CHICAGO — Arms folded across his chest, Dansby Swanson stood in front of his locker inside Wrigley Field’s circular clubhouse late Tuesday night and insisted that everything is going to be fine. The Cubs committed seven years and $177 million to Swanson because he’s a Gold Glove shortstop, an extremely durable player and a clutch hitter with some power. The Cubs also wanted a grown-up in the room, someone who could lend credibility to the next phase of their rebuild, instill confidence and not let situations spin out of control.

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After a rah-rah April, the Cubs are in one of those frustrating skids that inevitably happen over the course of a 162-game season. It’s not like the Cubs are getting blown out every night or playing sloppily in each phase of the game. But they aren’t winning enough right now, either, giving the Cardinals a chance to clean up after the messy handling of Willson Contreras’ demotion. Against that backdrop, Swanson calmly answered the questions following a 6-4 loss that marked his team’s third three-game losing streak in 12 days.

“It’s a lot of close games, a lot of things that if it kind of falls in our way, we’re not having this conversation,” Swanson said. “It’s so easy to kind of — I don’t want to say overreact — but it’s so easy to say, ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ We’re all for making adjustments where things need to be adjusted. We’re just going to continue to go out and do what we do. The teams I’ve been on that have been successful, that’s the mentality: You show up tomorrow and go about your business the same way and things will start to work in our favor.”

It’s way too early in the season — and too deep into this rebuild — for the Cubs (17-19) to make player development their top priority with young talent like Miguel Amaya, Christopher Morel and Matt Mervis. It’s way too early in their careers for those players to be anointed as saviors and expected to carry the team. It’s difficult — but not impossible — to accomplish both of those goals at the same time.

With their mix of high-priced talent, veteran role players and unproven prospects, the Cubs will likely yo-yo between a team that looks like it could win an unimpressive division and an organization that is still at least a year away.

That ebb and flow happened within Tuesday’s game in front of 32,693 at the Friendly Confines. Jameson Taillon, the new $68 million pitcher with a 6.41 ERA, couldn’t finish the third inning in his second start since coming off the injured list. Javier Assad then put together five scoreless innings out of the bullpen before buckling in the ninth when Paul DeJong launched a go-ahead home run into the left-field bleachers before the Cardinals added another insurance run.

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The Cubs built their team around defenders like Swanson, in part, because offense always comes and goes. Swanson doubled twice and lifted a two-run homer into the right-field basket. The day after his promotion from Triple-A Iowa, Morel drilled a pitch 422 feet off the batter’s eye for a game-tying home run in the sixth inning. Morel’s energy wasn’t enough, however, as the lineup went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

Eric Hosmer — who’s supposed to be a bench player now that Mervis is the primary first baseman — grounded into a double play to end a first-inning rally and struck out looking with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Whether it’s just a slump or a delayed effect from missing most of spring training with an oblique injury, Seiya Suzuki (one home run in 98 plate appearances and a .682 OPS) still hasn’t delivered enough thump in the middle of the lineup. With two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning — and Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty on the ropes — Suzuki flew out to the warning track in left field.

“We’re doing a lot of things well,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I’m going to continue to try to focus on those things. We’re playing great defense. The pitching, the bullpen, the intent is there. The work is there. Balls aren’t falling for us right now. Thank goodness it’s a long season. I know we’ll figure this thing out. There’s too much talent not to.”

The Cubs are 2-8 in one-run games, a degree of bad luck that should begin to even out eventually. Kyle Hendricks threw five scoreless innings in Tuesday’s Triple-A rehab start and at some point he may become more of a necessity than a luxury item. Nico Hoerner, the leadoff hitter and Gold Glove-caliber second baseman, was diagnosed with a “mild” left hamstring strain that is considered more of a day-to-day issue than an injured-list situation. Yan Gomes, the veteran catcher who commands so much respect from pitchers, is close to being activated from the concussion list. Justin Steele (5-0, 1.45 ERA), who is quietly becoming one of the most effective pitchers in the game, is lined up to face the Cardinals on Wednesday night on the North Side.

“Baseball is obviously a tough game,” Swanson said. “Our guys go out there each and every night and really grind for one another and want nothing more than to be able to put up a lot of runs and win. We’re just in this stretch right now where we haven’t been able to do that as consistently as we’d like. But the beauty of this team — and this game — is we have another one tomorrow.”

 (Photo: David Banks / USA Today)