With the 2016 World Series beginning tonight, we break down each positional matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.
The final two teams left battling for a World Series trophy are the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs, meeting in a highly anticipated series.Both teams are looking to end some lengthy championship droughts. The Cubs have not won in 108 years and the Indians have not won it all since 1948.
With both teams representing the cream of the crop of their leagues, they each have their strengths and their weaknesses on the field.
Let’s take a look position-by-position at how the two teams match-up against each other:
Infield
Catcher:
Indians: The Indians Roberto Perez will be taking over the catching duties for the Tribe as they enter World Series play. The 27-year old has not seen much success as of late, slashing just .174/.269/.348 in the postseason. Perez will certainly not be feared by the Chicago pitchers due to his recent slumps at the plate.
Cubs: The Cubs depth behind the plate is unrealistic, with three different options. The two main players who will be doing the catching are veteran David Ross and rookie Willson Contreras. Contreras has been on fire in his first postseason where he is slashing .400/.429/.550 with big hit after big hit. This rookie has done more than the Cubs could ever ask for and should bring his red-hot bat to the grandest stage of them all.
Big advantage: Cubs
First Base:
Indians: The Indians have two options for first base when they head to Chicago which will surely be a tough decision, Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana. Both of these two had one of the best seasons of their careers where they clubbed 34 home runs each. The Tribe may determine who they select by how each does in the first two games of the series but no matter who they select, they will bring some pop to the lineup.
Cubs: The Chicago first baseman is Anthony Rizzo, longtime Cub and 2016 MVP candidate. Rizzo had one of the best seasons of his career in 2016 where he hit 32 home runs and slashed .292/.385/.544 but was unable to carry that into the NLDS. The perennial all-star struggled in the first round but was able to rebound in the championship series. The left-handed slugger batted .320 against the Dodgers with two home runs five RBI’s. The defense Rizzo plays is also impeccable compared to that of either Cleveland first baseman.
Advantage: Cubs
Second Base:
Indians: The Tribe’s second baseman is all-star Jason Kipnis. Kipnis is entering the World Series following an ALCS he’d like to forget, where he batted .053 with just a single hit to his credit. Despite the rough championship series, Kipnis batted .275/.343/.469 in the regular season with 23 home runs. Though his regular season was very good, the recent slump is what prevents the Indians from gaining an advantage in this category.
Cubs: Manning second base for Chicago will be one of the most exciting players currently in major league baseball, Javier Baez. This 23-year old is having himself a postseason to remember, batting .342 with seven RBI’s. Not only has he been getting the job done on offense, but he is making some outstanding plays on the field as well. This spectacular performance earned him the co-MVP recipient along with teammate Jon Lester for the NLCS most valuable player.
Slight Advantage: Cubs
Shortstop:
Indians: Cleveland’s shortstop will be the 22-year old Fransico Lindor. Lindor had himself a great season where he hit 15 home runs and slashed .301/.358/.435 and was able to carry that into October baseball. So far in the postseason the shortstop has been mashing the ball, batting .323 with two home runs and four RBI’s so far. The 22-year old solidified himself as one of the top shortstops in all of baseball in 2016 and has continued to prove his worth into the postseason.
Cubs: Opposing Lindor at shortstop will be the Cubs own 22-year old, Addison Russell. Russell had an average season in 2016 as well as a very slow start to the playoffs. Fortunately for Chicago, their shortstop would light up for the NLCS where he hit .273 with two home runs and proved to be a key piece of the Cubs being where they are now.
Slight Advantage: Indians
Third Base:
Indians: Taking control of the hot corner for the Tribe will be Jose Ramirez, who had his breakout season in 2016. This past season, Ramirez had his best season to date where he slashed .312/.363/.462 and brought that success into the first round of the playoffs. The 24-year old had a stellar ALDS where he batted .500 but his bat completely depleted in the championship series where his average dwindled down to a disappointing .059.
Cubs: The Chicago third baseman will be the current NL MVP favorite, Kris Bryant. In 2016, Bryant solidified himself as one of the top players in all of Major League Baseball when he clubbed 39 home runs and drove in 102 RBI’s. The two-time all-star has not been too shabby in the playoffs either, batting over .300 in each playoff series and coming up with a couple of clutch hits.
