minnesotacubsfan

The Indians have a deep offense, 6 regulars have a wOBA over .340. For reference, the Cubs had 5 over .340 including Contreras. They have a mix of speed guys who have a bit of pop(Ramirez, Lindor), outright sluggers(Santana, Napoli, Naquin), and Kipnis who does a little of everything. They led the AL in stolen bases and baserunning value, which could mean that if Lester doesn't keep Rajai Davis(and Ramirez/Lindor to a lesser extent) off first base, the NLCS narrative could be very real like it was for Hamilton and Villar. Their rotation is Kluber and a bunch of misfit toys. Kluber is very good, but more 2016 Arrieta than 2015 Arrieta. There is no Kershaw or Hill in the Indians rotation. Trevor Bauer performed like Jason Hammel this year and he cut his finger off with a drone. Salazar has great stuff but he's been hurt for a 6 weeks and was terrible for longer than that before getting hurt. Josh Tomlin is American League for Mike Leake. And by ability, Ryan Merritt would be more at home getting September starts for the Reds than pitching in the ALCS. Their bullpen is nightmare fuel. Miller incinerates righties and lefties and goes for innings at a time. Allen is their nominal closer and strikes out a ton of guys, if you saw how good Thornburg was for the Brewers this year, that gives you an idea. Shaw is Strop-ian in effectiveness. And for days that their starters don't go long, Otero(AL Tyler Clippard) and McAllister(think 2015 Cahill) suck up innings. Long story short: Work the starters hard but don't forget to score on them, their bullpen is deep enough to manage a 7 game series. Let your pitching and defense do the work it has been, there's no Rizzo or Bryant in this lineup but they don't run as many easy outs as LA and SF either. so we could be looking at 7-5 run ballgames unless Lester and Hendricks shut down everyone?

do they still have pitching injuries? how is their bullpen outside of Miller?

I'll be missing game 4. No sweep please. Don't punish the rest of us for your inability to get your life in order. exactly. I have completely orded my entire work and life schedule for this. If you cant do the same, tough horsefeathers

so who can give a scouting report on the Indians? I know Kluber, Salazar and Miller, and only Miller am I afraid of. However, hasnt he been over pitched? and what about their offense?

will he bat at Wrigley or only in Cleveland?

Well so long as the decision is being made for objective reasons Fair enough, but if La Stella is barely going to play (which we all know he might get an at bat or two if he's lucky), then they might as well take the guy who will fire up the team and the fans even more than they already are. Plus there's a better chance Schwarber does something significant than Seal boy. eh, I dont think LeStella is a quitter. I think he just didnt want to get sent down because he knew where we were headed. But in the end, he just isnt good enough

I'm confused if your issue is the threat of reinjury or if it is whether he'll be able to hit off Kluber. You keep changing the argument. No, it's both. I'm saying that the low likelihood of him having success against high level pitching right now isn't worth the potential injury risk. how likely is an injury? and if the alternative is LaStella....well...LOGIC

I'll be on a plane for games 1 and 2. this is the worst WS ever. that's a long [expletive] plane ride Tsk: lawyers

WORLD. horsefeathering. SERIES.

your fault for not asking me watching party from PS?

4 more wins plz. oh, and thank you for proving that staying blue & true WILL payoff eventually. I want many of these go cubs goooooooo

welcome, and yea, me too. holding together because 4 MORE WINS

I feel it, but if I start to think about it all I get choked up. So, I'm just holding it together. 4 more wins

Huh?

Yup. nlCs

I'm just walking around thinking about this. It has been HARD at times to keep coming back to this team, maybe next year, etc. but HOLY horsefeathers this feels good. My Sunday is shot. 4 more

he definitely was nursing a leg injury, they just gave out beneath him He might have a neck injury with the way he snaps his head straight up

I assume the decision would actually be Zastryzny vs La Stella vs Schwarber. Coghlan would still be safe. I feel like it's La Stella vs Schwarber. Zastryzny was probably there for the Dodgers mainly. Can the Indians hit lefties? Because their pitching staff seems like an all-you-can-eat buffet to a healthy, locked in Schwarber.

I guess I'm still in a bit of disbelief. about all of it

this

Is this guy for real [tweet] [/tweet]

yes

dudes dont get showered after being hurt all year when their team goes to the ws unless you are too in some capacity.

thats exactly what I mean. WE JUST ROCKED THE BEST PITCHER IN THE WORLD a WEEK after he dominated us. holy hell its been hard to be a fan of this team so so long. All that belief in who we were and how it was put together. And I cant figure out how good we really are. but its more then I thought

I have this feeling that they already won the WS. But we havent. we just got there. we put 5 runs on kershaw a week after he dominated us. how horsefeathering good are we