Fab4Runner;1818355 wrote:Shut the fuck up.

thavoice;1818309 wrote:431 HR vs 80. Top 50 All time, and other than AROD the most HR of all time for a SS.
1695 RBI vs 951. 27th all time, and only Arod and Honus with more for a SS.

but yea, he got his name only for playing in every game.

sleeper;1818362 wrote:Savage.

Ironman92;1818320 wrote:Ok, here it goes. tl,dr warning

What do the Cubs bring....

Dexter Fowler CF/lead off great athlete that is a very good fielder and an average arm. Gets on base better than expected. If he gets on above .300 clip this series it could be trouble. When Fowler gets on base regularly...Cubs win games

Kris Bryant 3B/bats 2nd....this 6'5 pretty boy is the NL MVP. He's a good guy. Right now his HR swing seems off and instead is getting over spin on his power swings and hitting doubles. His defense and base running are better than expected. He could get caught up in this series as he was goofily smiling from ear to ear after NLCS. Indians have to contain him a bit.

Anthony Rizzo 1B/bats 3rd...he was there during the 100 loss season about 4 years ago. One of the best defensive first baseman and the leader on this team. He was sucking until game 3 of NLCS when he started using Matt Szczur's bat, he's been on fire since. He's a top 10-12 MLB player. He might rub some Indians fans the wrong way.

Addison Russell SS....this kid is 3 months younger than Lindor. He's not quite Lindor but he can pick it and nearly drove in 100. His swing got going when Rizzo's did. I see Lindor as a guy that might end up being a 8-10x all-star, I see Russell making 6-8 all-star games. He's not as likable as Lindor but if there is any player most like Lindor in the NL, it's Russell.

Ben Zobrist LF/DH...as you probably know, a tough ass out and AB about every time. He was here last year.

Javier Baez 2nd base....If he plays decent or better you Indians fans will despise him like Draymond. His youthful exuberance and fiery passion are off the charts. Before the postseason he was a borderline starter, since then he's been maybe the best defender I've ever seen and he's been clutch as hell also. The only guy I can think of defensively to compare his style is Rey Ordonez back in the day. If I was Francona I would hit him in the ribs on the first pitch, regardless of situation. This kid is so comfortable but he can definitely be tricked into worrying about beating someone's ass instead of doing his job.

Jose Contreras C he'll catch when Ross doesn't. Another fiery passionate player that can rub the wrong way. He can turn on a pitch and very athletic at catcher position.

David Ross...will catch Lester and watch his throw down pickoff to 1st. Still excellent at getting ball thrown quickly to bases. Most like able guy on the team and has a knack for rising to the occasion in Wrigley.

Jason Heyward RF/bench....Cubs win despite his woeful offense. He's lost at the plate. I think I could get him out. His defense in RF is second to none and an excellent base runner

Jorge Soler OF vs lefties. He looks the part but not quite there yet. Good power but makes a lot of outs.

Kyle Schwarber....if he plays, beware. He can stroke it from the left side. If he DH's the Cubs are even better. I wouldn't be surprised if he missed all season, got 12 fall league AB and then went 10/20 in the series....IF he can play.

Bench: Montero good pinch hitter, Almora good speed and outfielder

Pitching: their bullpen minus Chapman isn't great and can all be worked. If Chapman is only pumping fastballs he can be had, but Dodgers already got him so he'll mix in his slower pitches.

Starters: Lester is a playoff ace stud. Cannot throw to bases. You have to steal, have to. You can get 20 ft leads and it's painful to watch. If you bunt to him he'll purposely bounce it to 1st. He gets pissed off but controls it well. He's special.

Arrieta....he's Kluber. Right now IMO his pitches aren't as active as last year. He's giving up some and Indians can get to him. Careful, he can hit.

Lackey...lol he's a grouch ass but man he competes on every pitch. He can get knocked out before 7 innings about every time. IMO he only starts game 4 but he's no slouch.