Advantage: Cubs
Outfield
Left Field:
Indians: The Indians left-field situation will most likely be filled by Coco Crisp against right-handed pitchers and Brandon Guyer against left-handed pitchers. Crisp has seemingly come up with clutch home runs every time the Indians needed him to in the playoffs, including one against Boston and one against Toronto. The 36-year old has proved to be an important veteran presence on and off the field for the Tribe. The Indians have it covered when they face left-handers with the lefty killer Guyer. In 2016, he batted .336/.464/.557 against left-handed pitchers and only committed one error on the field. The Indians have a nice duo in left but it might not be more solid than the Cubs versatile left-fielder.
Cubs: The first outfield spot for Chicago will be taken by one of the most versatile players in all of baseball, Ben Zobrist. In his first year with Chicago, Zobrist did not disappoint, he practically mirrored his stats from 2015 and played practically every position on the field. The 35-year old also brings his veteran experience to this year’s fall classic having appeared in three of them already and winning last year with the Kansas City Royals.
Advantage: Cubs
Center Field:
Indians: The middle spot of the outfield will primarily be taken by rookie Tyler Naquin, who had a rookie season to remember. Naquin was one who flew under the radar in 2016 with the emergence of so many dominant rookies in the American League. The 25-year old slashed .296/.372/.514 with 14 home runs but for some reason, he has not been able to carry that success into the postseason. So far, the center fielder is batting .188 through six games and has only been able to drive in two RBI’s.
Cubs: The center-fielder for Chicago will the 30-year old Dexter Fowler, who has been a key factor so far in the Cubs making it this far. Fowler batted .333 in the NLCS with a home run and four RBI’s, not to mention that he has been getting the job more than done on the defensive side as well. The all-star has made multiple diving catches for Chicago that came up in huge situations for the Cubs where he put his body on the line time after time to catch the ball.
Slight Advantage: Cubs
Right Field:
Indians: Right field for Cleveland will be taken over by Lonnie Chisenhall, who has proved to be a key element to the Indians success in 2016. During the regular season, he had a slash line of .286/.328/.439 with eight home runs and 57 RBI’s. Chisenhall has batted .269 so far this postseason with a home run and four RBI’s which may not seem like much but it is much better compared to his competition.
Cubs: Opposing Chisenhall in right field for the Cubs will most likely be Jason Heyward, who has had a very disappointing 2016 campaign. After signing a huge contract prior to the season, Heyward only slashed .230/.306/.325 with a career-low seven home runs. This 2016 postseason has also been disappointing for the 27-year old where he has only batted .071 with only a single RBI in 10 games. If there has been anything good about Heyward’s season it is his defense, he is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game but unfortunately that does not outweigh his offensive struggles.
Advantage: Indians
Pitching
Starting Pitching:
Indians:
- Corey Kluber (Postseason) 2-1 0.98 ERA
- Josh Tomlin (Postseason) 2-0 2.53 ERA
- Trevor Bauer (Postseason) 0-0 5.06 ERA
- Ryan Merritt (Postseason) 1-0 1.64 ERA
- Danny Salazar (May return)
Cubs:
- Jon Lester (Postseason) 2-0 0.86 ERA
- Jake Arrieta (Postseason) 0-1 4.91 ERA
- Kyle Hendricks (Postseason) 1-1 1.65 ERA
- John Lackey (Postseason) 0-0 5.63 ERA
The Cubs rotation has an advantage due to more postseason experience and a higher track range of success. Also in the 2016 regular season, Chicago led the majors in starting pitching ERA with a 2.96 and the Indians ranked seventh with a 4.08 ERA.
Advantage: Cubs
Bullpen:
Indians:
- Andrew Miller (Postseason) 1-0 0.00 ERA
- Cody Allen (Postseason) 0-0 0.00 ERA
- Bryan Shaw (Postseason) 2-0 4.76 ERA
- Dan Otero (Postseason) 0-0 2.70 ERA
Cubs:
- Aroldis Chapman (Postseason) 1-0 3.38 ERA
- Hector Rondon (Postseason) 1-0 4.91 ERA
- Pedro Strop (Postseason) 0-0 4.91 ERA
- Mike Montgomery (Postseason) 1-1 3.72 ERA
The Indians get a big advantage in the bullpen category due to their two beasts in the back-end in the form of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. Neither of these two have given up a run so far in the postseason. The Cubs do have Aroldis Chapman but he has not been as consistent as they would like him to be.
Big Advantage: Indians
By looking at all of the different categories, it could be determined that the Cubs outweigh the Indians in most of the categories. Even though this may be true, Cleveland should not be counted out because they were “written off” in both of their series so far but overcame the odds and dominated the opposing team.
No matter who wins it will surely be a thrilling series with one of the two teams ending their championship drought and bringing a trophy back to their city.