1B: Lucas Duda vs Anthony Rizzo
It’s almost eerie to see how identical both of these two first baseman’s career stats have been. If you asked who is the better first baseman, 9 out of 10 people will say Rizzo and won’t even think twice about it. Considering Duda has 101 career Home runs along with 318 RBI, in comparison to Rizzo’s 102 Home Runs and 316 RBI, you may want to look further into these players before immediately picking the favorite.
You would also think Rizzo is the more agile and polished fielder. Wrong, because Lucas Duda astonishingly has 3 total errors in his last two seasons. Meanwhile Rizzo has committed 9 errors each of the last two seasons. Something to think about, given the 1B Bill Buckner’s history of being part of the worst error in World Series history. Fielding matters.
Get this: Duda is 2-18 in the postseason while Rizzo is 3-18. Of course, Duda struck out an NLDS record of 11 times, and Rizzo has at least a couple of huge dingers to set aside the immediate panic just yet from Chicago.
Winner: The ever-so-slight edge goes to Anthony Rizzo. But this first comparison goes to show that you have to really delve deep before immediately coming to a decision.
1-0 Cubs
