Chicago Cubs of 2016 mirrored by this year’s Houston Astros club

Jose Altuve headlines a dangerous lineup for Houston

Whereas Kris Bryant was the leader for the Cubs’ offense in 2016, Altuve is the leader of this year’s Astros team. The 27-year-old Altuve slashed .346/.410/.547 with 24 home runs and 84 RBI during the regular season. In addition to that, the Astros’ second baseman stole 32 bags and sat the pace for the offense by compiling a 7.7 offensive WAR.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Just as Bryant had a supporting cast around him last season that consisted of Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and others, Altuve has his own posse of offensive stalwarts.

Carlos Correa, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez all hit above .300 on the season and drove in at least 80 runs. In addition to those big bats, Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman and George Springer also turned in fantastic seasons.

Gurriel just missed the .300 club with a slash line of .299/.332/.486. The Astros first baseman also clubbed 18 home runs this season and drove in 75 runs.

Bregman and Springer each turned in similar slash lines this season. Bregman went .284/.352/.475 whereas Springer posted a line of .283/.367/.522. Springer provided more pop than Bregman, clubbing 34 home runs to Bregman’s 19.

The seven guys mentioned above helped the Astros win 101 games and have the best offense in baseball. As a group, the Astros led the majors in runs scored (896), batting average (.282), OBP (.346) and slugging percentage (.478).

Houston’s offense was on fire for much of the season and judging by the 16 runs already put up by the Astros this postseason, it has carried into October.