Chicago Cubs News: Five X-factors for team in postseason

Chicago Cubs: These two need to murder baseballs.

Please do me a favor: don’t look at or think about numbers for a few minutes and picture a couple of scenes. A ball flying into the Allegheny. A ball landing on top of a scoreboard. A ball landing in a basket on a no-doubter almost brought back by the wind. Every single one of you knows the exact ball I’m referring to in each example.

Certain guys shine brighter in the postseason, and certain guys need that energy and excitement to succeed. While they may not have fans to get Wrigley rocking, the stakes will undoubtedly be higher, and the feel will no doubt different. And, some extra raucous fanatics on top of the rooftops wouldn’t hurt either this week.

Two of the postseason heroes from the Cubs march to the title in 2016 were Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez. Schwarber’s story, regardless of your feelings on him or his 2020 season, is the stuff of dreams. All Baez did was ascend to superstardom in front of a national audience by going off in the NLDS and NLCS with 13 hits, a bomb, and seven RBI.

Fast-forward four years, and those same two guys have suffered through a rough 2020 season. Baez has bemoaned the loss of in-game video, and Schwarber continues to destroy balls right into the shift. None of that much matters once the postseason begins. Not only can both shed their 2020 regular season-skins, but they can probably both take a deep breath in a cathartic release now that their club is NL Central champs despite their struggles.

Hosting a game in the ballpark they have both come to define in a new age of Cubs players, would you bet against either of these guys on the big stage? Look for these guys to make the most of their second season, silencing critics and naysayers by showing out big time in October (and one day of September).