It took a bit, but the 2016 Cubs have surfaced in 2017, and the Cubs are finally making a serious case for the postseason. And it's all thanks to Anthony Rizzo, who's having an even better season than the one they had when they won the series.
I became a fan of Rizzo because he seemed like the only symbol of optimism in the dreary, decrepit Cubs teams of the early 2010s. When the Cubs got good in 2015, he was the guy leading the torch, even as Kris Bryant became the crowd pleaser and Jake Arrieta became the ace. Riz was hitting the home runs, leading the youth to the title by being the experienced yet still youthful leader.
Look, the guy's hit 30 home runs in his last 4 seasons, and he and Kris Bryant are helping the team get back to where they were. I don't think that Rizzo's star has gone down since Bryant's rise, as I still see Rizzo shirts and fans that love his stuff. Without him, we would have no youth movement, no World Series...so I guess we kinda have Andrew Cashner to thank for that...
The Cubs could be a sleeper favorite this postseason. If all goes according to plan, they'll start the postseason against Washington, and while it seems downright cruel to predict that Washington will continue to fail to win a division series...the Cubs could overpower them and get back to the NLCS for the third year in a row. The pitching's there, the lineup's there, the bench is there. The team, while not as good as the 2016 team, still has a chance to win big. It's just a chance of how prepared the rest of the NL will be.
Coming Tonight: Last year he had an amazing season in Arizona...and now he's having an amazing season in Seattle, pulling them toward what very well may be a Wild Card spot.
Typical lifelong Cubs fan that I am I'm very guardedly optimistic about the playoffs-- if we make it to them.
ReplyDelete