By Yours Truly
http://throneberryfields.com/2017/10/14/this-time-it-doesnt-look-encouraging-for-the-cubs/Before Cub Country begins salivating over the prospects of the Cubs reaching the World Series for a second
straight year—after all, they’re the only one between last year’s combatants to get as far as a League
Championship Series this time—a sobering truth must be faced. They’re going into their tango with the
Dodgers with one and a half arms tied behind their backs.
That division series Game Five with the Nationals wasn’t a baseball game, it was a cage match. Abetted
by the most unprecedented postseason fifth inning in baseball history, the Nationals fell apart spectacularly
enough to go home merely drained. The Cubs held on in a game in which they didn’t exactly play like
world beaters themselves, and got on a plane to Los Angeles in the wee small hours of Friday beyond
drained.
The flight itself may or may not have been an omen: it was diverted to New Mexico over a medical issue
possibly involving one player’s family member. With the original flight crew also ruled at maximum flying
time, the Cubs had to wait a few hours to continue on to Los Angeles. Compared to Game Five, that
might all have been child’s play.
The Cubs don’t exactly feel as though they’re at a noticeable disadvantage, but others notice things,
such as:
* The Dodgers sweeping the Diamondbacks out of their division series left them a week to get their
pitching staff rested and re-oriented. They have the luxury of opening the LCS with Clayton Kershaw,
even if Dodger manager Dave Roberts just might yank him after six innings no matter what. Note:
Among division series starting pitchers only the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg (twice) and Max Scherzer
pitched up to their ace reputations (Scherzer’s surprise relief turn in Game Five was a whole nother
matter), and the Indians’ Corey Kluber—who lost twice, including their Game Five against the Yankees
—may have pitched through an injury.
* Cubs manager Joe Maddon is nervous enough about the prospect of number five starter John Lackey
—who saw no division series action, and who finished a none too great season none too greatly, even
though he has a postseason big-game reputation—that he’s handing the Game One ball to Jose Quintana,
who pitched two thirds of an inning in relief Thursday night after working five and two thirds starting
Game Three.
Maddon just might have to bank on Lackey having one more postseason big game in him, at minimum,
for Game Two, before he can have Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jake Arrieta back on regular rest.
Winning the battle with the Nats may well cost Maddon the war with the Dodgers by attrition alone.
* The Cubs offense was nothing special in the division series overall. They hit a collective .180 with a
collective .285 on-base percentage and .280 slugging percentage in the division series. Anthony Rizzo
managed six runs batted in for the set and Addison Russell four, but overall it almost seems like a
small miracle that they won the set despite being outscored 20-17.
* The Cubs bullpen must look like the post-op ward of a M*A*S*H unit. Setup man Carl Edwards, Jr.
worked in all five division series games and allowed six runs in 2.2 innings spread over the set. Manager
Joe Maddon was suddenly so edgy about the rear end of his bullpen not named Wade Davis that he
went to starters Quintana and Jon Lester in certain spots. And, asked for—and got—a seven-out save
from Davis in Game Five. The last time Davis pitched that long, he was a starter in the Tampa Bay
system in his younger days.
* With the Dodgers throwing three lefthanded starters (Kershaw, Rich Hill, Alex Wood) at the Cubs,
Maddon has a little chess to play. The kicker: It means Albert Almora, Jr. and Ben Zobrist in center
field and left field, respectively, and Kyle Schwarber to the bench, since the Schwarbinator was a
.171 hitter against lefthanders this year. Almora has a smaller sample to go by, but whenever he
did face lefthanders he hit .342.
* Anthony Rizzo against the Dodgers lefthanders is going to be a big key. The good news: he hit ten
of his 2017 home runs against them; only the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger hit more among National
League lefthanded hitters. The further good news: Rizzo doesn’t try to overdo things when facing
lefthanders, he prefers to just put the bat on the ball. On paper he isn’t a postseason dominator,
but it’s funny how he shows up just when the Cubs need him in the most critical situations.
* The Cubs had to win last year’s World Series on the road and it took them seven games, particularly
an arduous Game Seven to do it. The Dodgers have this year’s LCS home field advantage . . . and
they’re a slightly better team than they were last year. If they thought Game Five with the Nats was
a dogfight, they could be in for a heaping helping of you-ain’t-seen-
nothing-yet.
But these are the Cubs. They had to shake themselves back to business several times during the
season, and there were points on the season when it looked like they wouldn’t even get to a wild
card game, never mind win their division. They could very well do it again, no matter how much
like pushovers these Dodgers don’t look. Miracles are something Cub Country now knows don’t
always happen to the other guys.
------------------------------------------------------
@Polly Ticks @Machiavelli @DCPatriot @Cyber Liberty @Slip18 @musiclady @Mom MD @Bigun @Weird Tolkienish Figure @TomSea @GrouchoTex 
