that time each season that he backs off his starters, institutes American Legion Week –- which means his players can show up late -– and pretty much says goodbye to formal batting practice. The result? A 22-6 mark and a combined 41-15 August record between 2015 and 2016.

“[Our] August record is pretty much the defining moment,” Maddon said. “What we did in August.”

It had extra meaning coming off the slump, which left some doubt in people’s minds about the lasting power of the team. Those doubts were quickly erased.

The finish

While the Cubs were rolling, the competition within the Central Division of the National League wasn’t exactly following suit. The Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals never seriously challenged, despite surges that timed with the Cubs' slump. A seven-game Cubs lead at the All-Star break ballooned to as large as 19 games and put everyone else in the rear-view mirror for good.

Then came the clinching on Sept. 15, an absurdly early time to end playing meaningful games. Locking up home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs soon followed, and the Cubs coasted home with hope that a lighter workload –- particularly on the mound -– would come in handy later in October.

“The boxes have been checked in the regular season,” Maddon said Sunday. “We won the division, we stayed relatively healthy, we’ve played well. ... All this stuff we talked about in camp, regarding embracing the target and dealing with the pressure, we’ve done all those things.”

The result is two MVP candidates (Bryant and Rizzo), two Cy Young candidates (Hendricks and Jon Lester) and huge seasons at the plate and on defense from the middle infielders. The Cubs' rotation was the best in the league all season, and their bullpen only got better with the addition of closer Aroldis Chapman. It’s unclear if all that will lead to a championship, but as regular seasons go, it would be hard to ask for anything more.

“We’re ready,” Rizzo said. “Everyone is pretty much healthy. It’s just about going out and executing now.”