Chicago Cubs: Predicting the Cubs postseason roster

With only nine games to go in the regular season, the Chicago Cubs have clinched both the Central Division, and, with the Nationals loss to the Pirates last night, home field advantage for the playoffs. There has been much speculation as to who will make the playoff roster.

Without further ado, here is the Cubbies Crib projected playoff roster for the 2016 Chicago Cubs.

Position Players

The position players aren’t too much of a mystery, aside from a few.   Does Chris Coghlan get on over Matt Szczur?  Does Miguel Montero get on the roster? Montero has certainly played like he wants that spot during September. In September, Montero is posting a .314/.368/.571 line, not to mention his defensive play has been much better down the stretch.

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As for Coghlan, he and Szczur are trending in opposite directions. In September, Coghlan is posting a .303/.395/.485 line, as opposed to Szczur’s .067/.125/.067 line.  Knowing these results, the playoff roster of position players stacks up like this:

Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Jorge Soler, Chris Coghlan, Tommy La Stella, Willson Contreras, David Ross, Miguel Montero, Albert Almora, Jr. Almora will be here as a late game defensive replacement, as well as pinch runner.

Pitching Staff

The pitching staff has been the Cubs’ best feature this year, as they have led the league in ERA from wire to wire. They lead the majors in ERA at 3.07, as well as leading in starters’ ERA at 2.88.

The starting rotation for the playoffs is pretty much set in stone, with John Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, and John Lackey, leaving Jason Hammel as the odd man out.

The bullpen is also a much clearer picture as well, now that everybody is getting healthy again. The Cubs’ playoff bullpen currently lines up this way:

Next: Cubs own home field advantage

Aroldis Chapman, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm, Travis Wood, Mike Montgomery, Carl Edwards, Jr. That’s a seven-man bullpen and leaves off Joe Smith, Trevor Cahill, and Jason Hammel.

The only way Hammel gets on the roster is if one other starter gets hurt, and with as good as they’ve been all season, the Cubs certainly don’t want to see that happen.