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Chicago Cubs World Series: How they match up with the Cleveland Indians

By Carlos Nazario

Oct 22, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts (left) hands the National League Championship Trophy to President of Baseball operations Theo Epstein after game six of the 2016 NLCS playoff baseball series at Wrigley Field. Cubs win 5-0 to advance to the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts (left) hands the National League Championship Trophy to President of Baseball operations Theo Epstein after game six of the 2016 NLCS playoff baseball series at Wrigley Field. Cubs win 5-0 to advance to the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago Cubs second baseman
Chicago Cubs second baseman /

The infield

These two teams have some great, young talent playing on the infield. We will be seeing a lot of these players in a lot of All Star games.

At first base, the Chicago Cubs have Anthony Rizzo. He is still just 27 years old, yet he is the undisputed leader of the Chicago Cubs. Rizzo hit .292/.385/.544 with 32 home runs and a team-leading 109 RBI. He is one of the leading candidates for the National League MVP Award.

Rizzo struggled through a 2-for-26 slump in the playoffs before going 7-for-14 over the final three games of the NLCS.

The Indians counter with Mike Napoli. Napoli was a great free agent signing. Cleveland got him on a one-year, $7 million contract, and all he did was hit 34 home runs and had 101 RBI.

“Party at Napoli’s” is a cry that’s gone throughout Cleveland. It apparently has the city in a tizzy, and his teammates rallied around him. Napoli is a proven playoff performer, playing in eight of the last ten playoffs.

Advantage: Cubs

At second base, the Cubs have the breakout player of the playoffs, Javier Baez. Baez was co-MVP of the NLCS. He hit .342 with a homer and seven RBI in this season’s postseason. He is also dazzling everyone with some spectacular play on defense, and he even stole home plate.

At second base, the Cubs have the breakout player of the playoffs, Javier Baez. Baez was co-MVP of the NLCS. He hit .342 with a homer and seven RBI in this season’s postseason.

The Indians have Jason Kipnis. He is a lefty that has some power, and he has speed on the bath paths. In the postseason, Kipnis hit two home runs, but went just 1-for-19 in the ALCS.  Kipnis injured his ankle while celebrating the Indians’ ALCS win, and it is still bothering him running up to the start of the World Series.

Advantage: Cubs

At third base, the Cubs have Kris Bryant, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. In his second year, he had an even better season, and he is considered the odds-on favorite to win the NL MVP. Bryant hit 39 home runs and had 102 RBI. Defensively, he was versatile, playing not only third, but also left field, right field center field and first base.

The Indians counter with Jose Ramirez. Ramirez actually had a pretty good season, hitting .312, with 11 homers and 76 RBI, and 46 doubles. He also had 22 stolen bases to boot.

In the playoffs, Bryant hit .333 with a home run and 7 RBI. Ramirez just hit .222 with just one extra base hit (a double) and only one RBI.

Advantage: Cubs

There is a real battle at shortstop. The Cubs’ Addison Russell and the Indians’ Francisco Lindor are two of the top shortstops (both offensively and defensively) in baseball.

Russell is 22 years old, and he hit 21 home runs and had 95 RBI. He also plays a great shortstop. Russell went just 1-for-24 in the first six postseason games, but went 6-for-13 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in the last three.

Lindor, also 22, was last season’s runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year. He hit .301 with 15 homers and 78 RBI during the regular season. In the playoffs, he is hitting .323 with 2 homers and 4 RBI and two doubles.

Lindor is impressing on a national stage. Fun fact — Lindor was the Indians’ first-round pick in the 2011 draft. He was the eighth overall pick.

The ninth pick in that draft? None other than Javier Baez.

Advantage: Indians

At catcher, the Cubs have the three-headed monster of Willson Contreras, Miguel Montero and David Ross. Grandpa Rossy, as Ross is known, is Jon Lester‘s personal catcher. In the regular season he hit 10 homers in just 166 at-bats.

Contreras is the heir apparent. He will be the starter going further. He shows a knack for getting hits at key at-bats. He is also versatile, playing right field and first base.

Montero had his worst hitting season, but came up huge in the NLDS, hitting a grand slam to win a game. He also became the personal catcher for Jake Arrieta, having caught both postseason games in which he pitched.

The Indians have Roberto Perez. Perez played in 61 games this season, and hit just .183 with only three homers. Defense is his forte, though, as he threw out 46 percent of would-be base stealers.

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