Chicago Cubs: Who should Cubs fans root for in the postseason?

It’s been a week or so since the Chicago Cubs’ season ended in the Wild Card Game. So who should Cubs fans be rooting for as postseason baseball rolls on?

When the Chicago Cubs season first ended last week with a loss to the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card Game, I started thinking about who I wanted to root for as the postseason continued.

First, I latched on to the Cleveland Indians, feeling sympathy for their championship drought and how they had been bounced from the NLDS after being up two games to none last season. That hope ended earlier this week when the Indians were swept by the defending champion Houston Astros.

Then, I moved on to the Atlanta Braves, from nearby my hometown in Georgia. They were a young, likable team that I could easily get behind. But after they got eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, I was, once again left wondering where to turn.

So who should Cubs fans root for while they watch this postseason from home? Let’s see who we can rule out.

Chicago Cubs: Here come the defending champs

Then I moved on to the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions. They’re a fairly likable team, with young players like Alex Bregman, George Springer and Carlos Correa, who are easy to get behind.

Still, I can’t help but think back on Dallas Keuchel‘s comments in March:

“We’re not the Cubs,” Keuchel said, in response to questions about a potential repeat championship.

For Cubs fans, seeing the ease with which Houston has moved through the 2018 season is frustrating, after the club struggled in their post-championship season. It’s been so long since there was last a repeat champion in baseball. Let’s keep it that way for now. Thus, we move on to the National League.

Chicago Cubs: NL Central foes

The NLCS is set, and this time, the Cubs will sit at home after participating for three straight years from 2015 to 2017. Worse yet, their NL Central rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers will be there instead, battling the Los Angeles Dodgers for the pennant.

For anyone but Cubs fans, the Brewers are a great story. They are a small market team that acquired tons of talent in the offseason and first half and stole the NL Central title in the tiebreaker game after two straight division titles for the Cubs.

But as a Cubs fan, the last thing you want is to face the defending World Series champions in your division next season, so that rules out Milwaukee.

Chicago Cubs: I … love L.A.?

And that leaves just one team: the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s hard to believe the Cubs have battled them the past two seasons, and now I’m going to get behind them, but by process of elimination, I have no choice.

They have a long drought to deal with themselves: their last World Series title came in 1988, and last year they lost to the Astros in heartbreaking fashion in Game 7. As strange as it feels, I’m getting behind the Dodgers this postseason, and Cubs fans should, too.

If the Dodgers reach the World Series, they have the talent to take down the supposedly dominant American League and boost the National League’s reputation.

Moreover, the Cubs won’t have to battle the Dodgers nearly as much as the Brewers next season, so they are a much better option—even if it feels wrong to be rooting for them as a Cubs fan.

By process of elimination, the Dodgers seem like the team for Cubs fans to root for—even if it may be hard to stomach for many. So let’s look forward to next season, when the Cubs will hopefully be back in it, fighting for another championship of their own.