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Chicago Cubs: Lester tabbed as Game 1 starter, is this a problem?
By David Miniel
The Chicago Cubs are in Cleveland preparing for their first World Series appearance in 71-years. Now that they will represent the National League in the Fall Classic, they face their toughest matchup. How will they handle the Indians?
Well, it has been a wild journey and it all comes down to this. Tomorrow evening, Joe Maddon and the Chicago Cubs will take the field against Terry Francona‘s Cleveland Indians. A team that made the postseason without the help of some key players.
Meanwhile, the Cubs ran through the regular season by winning 103 games and clinched their division quicker than anyone else. Two completely different teams on the same path looking to end a championship drought.
Who will be the last one standing? Hopefully, it’s the Chicago Cubs raising the trophy in front of the Wrigley Field faithful.
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According to ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rodgers, Maddon has decided to go with co-LCS MVP, southpaw Jon Lester in Game 1. Lester has been fantastic for the Cubs thus far.
Yet while his postseason record starts at 2-0 with an ERA of 0.86 in three starts, one thing has always remained an issue for him. Throwing to first base.
This was exposed when he was a member of the Oakland Athletics and carried over to his first start with the Chicago Cubs against the St. Louis Cardinals. He absolutely refuses to throw over to first.
Quickest Tag in the North
It is a good thing that Lester has David Ross with him in Chicago. Not to mention, Javier Baez has one of the quickest tags in baseball history. Both Ross and Baez has teamed up multiple times over the course of the regular season and postseason, catching base runners by surprise.
They worked their magic against both the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Which is mainly a reason why Baez earned himself co-MVP honors alongside Lester after Game 6. The young infielder deserved it.
However, the Dodgers only managed to steal 45 bases throughout the regular season. And only nine in the postseason. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians ended their campaign with an American League leading 181 stolen bases. Eight in the postseason.
Their biggest contributor to this statistic? Outfielder Rajai Davis who swiped 43 bags. This cannot happen in this series or the Chicago Cubs are going to be in big trouble.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe this team can do enough to win and seal the series at Wrigley Field over the weekend. With that being said, you can’t overlook what the Indians are capable of doing despite scoring only 27 runs.
Next: Interesting facts from the NLCS
If the Chicago Cubs are going to make this happen, everyone out on the field is going to need to be perfect. Holding runners, fielding ground balls and routine outs cleanly and making sure the pressure isn’t on whoever stands on the mound.
Show Cleveland and the rest of the league why they possess the best defense in major league history.