Kyle Hendricks...looks like Orel Hershiser and pitches like Greg Maddux. He's been masterful. A comfortable 0-3 for hitters. I think Indians being in the AL will help them get to him better...but don't be fooled, he is excellent.

Manager Joe Maddon, Francona has managed against two much lesser playoff managers. Maddon may not quite be Francona in the postseason but no manager keeps a team looser.

KEYS to Indians winning the series:

1. Win 2 of first 3. I don't think they can rally from 3-1, this ain't Golden St (yet kinda is though)

2. Can't let Fowler/Baez/Russell have good offensive series. If those 3 are good I don't think Cleveland can win.

3. Get to their bullpen BEFORE Chapman. They can definitely do it with Lackey but need to probably 2 more times to win this series.

Steal on Lester! Bryant plays in because teams bunt and force Lester to throw...but puts Bryant in bad position. Gotta take advantage.

4. Mike Napoli, they need him to be big.

5. Big offensive series from Lonnie.

Things favoring Cleveland:

Home field (thanks Bud Selig)

Bullpen...way better and deeper pen BUT I feel if Francona goes to them much Cubs hitters will get used to them and do what they do. Miller the exception. Miller needs to beware Baez and RH Fowler as guys who could run into one of his sliders.

Maybe the biggest....Cubs have better offense but young Cubs players don't know crap about Tribe pitching. Advantage goes to pitchers until batters get plenty of at bats vs them.

Pressure on Cubs

Things said I don't agree with....Indians defense is better. Both are excellent and beware Cubs infield dirt. It is the worst in MLB. Only Zobrist isn't above average for his position.

I hope if the Indians win it is in 6 or 7 at home. If Cubs must win I do want to see it in 5 in Wrigley.

Commander of Awesome;1818238 wrote:I expect another sweep. Pitching sucks and bats have gone silent.

SnotBubbles;1818377 wrote:Schwarber officially added to the Cubs roster.

I hope that Lester secretly has developed an amazing pick-off move and just hasn't shown it yet (saving it for this). I doubt it, but a boy can dream. I think the Indians take game 1 based on the simple fact that they will run all over Lester. Hopefully Lester is on fire and only allows a few base-runners, that's our only chance. I don't think the Cubs will hit Kluber all that great.

TBone14;1818380 wrote:I was thinking that during Game 5. He's saving something. No way a professional pitcher can be that incompetent at throwing to first base.

He's a real life Rube Baker. Louise teaches aerobics and loves short shorts, unicorns and reruns of Three's Company. Her favorite sports are air hockey, checkers....

jmog;1818366 wrote:Except for the fact that the main reason ARod and Ripken had to move to 3B in their career was because of their power they did not have the range/mobility required to really play SS at a high level defensively.

Ripken did get 2 GGs but was because he didn't make errors on the balls he could get to, but he never had the range/athleticism of an Ozzie or Omar or Jeter, same with ARod.

Ripken and ARod are HoFers and amazing all around baseball players, but strictly as SSs they were not among the best all time. Yes, SSs do hit but if you don't realize there are some positions that teams expect to hit well (LF/RF/1B/3B) and some that teams expect to be amazing defenders (SS/2B/CF) then you truly don't understand the game. Catcher is one position that is somewhat in between depending on the manager/front office, some clubs look for defense some look for a great bat from behind the plate.

In the NL pitchers hit, but you don't say that one pitcher is a better player than the other because he has more HRs, you only really look at their pitching. SS is not quite that dichotic but it is truly a position defined by defense.

iclfan2;1818409 wrote:Kipnis' sprained ankle picture going around twitter looks disgusting. Have to think his range and base running ability will be handicapped.

iclfan2;1818409 wrote:Kipnis' sprained ankle picture going around twitter looks disgusting. Have to think his range and base running ability will be handicapped.

TBone14;1818416 wrote:You have to think those are not from today....maybe those are a week old?

http://deadspin.com/dude-jason-kipnis-are-you-sure-you-can-play-on-your-s-1788194615?rev=1477416891070&utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

vball10set;1818427 wrote:

yup, Frankie's locked in...GO TRIBE!