This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is exclusively available to BP subscribers. We’ve posted a sneak preview here.
The Cubs knocked Pirates ace Gerrit Cole out of the Wild Card game after just five innings, while their own dominating ace did what he’s done for months: Dominated. They now head to St. Louis for their first ever playoff clash with their arch-rivals.
The Cardinals have been banged up for most of the season, yet still managed to win 100 games and deliver baseball’s best record. After dominating the young Cubs early in the season, the perennial division winners fell to the North Siders in a pair of September series.
These two teams have the two best records remaining in the playoffs, the longest rivalry of the group, and outside of the Los Angeles Dodgers are the most storied franchises still playing. Oh, and did I mention it’s the first ever playoff matchup between these two? (I did actually, right there at the top.) To say there may be some build up for this series is an understatement.
Lineups (AVG/OBP/SLG/TAv)
Cubs
CF-S Dexter Fowler (.250/.346/.411/.281)
LF-L Kyle Schwarber (.246/.355/.487/.307)
RF-L Chris Coghlan (.250/.341/.443/.279)
1B-L Anthony Rizzo (.278/.387/.512/.328)
3B-R Kris Bryant (.275/.369/.488/.317)
2B-R Starlin Castro (.265/.296.375/.243)
C-L Miguel Montero (.248/.345/.409/.279)
SS-R Addison Russell (.242/.307/.389/.252)
To read the rest of this article, please head over to Baseball Prospectus.
Lead photo courtesy Jeff Curry—USA Today Sports.