The Chicago Cubs won 97 games and made huge strides forward as an organization this season, but their reward is hardly a sweet one as they will have to go on the road to face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game on Wednesday night.
Despite the absurdity of finishing in third place in the NL Central with a 97-65 record, the Cubs have plenty to be proud of this season. In all likelihood the team will be right in the thick of the race for numerous awards, including the Cy Young (Jake Arrieta), MVP (Anthony Rizzo), Rookie of the Year (Kris Bryant), and Manager of the Year (Joe Maddon). They also are performing at an incredible level for a club with five starting position players that are 25 or younger, and the future is bright on the north side.
Even with all of these positive stories and all of the incredibly play the Cubs have displayed this season, they are in for a stern test when they battle the Pirates. Pittsburgh is anchored by an excellent pitching staff and a solid bullpen, and their offense is full of threats as guys like Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez have given opposing hitters fits all season long.
In addition to their powerful lineup and solid rotation, the Pirates also have something that the Cubs don’t really have: playoff experience. The Pirates are in the Wild Card Game for the third consecutive season, having won and advanced in the 2013 postseason and lost in 2014 to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
That kind of scar tissue certainly gives the Pirates both an understanding of how to win in a winner-take-all environment and a desire to avoid a similar fate to the one they experienced last season, but does it give the Pirates an advantage over the Cubs when the two teams square off on Wednesday?
The answer, in short, is no. The Cubs have plenty of veteran know-how in their lineup, with guys like Dexter Fowler, Miguel Montero, and Jon Lester all well aware of what it takes to win in October.
The calming presence of Maddon is also a huge factor in a high-pressure situation like the one the Cubs will walk into on Wednesday, as he’s been through the battles and seen first-hand just how much the pressure of the moment can impact the performance of a team, especially a young and inexperienced one like Chicago.
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When push comes to shove, there is one scary thought that Cubs fans (and Pirates fans, for that matter) need to keep in mind: the Wild Card Game is essentially a coin-flip proposition, with both teams boasting an equal chance of winning and advancing to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the next round. It’s hardly an ideal scenario for two teams that won close to 100 games apiece, but when it comes to the cauldron of October, perhaps it’s better to just get the formality out of the way and go right to the pressure-cooker of postseason play.
