The Chicago Cubs have clearly failed one year after their World Series triumph in the National League Championship Series, clearly because of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the end there was another good applause in front of the local backdrop. But you won’t have to worry too long in Illinois – the prospects for the future are too good.
“The better team over these five games has won,”said Cubs manager Joe Maddon after game 5. And he was certainly right. Game 5 was once again something like the crowning glory of all bad things this season for the Chicago Cubs. They had started the year weakly, then put down an intermediate sprint, in order to finally fail clearly because of the Dodgers in the NLCS.
But who would have thought after the first half of the season that things would go that far again for the Cubbies? After last year’s regular season was mastered with ease and more than 100 victories, nothing was as easy this time as it was before.
The playoffs were similarly uneven. It took five games against the Washington Nationals to pull their heads out of the loop. But the team pulled themselves together and turned away the very early end after the glorious success of the previous year. But in the NLCS it was over – the Dodgers were simply too strong.
Superstar pitcher Clayton Kershaw demonstrated his full dominance on this dark night in Wrigley Field, while his offense ran on all cylinders and easily overcame Cubs starter Jose Quintana and the Bullpen. The impressive third inning, in which the guests scored five runs, took Chicago out of the sails for good.
The Dodgers are in the World Series, but the Cubs are by no means faced with a pile of broken pieces. Surely they’ve been told by L. A. showed the limits. Clearly. But we shouldn’t exaggerate with negative evaluations of this team, as it has achieved more than numerous champions in the following year in recent times. In front of the Cubs, St. Stephen’s St. Peter’s Cathedral was the last to be awarded. Louis Cardinals 2012 after a World Series triumph in the following season to reach the playoffs!
A repeat in the MLB is anyway difficult and has not been achieved since 2000. But to have two such constant seasons in a row and to reach the playoffs is no easy task. Especially not after a World Series triumph with a relatively young team. Almost all of Chicago’s top performers are still on the right side of the 30th anniversary of Chicago’s birth.
If you look at the squad, you notice that there are hardly any gaps. The position of the Right Fielder seems to be worthy of improvement, but Jason Heyward, who continues to impress mainly with his glove and more likely due to his club, will continue to be a constant in the coming years thanks to his massive contract. Almost all further positions seem to be carved in stone.
The pitching rotation should also be consistent, because apart from Jake Arrieta and John Lackey, all the starters are under contract or at least under team control in 2018. Lackey made it to the post-season squad with great difficulty anyway and as a relief. The Bullpen also threatens to leave Closer Wade Davis, who reached his limits in this postseason. He also becomes a Free Agent.
The scaffolding, however, stands and gives the Cubs, led by the two superstars Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, one of the best teams for the coming years. This is one that has experienced the greatest possible triumph and has more or less mastered a much more difficult season.
The clear bankruptcy against the Dodgers may have been a setback, but this is also part of the effort to shape a strong team for years. If the right conclusions are drawn now, this will certainly help this troop to make further progress.
They had to wait 108 years until their last title, but the waiting time for the next success in the Classic case could be much shorter. Even though the current season ended soberingly.
This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.