Irregardless of this rather silly odd/even years thing, have the San Francisco Giants once again positioned themselves as the team to beat in this year’s playoffs. All signs seem to be pointing that way.
Two questions. Assuming they both stay healthy, is there a better one-two punch in the playoffs this year than the San Francisco Giants duo Madison Bumgarner and his righty counterpart, Johnny Cueto? And, does not good solid pitching always dominate the Playoffs and World Series?
Okay then, case closed. Let’s move on. Uh-uh, can’t do that because there are games still left to be played on the field. And the Chicago Cubs are certainly primed and ready to have a say in what happens. And depending on what happens over on the other side, the Nationals or maybe even the Dodgers will have something to say as well when the NLCS begins.
But having said all that, the Giants have that “look” again, don’t they. And they remind me now of the Cleveland Indians who surprised the Red Sox last night. That look seems to say, “Hey, if you want it, you’d better come and get it.”
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Unlike the other teams they are pitted against, the Giants didn’t waltz in to anything. They were not the Cubs, Washington, or the Dodgers. They were a team that was better than any of them for the first half of the season. And then, they went into a total free fall in the second half only to scratch and claw their way to a Wild Card elimination game on the last day of the season.
Then, they had the good fortune that Noah Syndergaard couldn’t throw 175 pitches against them and one of those perennial unlikely heroes stepped up to push them over the Mets by the hair of their chinny chin chin.
But here they stand. They’re not the Vegas favorite. How could they be against a team that won more than 100 games and sits lodged as the sentimental favorite because they haven’t won a title since Teddy Roosevelt was president
Can Cub Fans Count On Bumgarner Coming Back To Earth
Only one thing is certain. The Cubbies are going to have their hands full with the Giants and if they can’t beat either Cueto or Bumgarner the first time they face them, it’s gonna be another long and cold winter back home next to Lake Superior.
Anyone can have a bad game and Bumgarner is destined to have one sooner or later. But if you’re the Cubs, you probably shouldn’t be counting on that to happen. So, whatever the untested Cueto pitches in, the Cubs need to grab that one and hope beyond hope that Bumgarner wakes up on the wrong side of the bed the morning he is scheduled to pitch.
And as we know, he’s also capable of bouncing back as a reliever on short rest if called on in a pinch.
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I don’t know…….my heart says the Cubs but my head is telling me, “Don’t be stupid, go with the pitching.” Hey, it’s October and I don’t know what to do except watch the games and enjoy them.