10/25 World Series Game 1: Cubs (Lester) vs Indians (Kluber) 7 p.m., FOX

[Rob]

 

I can absolutely see why they'd want to do that.

 

Their bullpen is amazing, but 3/4 of their starting rotation are the types of guys that the Cubs have hit very well this season. So the goal for the Indians will be the same it has been for the rest of their postseason -- get to the bullpen before your starters give the other team too much of a lead.

 

Kluber gives them their best chance of that.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

GROSSSSSSSSS

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/10/24/world-series-umpiring-crew-announced-hi-joe-west/

[Aaron_Kennelly]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

Well, we're not going 7 anyway. So, yes, please make our sweep easier.

[gobigred]

Can Schwarber dh for Heyward and Lester bat....I am 100% serious

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Can Schwarber dh for Heyward and Lester bat....I am 100% serious

 

No

[itisallpartoftheplan]

25 hours until the game starts and 15 people are just hanging out on the game thread.

 

Wouldve been more but everyone is inthe Schwarber thread.

[minnesotacubsfan]

why not? Lester can bunt. Heyward, he needs time alone with the batting coach.

[Brian]

CF - Dex

DH - Schwarbs

3B - KB

1B - Rizz

RF - Zo

2B - Javy

LF - Will

SS - Addi

C - Grandpa

 

I'm not attached to that order especially the bottom half, but that's a pretty sexy lineup

[mul21]

CF - Dex

DH - Schwarbs

3B - KB

1B - Rizz

RF - Zo

2B - Javy

LF - Will

SS - Addi

C - Grandpa

 

I'm not attached to that order especially the bottom half, but that's a pretty sexy lineup

 

If those guys are all hitting, man that's scary good.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

why not? Lester can bunt. Heyward, he needs time alone with the batting coach.

Because thems the rules

[The_Achiever]

I am confident.

[Brian]

btw as of 5:30 pm tonight the sign still doesn't read AC0000108. Kind of annoyed by how much that annoys me.

[DurbanJer]

Schwarber coming back to the team?! Any irony in that we get 4 DH games cuz of the stupid all-star break rule and that may actually give us an advantage on the road?!

[abuck1220]

unless contreras is in LF and Zobrist is in RF, then activating schwarber is kinda pointless because then you're basically starting schwarber over contreras and that's not getting you anywhere.

[Sammy Sofa]

unless contreras is in LF and Zobrist is in RF, then activating schwarber is kinda pointless because then you're basically starting schwarber over contreras and that's not getting you anywhere.

 

Worrrrrrrrrrd.

[Geech]

I'm feeling very antsy about this series starting. I can't wait for Tuesday night.

[BigSlick]

Schwarber coming back to the team?! Any irony in that we get 4 DH games cuz of the stupid all-star break rule and that may actually give us an advantage on the road?!

It probably doesn't give us the advantage because at home the Indians have no way of playing Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana at the same time, who are their best hitters

 

Re: Schwarber and Contreras, for the Hendricks start at least, you get *both* of those mean bats in the lineup, and suffer no defensive disadvantage. Also, handedness.

[bjam12]

Schwarber coming back to the team?! Any irony in that we get 4 DH games cuz of the stupid all-star break rule and that may actually give us an advantage on the road?!

It probably doesn't give us the advantage because at home the Indians have no way of playing Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana at the same time, who are their best hitters

 

Re: Schwarber and Contreras, for the Hendricks start at least, you get *both* of those mean bats in the lineup, and suffer no defensive disadvantage. Also, handedness.

 

Hendricks is game 3 at Wrigley

[raw]

Schwarber coming back to the team?! Any irony in that we get 4 DH games cuz of the stupid all-star break rule and that may actually give us an advantage on the road?!

It probably doesn't give us the advantage because at home the Indians have no way of playing Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana at the same time, who are their best hitters

 

Re: Schwarber and Contreras, for the Hendricks start at least, you get *both* of those mean bats in the lineup, and suffer no defensive disadvantage. Also, handedness.

 

No because Hendricks starts in the NL park, unless there's a game 7.

[Rob]

I'm still rooting for Heyward to be in the lineup most days. Granted, at the bottom of it.

 

I just don't see any of our other options as being good enough offensively to overcome the disparity on defense. Contreras is close, but I kinda like the idea of having him and Soler both on the bench for when Miller comes in.

[snoodmonger]

Should I be worried that several CLE players have knocked Lester around a bit?

[We Got The Whole 9]

The Indians offense has positive values for pitch types across the board. They hit sliders almost as well as us, they crush changes and curves. They don't have a clear weakness and they get great production with platoon guys (Naquin, Guyer). Our analytics team certainly has their work cut out for them.

 

138 steals is no joke. They love to run. That will be our biggest challenge. We can't let a bloop and an infield single turn into a cheap run in the WS.

 

Their bullpen has been automatic. We all know that we need to bomb on their starters. If we beat the horsefeathers out of Bauer and Tomlin they have no chance. I think Lester will have a tough time matching zeroes with Kluber. This team doesn't just bluff - they run. If they take 20 foot leads, it doesn't matter how quick to the plate he is and how fast Ross pops. Now if they take a normal lead then, sure, we can mitigate that damage, but I think Cleveland is smarter than that. The last time we faced Kluber, we were overpowered and took some really bad swings. But granted, that was last year.

 

A healthy Salazar, throwing 97 with a devastating change-up, could spell major trouble for our hitters but it doesn't seem like he'll be starting. Unless they're just biding their time in announcing it.

 

This should be an amazing World Series. But let's break out the brooms!

[Brian]

holy horsefeathers. tomorrow is the world series. the cubs are in it.

 

I watched the Maddon/Lester press conference and every time 'World Series' was said it hit me again each time.

[SpongeWorthy]

watching gammons on mlb network is painful at this point

[TMan92]

The Indians offense has positive values for pitch types across the board. They hit sliders almost as well as us, they crush changes and curves. They don't have a clear weakness and they get great production with platoon guys (Naquin, Guyer). Our analytics team certainly has their work cut out for them.

 

138 steals is no joke. They love to run. That will be our biggest challenge. We can't let a bloop and an infield single turn into a cheap run in the WS.

 

Their bullpen has been automatic. We all know that we need to bomb on their starters. If we beat the horsefeathers out of Bauer and Tomlin they have no chance. I think Lester will have a tough time matching zeroes with Kluber. This team doesn't just bluff - they run. If they take 20 foot leads, it doesn't matter how quick to the plate he is and how fast Ross pops. Now if they take a normal lead then, sure, we can mitigate that damage, but I think Cleveland is smarter than that. The last time we faced Kluber, we were overpowered and took some really bad swings. But granted, that was last year.

 

A healthy Salazar, throwing 97 with a devastating change-up, could spell major trouble for our hitters but it doesn't seem like he'll be starting. Unless they're just biding their time in announcing it.

 

This should be an amazing World Series. But let's break out the brooms!

 

Let's just not bother playing.