Who said it was going to be easy for the 2016 Chicago Cubs? All the pressure has been on the Cubs dating back to last December. They had high expectations and a lot of hype coming into this year. At the least, they’ve lived up to every single bit of expectations they had after posting a 103 win season for the first 100 win season since 1935.
From now on though, those last 162 games do not matter. The players, fans, and organization is focused on one thing, and thats gold in October. With the Giants winning the wild card game, the Cubs now have their opponent for the NLDS. They will have their work cut out for them but the Cubs are the team to beat in all of baseball.
In the regular season, the Cubs won the season series vs San Fran going 4-3. Now, Cubs fans, you know that means nothing. Last year the Cubs swept the New York Mets in the regular season but then come October the Mets swept the Cubs when it meant most and knocked them right out of the playoffs. But it's still something to point out. They also outscored the Giants 23-17 this year while our pitching staff had an ERA of 1.94 vs the Giants bats.
Talking about pitching, lets look at the pitching matchup:
Game 1: Cueto/Lester- If you remember the series in early September at Wrigley Field, Jon Lester cruised through the Giants lineup through 7 innings and flirted with a no hitter. That's something that sticks out in my mind. With Lester on the mound, there will also be great defense around him. Expect Baez at 3rd base and Bryant in LF for game 1. Cueto is very dominate vs the Cubs this season though. Cubs hitters are hitting just .200 vs him this season. Cueto got exactly what he wanted though and thats to see the Cubs in the post season. It should be a fun game 1 to set the tone for the series.
Game 2: Samardzija/Hendricks- Jeff Samardzija spent 7 years on the North Side of the Chicago before getting shipped out to Oakland in the deal that landed us Addison Russell. He said he got sick of waiting for the future in Chicago and waiting for prospects that may never pan out. Boy, did they ever & now he will have to face them in October form. Hendricks will try and match his regular season numbers in the post season and cause a lot of weak contact on the ground like he has all year.
Game 3: Bumgarner/Arrieta- This is a match up a lot of people will want to tune in for. No matter what team you root for. Bumgarner's stats speak for itself in the post season. In 15 post season starts he has a 1.94 ERA and he proved that in this years Wild Card game. If Arrieta can minimize the runs against the Giants and the Cubs batters can run up Mad Bum's pitch count to get to their bullpen, they will be in good shape. It's going to be hard to get a run or two off of Bumgarner but their bullpen is a whole different story. The Cubs never quit and will eat their bullpen alive this whole series. Arrieta loves the west coast. His last 6 starts in the state of California: 0.20 ERA, 45.0 IP, 15 Hits, and 1 ER. Those are insane numbers. We will see if he can continue that this series on the west coast in game 3.
This is going to be a fun exciting series both ways. If you're a fan of baseball, you're in for a treat. Nothing is going to be given. The last series between these two teams, in September, each game was decided by a run. Get pumped.
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