Here’s who The Chicago Cubs should watch out for in the World Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Hunter McIntyre

Sports Editor

The world series is quickly approaching and multiple teams have emerged as favorites. The Boston Red Sox,New York Yankees, and the reigning 2017 champion Houston Astros are favorites in the American League but the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics are still in the mix.

In the National league things are a bit more open. The Atlanta braves are currently on top but are trailing the Chicago cubs in win percentage. The Arizona Diamondbacks,ST. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers are currently in the picture as well.

All these teams are only a couple games seperated and changes are very possible especially with the Colorado Rockies and LA Dodgers close behind in the wildcard race. The way I see it the world series will be between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. I know these teams are currently the vegas favorites and I am admittedly a Red Sox fan but in my opinion they have separated themselves from most of the competition.

The Chicago Cubs won the world series in 2016 and many of that core is still in Chicago. Former MVP Kris Bryant is due to return from an injured shoulder this week and with Allstars Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez Carrying their weight the Cubs should be a difficult team to beat even though their pitching staff looks weak at times. Starting Pitcher Jon Lester is also a proven playoff performer which is something worth considering.

The Red Sox Lineup is their strength as they have a top three offense at worst and lead the league In RBI,s, average, slugging and extra base hits. With top players Mookie Betts and J.D Martinez who both happen to be MVP candidates they should feel very comfortable with their offense. Starting pitching also should not be a concern with CY Young frontrunner Chris Sale and other players returning from injury. However the bullpen needs to show some form of consistency before the playoffs.

The Yankees are in my opinion the third most likely world series champion. They lead the league in home runs which speaks volumes about the power of their lineup. What really impressive is their depth. The yankees have at least four players capable of 25 or more homers. However their starting pitching has struggled all year. Sonny Gray was a player that was supposed to be vital to the yankees rotation but he ended up being sent to the bullpen which is probably for the better.They’ve also been dealing with injuries to key players but It’s also worth mentioning that they yankees have traded for Andrew McCutchen to try and bolster their lineup

My final team that I could see winning it all is the houston astros. Somehow they ended up getting better after winning the world series last year. Alex Bregman has emerged as a star to join MVP Jose Altuve and all star George Springer. After being traded to the astros last year Justin Verlander has looked incredible giving them a consistent true number one ace.