How the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants match up
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Breaking down the National League division series between the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.
Best-of-five series
Game 1: Friday at Chicago, 6 p.m.
San Francisco: Cueto (18-5, 2.79)
Chicago: Lester (19-5, 2.44)
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Game 2: Saturday at Chicago, 5 p.m.
San Francisco: TBA, likely Moore (13-12, 4.08)
Chicago: Hendricks (16-8, 2.13)
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Game 3: Monday at San Francisco, TBA
Chicago: Arrieta (18-8, 3.10)
San Francisco: TBA, likely Bumgarner (15-9, 2.74)
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Game 4: Tuesday at San Francisco, TBA
Chicago: Lackey (11-8, 3.35)
San Francisco: TBA
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Game 5: Thursday at Chicago, TBA
San Francisco: TBA
Chicago: TBA
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Projected lineups
SAN FRANCISCO
Pos. Player, Avg, HR, RBI
CF Denard Span, .266, 11, 53
1B Brandon Belt, .275, 17, 82
C Buster Posey, .288, 14, 80
RF Hunter Pence, .289, 13, 57
SS Brandon Crawford, .275, 12, 84
LF Angel Pagan, .277, 12, 55
2B Joe Panik, .239, 10, 62
3B Conor Gillaspie, .262, 6, 25
CHICAGO
Pos. Player, Avg, HR, RBI
CF Dexter Fowler, .276, 13, 48
3B Kris Bryant, .292, 39, 102
1B Anthony Rizzo, .292, 32, 109
2B Ben Zobrist, .272, 18, 76
SS Addison Russell, .238, 21, 95
RF Jason Heyward, .230, 7, 49
LF Jorge Soler, .238, 12, 31
C Willson Contreras, .282, 12, 35
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Keys to the series
Betting against Madison Bumgarner in October is nearly hopeless, but the Cubs have four top-flight starters, a productive top half of the lineup, and the hardest-throwing pitcher in the sport’s history closing games. If the Giants are to pull off the upset in spite of their substandard bullpen, they will require dominant performances from Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and maybe Matt Moore, plus more of their by-now-believable even-year magic. While the Cubs were the best team in baseball throughout 2016, that guarantees them nothing now. But when in doubt, side with the best, unless San Francisco can uncover a weakness no other team could.
The pick: Cubs in five.
