Cubs Live
By Christian Otteman ---- It’s early October and once again the wonderful smell of playoff baseball is in the air. With business taken care of in the regular season, the Cubs find themselves a couple days away from the hot seat as the baseball world turns their attention to the Wild-Card games. With a couple days to prepare ourselves as fans, let’s take a look at everything from pitching matchups to potential lineups in the Cubs’ NLDS matchup. First inning: 2017 season series. Now, obviously, the results between two teams in the regular season have absolutely no bearing on how the teams will fare against each other in the playoffs—a thing the Cubs know all too well based on 2015’s matchups with the Mets—but it’s still fun to look at. The Cubs hold a 3-4 record against the Nats in 2017, including a four-game series split in Washington. The two teams haven’t played each other since early August, back in the days where the Cubs really hadn’t figured everything out yet, so it will definitely be interesting to see how things will change. With the Cubs riding a hot streak nearly the entire month of September, things might play out a little differently than they did in the heat of the summer. Second: Injuries to Aces. The Cubs and Nats have a lot in common in terms of their starting rotations, and it’s not just the depth of talent—both teams have a question mark surrounding one of their best pitchers due to a hamstring strain. In the Nationals’ case, Cy Young hopeful Max Scherzer tweaked his hamstring in his final regular-season start and was then lifted for precautionary reasons. There’s probably not much to worry about in his case, as the guy is a machine and insists he’ll be playing in the series, so it’s more of a when-not-if question in his case. In Arrieta’s case, the Cubs announced their rotation on Wednesday with Arrieta lined up to pitch in Game 4. Some might question this decision, as Arrieta is as good as anybody when healthy, but that’s the exact issue here. While we’ve seen Arrieta steamroll powerful lineups in the playoffs, it’s likely Maddon wants to give Jake enough time to recover so that he might be able to use him to his full potential. And let’s not forget, with a best-case scenario in this rotation, that could mean saving him until the NLCS. Third: Bullpen woes overcome. Starting pitching isn’t the only similarity these two teams have shared on the mound. Both teams struggled early to put together an effective bullpen, with the only constant on either side seeming to be the dominance of Wade Davis. However, as contenders tend to do in mid-July, both teams made moves to strengthen their pens, with Washington making huge moves with the additions of Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. The Cubs also acquired Justin Wilson from the Tigers, and while he seemed out of his groove at first, he has seemed to settle into his rhythm, along with the rest of the Cubs pen. As Tuesday’s AL Wild-Card game showed, relievers are among the most important assets a team can have. What these teams did around the deadline helped strengthen their playoff push, and may also be the difference in what is shaping up to be a dynamite series. Fourth: Potential lineup. Let’s cut to the chase on this one. With how the team’s been performing down the stretch, here’s what I’d like to see on the lineup card come Friday night: Jay CF Bryant 3B Rizzo 1B Contreras C Schwarber LF Russell SS Heyward RF Baez 2B Pitcher While the infield is mostly squared away, there’s still a lot of speculation as to how the outfield could shape up. I’m a big Schwarber guy, so I’m going to want to see Kyle in the lineup whenever possible, but I can see Maddon moving Zobrist into left and potentially using Schwarber off the bench, especially when Gio Gonzales (a lefty) is starting. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Ian Happ leading off and playing center, as his power and aggressiveness, especially on the first pitch, are both valuable traits, but I like Jay in the leadoff spot just a little bit more—for now, at least. Fifth: Dominance at the hot corner. The Cubs and Nationals have also had the luxury of owning two of the best third basemen, if not two of the best players, in the National League: Kris Bryant and Anthony Rendon. With fWARs of 6.7 and 6.9 respectively (two of the top three in the entire NL!), these players have dominated both sides of the ball to lead their teams to the playoffs and enter their names in the MVP discussion. While the media might be quick to compare Bryce Harper to Bryant due to their longstanding friendship and the fact that they’re the faces of their respective franchises, it will be Anthony Rendon leading the Nationals into battle against the Cubs. Sixth: Nationals Vs. the NLDS. It’s no secret that the Nationals have struggled in the postseason despite having some pretty loaded rosters in the past few years. In the three trips to the postseason in franchise history, the Nationals have failed to make it out of the divisional round, losing to the Dodgers in 2016, the Giants in 2014, and the *shudders* Cardinals in 2012. As Cubs fans, it’s pretty easy to spin this either way—“They always choke! We have nothing to worry about!” or “They always choke! …Which means they’re probably due against us this year.”—but as Ben Zobrist has said, the ball is in the Nationals’ court—er, field at this point. The Nationals have a lot to prove to the fans and to themselves in this aspect, so it’s up to the Cubs to come out of the gates swinging and crush their hopes early. Seventh: Underdogs yet again. Remember, in 2015, when the Cubs weren’t the undisputed best team in baseball and really had to prove to everyone that they were the real deal, and then Kyle Schwarber obliterated a couple homeruns into the Allegheny and on top of the Wrigley scoreboard? Good times. The Cubs find themselves as underdogs once again this year, essentially the “3” seed in the National League. While they don’t have the benefit of a home field advantage to help carry them through the playoffs, they do have the advantage of being an underdog once again. With criticism being tossed their way since the beginning of the season, the Cubs aren't the outright favorites the Dodgers and Indians have been throughout the season. So let’s buckle in and enjoy the ride as these Cubs once again remind the world who they are—and that they’re here to stay. Eighth: Game one matchup. The Nationals haven’t announced their playoff rotation at the quite yet, but let’s assume that Scherzer makes the start barring a significant health setback. That puts Kyle Hendricks on the mound against the reigning Cy Young winner in Nationals Park. The Proffesor Vs. Mad Max. Two of baseball’s best over the past two years squaring off in October. Almost feels like shades of Lester Vs. Cueto, doesn’t it? If both pitchers bring their A-game, we might be seeing a similar box score to game 1 of 2016’s NLDS, as well—a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Ninth: Bold series predictions. With all of the formalities out of the way, let’s finish things off by throwing all objectivity out the window and having some fun. Here’s a few predictions for the Cubs' first postseason series:
Less than two days until showtime. Let’s do this, guys.
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Kyle MalzhanFounder who is an aspiring journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs daily. Archives
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