{"id":11507,"date":"2016-09-15T11:31:46","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T11:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=11507"},"modified":"2016-09-15T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T11:31:46","slug":"cubs-ultimately-judged-october-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/cubs-ultimately-judged-october-performance.html","title":{"rendered":"Cubs ultimately to be judged by October performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cubs ultimately to be judged by October performance<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Cubs ultimately to be judged by October performance:-<\/strong> They are the Golden State Warriors in spikes, Springsteen on the diamond and Warren Buffett with a scorecard.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chicago Cubs are baseball royalty, the ultimate in perfection with a gaudy 93-52 record and on the brink of taking the first giant step to their most magical season in 108 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s going to beat them?\u201d Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun said. \u201cThat team is so good. They\u2019re just so complete. It\u2019s scary how good they are with all of their depth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are good, but we\u2019re going to get better,\u201d Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. \u201cI like what we\u2019ve done a lot this year, and I think it\u2019s been very good, but there\u2019s definitely room for growth and improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely believe next year is going to get better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it permitted, kosher or even lawful to actually discuss back-to-back championships with a franchise that hasn\u2019t won the World Series since 1908?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we feel the pressure like Golden State did, where you\u2019re supposed to go out and dominate every night,\u201d said Cubs catcher David Ross, who homered and threw out two baserunners Wednesday in the Cubs\u2019 7-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Usa\"
Usa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe fans and media have got us going to the World Series already. But, come on, one step at a time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It might be one small step for the Cubs but a giant step for Cub-kind Thursday when they can coronate their new party room at Wrigley Field with a victory against the Brewers. Their magic number to clinch the National League Central dropped to one after Jon Lester, one of three Cy Young Award candidates on the staff, suffocated the Cardinals lineup, allowing three hits over eight innings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Go ahead and crank up the volume, turn on the disco lights and dance the night away in what the Cubs envision to be the first of four raucous celebrations over the next six weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen our team,\u201d said Lester, who is 17-4 with a 2.40 ERA, including a 1.47 ERA in the second half. \u201cWe don\u2019t like to party too much. I\u2019m sure it will be low-key.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been the Cardinals\u2019 division for so long,\u201d said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who hit two homers Wednesday to join Hall of Famer Billy Williams as the Cubs\u2019 only left-handed hitters with multiple 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons. \u201cIt\u2019s going to feel really good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team everyone envisioned for greatness since the start of spring training, with more national TV appearances than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, has not only embraced the target, as their T-shirts read, but has almost taunted the idea of pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cubs spent six months touring the country as the greatest baseball team in America, and now that they\u2019re on the brink of being the first team to be invited to the October postseason gala, the only question remaining is whether anyone can possibly stop them from winning their first World Series title since the Teddy Roosevelt administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yep, just like that Golden State squad that won more games than any other team in NBA history, only to lose Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we feel like we\u2019re anywhere like those guys,\u201d said third baseman Kris Bryant, the leading candidate to win the NL MVP award. \u201cThe Warriors were so dominant last year and had all of those great players.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know we have the players, too, but you see what happened to them. They lost when it counted. So it didn\u2019t really matter what you do during the season if you can\u2019t finish it off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, despite all of the flashy numbers and franchise records, the Cubs know they will ultimately be judged by their performance in October.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, no pressure on us, right?\u201d catcher Miguel Montero said, laughing. \u201cI know we have the greatest run differential in like 100 years. We\u2019re doing stuff that hasn\u2019t happened since 1930. But we don\u2019t follow those stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, all I want to do is win the last game of the season, that last World Series game, and that will get everyone\u2019s attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how we want to be remembered, as World Series champions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cubs, with a 17-game lead in the division and a 6 1\/2-game lead to clinch home-field advantage in the National League playoffs, are baseball\u2019s most complete team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Clinch
Clinch Playoff Spor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They have the finest pitching staff in the game, yielding a .210 batting average, which would be their lowest opposing batting average since 1880, when they were called the Chicago White Stockings. Their starting rotation has a 2.89 ERA, with the Washington Nationals having the second-best mark at 3.48. It would be the Cubs\u2019 lowest ERA since 1963. Their WHIP (walks and hits allowed per inning) is a miniscule 1.05, which would be the lowest by a Cubs team since at least 1913.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defense and its range have been uncanny, with the Cubs yielding a .255 batting average on balls in play, according to FanGraphs, the best by any major league team in at least 30 years. This combination of pitching and defense has resulted in 488 opposing runs all season, 50 fewer than the runner-up Nationals. They\u2019re on pace for the fewest runs allowed in a non-strike season in Cubs history since 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget the offense. They have two MVP candidates, Bryant (37 homers, 95 RBI) and Rizzo (31 homers, 101 RBI), and three infielders with at least 20 homers and 90 RBI when you throw in 22-year-old shortstop Addison Russell (20 homers, 91 RBI.) They grind opposing pitchers to death, leading the major leagues with 585 walks \u2014 18 more than all of last season \u2014 and on pace for the highest total in franchise history. And they\u2019ve significantly cut down their strikeouts to 1,211 compared to a franchise-record 1,518 last season.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re not just winning, they\u2019re also bludgeoning teams. They\u2019ve outscored opponents by 234 runs, the greatest differential pace in the wild-card era.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps most impressive is that even the few games they do lose, they\u2019re never blown out. They\u2019ve lost four games since July 10 by more than four runs. They are 41-17 during that stretch and are on pace to win 104 games, last accomplished in 1910 during the franchise\u2019s glory days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComing into the season there were so many expectations heaped upon us and pressure was applied,\u201d Maddon said. \u201cThat\u2019s what created the target as far as I\u2019m concerned. … Once we get to the point where we have clinched, we will settle into a routine that I\u2019d want to believe will keep them sharp and rested at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPut the gas pedal down or hit the brakes a little bit. We\u2019ll just wait and see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The luxury the Cubs have is that they\u2019re so deep and talented, no one really needs an extended rest. They\u2019re so versatile that Javier Baez has started every position in the infield. Bryant has played four positions, including 32 starts in left field. Outfielder Jason Heyward awaits the day when he\u2019s called upon to play first base, and Ross has taken ground balls at third base.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep hearing about all of these numbers, and this is the first time we\u2019ve done this or that, but, honestly, we really don\u2019t spend a lot of time on that,\u201d Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/columnist\/bob-nightengale\/2016\/09\/14\/cubs-record-pace\/90379938\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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