The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, the Indians in 1948. That means they have gone a combined 174 years since a World Series win, the longest combined drought in history. The next highest total of non-winning seasons was 130 back in 2005 when the Astros (43 years) and the White Sox (87) matched up.

The two clubs have won 14-of-18 games this postseason.

THE CUBS (103-59)

3.15 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 8.88 K/9, 2.91 K/BB

.256/.343/.429 (.772 OPS), 199 Homers, 808 Runs Scored

Announced Starters: Jon Lester, Jake Arietta, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey

The Cubs last appeared in the World Series in 1945.

The Cubs are the first team in history to win a League Championship Series clincher with five starters under the age of 25: Kris Bryant is 24, Willson Contreras 24, Javier Baez 23, Addison Russell 22 and Albert Almora Jr.

In the LCS clincher the Cubs also became just the second team in postseason history to face the minimum number of batters in a nine inning games. The other time it happened was Don Larson’s perfect game back in 1956.

Jake Arrieta has made two starts with a 4.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and just one walk over 11 playoff innings this campaign.

Javier Baez continues to shine with a .342/.366/.526 slash line. He has a homer, two steals, seven RBI and seven runs scored.

Kris Bryant has 11 RBI in the postseason. That’s the most in franchise history. Bryant has a .948 OPS this postseason.

Aroldis Chapman is 3-for-5 in saves.

Willson Contreras has a .979 OPS to lead the club this postseason.

Dexter Fowler has scored 14 postseason runs. That’s the most in franchise history. He has scored eight times in 10 games despite a mere .295 OBP.

Kyle Hendricks has a 1.65 ERA and 0.80 WHIP over three starts.

Jon Lester has a 2-0 record with a 0.86 WHIP and a 7.00 K/BB ratio over three starts.

Anthony Rizzo had a down track record in the playoffs… until his last four games. In that time he’s hit two homers, two doubles and four singles. Slump fixed.

Addison Russell has had a couple of big flies but his .589 OPS is terrible. Still, it blows doors on the .494 mark of Ben Zobrist, the .312 mark of Jason Heyward and the .200 mark of Jorge Soler. Goodness gracious.

Kyle Schwarber is actually active in the World Series after serving as the DH in the Arizona Fall League for two games. Don’t forget that Kyle only appeared in four games this season before tearing his ACL/LCL in a collision in the outfield. Obviously he’s made a speedy recovery. He will be used as the designated hitter in Cleveland and as a pinch hitter when the games are played in Chicago. Here is the Cubs’ World Series roster.

THE INDIANS (94-67)

3.84 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 8.71 K/9, 3.03 K/BB

.262/.329/.430 (.759 OPS), 184 Homers, 777 Runs Scored,

Announced starters: Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin

Of course, that could change. Here’s why.

Bauer’s finger exploded on him in the LCS and the hope, the hope, is that it will hold together this time. It’s also possible Tomlin takes Game 2 with Bauer going in Game 3. "Kluber's going to start Game 1," manager Terry Francona said. "Bauer and Tomlin will be Games 2 and 3. We're going to hold off as long as we can with Trevor, just to get the most information we can. If it works out right, we'd like him to pitch second." In three starts this postseason Kluber has a 0.98 ERA with 20 strikeouts over 18.1 innings. Bauer will have at least eight days between appearances if he starts in Game 2. Tomlin has gone 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA with 10 strikeouts over 10.2 innings. The team is still hoping for Danny Salazar to potentially start Game 4, but no matter the role, he’s on the roster (you can click on that link to see the whole roster). If he can’t go it seems likely that Kluber will start on short rest. It’s even possible that the Indians could role with Kluber in Games 1, 4 and 7 if need be.

Somehow the Indians have reached the Series with virtually nothing from Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Michael Brantley. Rather remarkable really.

The Indians won the ALCS by scoring 12 runs. Only three other teams have won a series of five or more games with 12 or fewer runs.

Cody Allen is 5-for-5 in saves. He hasn’t allowed a run in 7.2 innings.

Coco Crisp leads the club with a .955 OPS. Seriously. He’s only hit .214 but he has two homer which has helped him to a .643 SLG.

Rajai Davis is 1-for-12 this postseason.

Jason Kipnis has an issue with his ankle but he says he should be fine. His offense has been M.I.A in the playoffs with a .585 OPS thus far. 

Francisco Lindor has a .924 OPS even though he’s struck out 10 times in 31 at-bats. He has two homers to lead the team. There are three others who have gone deep twice: Kipnis, Santana and Crisp.

Andrew Miller has 21 strikeouts, two walks and a zero ERA over 11.2 innings.

Mike Napoli had a strong regular season but it has not carried over into the playoffs. Napoli has struck out 10 times in 28 at-bats and posted a .626 OPS.

Jose Ramirez was tremendous this season. It has not carried over to the postseason as Ramirez has one RBI and a .535 OPS.

Carlos Santana has only walked twice in eight games, a terribly low rate for him, and the result is a mere .250 OBP. He had a .366 OBP during the regular season. His playoff slugging is .379. He’s gotta get going and it sounds like he might see some time in the outfield when the Series is in Chicago, even though he has played just one game in the outfield in his career.

WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, OCT. 25
WORLD SERIES
CHC @ CLE (Game 1): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26
WORLD SERIES
CHC @ CLE (Game 2): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

FRIDAY, OCT. 28
WORLD SERIES
CLE @ CHC (Game 3): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

SATURDAY, OCT. 29
WORLD SERIES
CLE @ CHC (Game 4): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

SUNDAY, OCT. 30
WORLD SERIES
CLE @ CHC (Game 5 *): Game time 8 p.m. ET, FOX

TUESDAY, NOV. 1
WORLD SERIES
CHC @ CLE (Game 6 *): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2
WORLD SERIES
CHC @ CLE (Game 7 *): Air time 7:30 p.m. ET, game time 8 p.m., FOX

* if necessary

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).