Chicago Cubs: All eyes are on young stars in weekend series between Cubs and Rockies

Soon after the Cincinnati Reds leave the Windy City, the Colorado Rockies will make their way to Wrigleyville for a weekend showdown with the Chicago Cubs. It’s been a wild start to the season for both the Cubbies and Rockies which sets up a heavyweight showdown starting Friday afternoon.

Every team has their set of franchise players who are searching for a World Series title. When evaluating each roster, there’s a handful of names that stand out. For instance, in Washington, the Nationals have Bryce Harper, Los Angeles has both Mike Trout and shortstop Andrelton Simmons while Carlos Correa, Dallas Keuchel, and Jose Altuve lead the charge in Houston.

As for the Chicago Cubs, the list of big league talent and those who are on the brink of cracking the 25-man roster goes on and on. It all started with first baseman Anthony Rizzo when he was acquired from the San Diego Padres. Since then, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, Wilson Contreras, Kyle Hendricks, Kyle Schwarber, Arismendy Alcantara, Albert Almora, Addison Russell and Kris Bryant have followed.

Bryant, out of last year’s rookie class, reigned supreme after topping Joc Pederson for National League Rookie of the Year honors. It was the first time a member of the Chicago Cubs was named Rookie of the Year since Geovany Soto back in 2008. Which just so happened to be a playoff season for the North Siders.

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But now that Bryant’s first year is out of the way, the attention is on another young star who is making some noise of his own. And if you paid attention to our Cubbies Crib staff picks post from a week ago, our very own Mike Rankin and Ryan Davies picked shortstop Trevor Story to win the honors in 2016.

Colorado’s 23-year-old shortstop is off to a great start. In nine games, he’s recorded seven home runs, 13 RBI, two triples, 13 hits and scored 11 times while slashing .333/.357/.974. And you can’t forget Arenado who hammered two big flies and drove in a career seven RBI last night.

Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks felt his wrath early on when he hammered two homers in his debut and went on to drill four more in three games. Story will be matched up against Hendricks on Friday, Jake Arrieta on Saturday while Jon Lester takes the mound for the series finale on Sunday.

Next: Cubs look to complete sweep

Each team has a lineup that can drive in 10 plus runs per ballgame which make this a huge test for both the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies. And to be honest, it could very well end up becoming a postseason matchup in the future. Think about it, Russell, Schwarber, Bryant, Rizzo teeing off against Arenado, Story, Car-Go.

It just doesn’t get any better than that. Definitely looking forward to some entertaining baseball this weekend. Just wish Schwarber was able to participate.