Column: David Ross says he was ‘a little too patient’ in his 1st year as Chicago Cubs manager. He vows to be himself more in 2021.

Like most first-year managers, David Ross had a game plan going into the 2020 season and was confident it would work.

Kris Bryant would be the new Chicago Cubs leadoff man, a role he embraced in spring training. Craig Kimbrel returned to the closer role despite his struggles in 2019, and newcomer Jeremy Jeffress would be one of his setup men. Ian Happ was penciled in as the everyday center fielder, batting near the bottom of the order, with Albert Almora Jr. coming off the bench to pinch-hit and play late-inning defense.

The Cubs wound up winning the National League Central, while Ross was one of three finalists for NL Manager of the Year.

It wasn’t much of an ending, but if first impressions are lasting, Ross’ future looks bright.

Still, not everything went the way he hoped. Ross was forced to audible during the 60-game season, as happens to every manager during the course of the year. Happ eventually replaced Bryant at the top of the order, Jeffress replaced Kimbrel as the closer and Almora’s playing time shrank until he was demoted Aug. 31 to the alternate site in South Bend, Ind., never to be seen in a Cubs uniform again.

After an offseason pondering what went right and wrong in 2020, Ross enters Year 2 with a better understanding of what he needs to do to get the Cubs back where they belong.

“The challenges for me are I found last year that maybe I was a little too patient,” Ross said Tuesday on a teleconference on the eve of camp opening in Mesa, Ariz. “Now that we’ve got 162 (games), I can actually put that in place.”

Patience is a virtue, as we’ve heard all our lives.

It’s not easy being patient when you’re the manager of the Cubs, as evidenced by Lee Elia’s infamous tirade in 1983. When Lou Piniella took over as Cubs manager in 2007, he threatened to take over the pitching decisions from pitching coach Larry Rothschild in spring training and declared, “This is no push-button operation.”

Not everyone is as blessed with patience as Ross, including most Cubs fans, who were clamoring for Bryant to move out of the leadoff spot and for Kimbrel to lose the closer job well before Ross made those moves.

Bryant’s left wrist injury forced him out of the lineup after a .177 start, and when Happ performed well in his place, it made sense to take the pressure off Bryant when he returned. Ross gave Kimbrel every opportunity to succeed in the ninth inning, but after an implosion Aug. 29 in Cincinnati, Jeffress was given the bulk of the save opportunities thereafter and did the job.

Kimbrel returned to form in the final month, and Ross said Tuesday that with Jeffress not re-signed, Kimbrel once again will be the closer. Happ will be back in the leadoff spot, at least for now.

Everything is subject to change based on performance, and Ross said he plans to give more playing time to his role players, which at this point includes Jake Marisnick, David Bote, Ildemaro Vargas, Phillip Ervin and Austin Romine.

“Last year was such a sprint,” Ross said. “The bench players were in such a tough role. Now you can actually give (the reserves) games and get those guys in a rhythm, get guys some rest early on and days off and see who is locked in early — just the ebbs and flows that I’m used to watching.

“It’s new to me as well, so there will be adjustments. There’s things I’ll learn and try to take in. Bounce stuff off players, bounce stuff off my coaches and (see) what I can do better and adjust like that.”

Going into his first year, one of the questions was how Ross would handle players who were former teammates and still close friends. How could you drink a beer with your friend one night and then take him out of the game the next day?

It turned out to be a nonfactor, as Ross predicted. And with the COVID-19 protocols, players weren’t going out after games anyway, so schmoozing with the boss wasn’t an option.

This year will be much the same, at least at the outset. Boss Ross said he expects to be himself more in 2021, “relaxing a little more” and communicating better with his players.

“Last year was the first year and it was coming from all angles,” he said. “Trying to be myself, yet understand and learn as I do the manager role and be a part of leadership.

“I don’t ever want to stop learning as long as I have this job and getting feedback from those guys. There are definitely areas I know where I can improve.”

One thing that won’t change is Ross’ optimistic outlook on all things Cub.

This offseason has been one of discontent for most Cubs fans, who wondered why the team dealt ace Yu Darvish and then remained mostly silent the rest of the winter while National League rivals such as the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals made significant moves to try to win a championship.

Ross emphasized the defense, which won a team Gold Glove last year, and said if all the Cubs hitters who struggled in 2020 return to form, “we’re going to be monsters.”

And if they don’t, it’ll be more like “The Munsters.”

But Ross looks at the bright side. Darvish, Kyle Schwarber and Jon Lester are gone, but five players from the 2016 World Series championship lineup remain: Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Jason Heyward.

Some may look at 2021 as the end of the road. Ross envisions the rebirth of a proud core that’s collectively facing adversity.

“I know these guys know how to win,” he said. “That’s all they’ve really done since they’ve been here. Maybe not to the levels of their expectations and what we’ve created here, but they’re still winners — and winners virtually every year.”