2015 MLB League Championship Preview

CUBS

The Cubs hit 12 homers in the opening series. Seven of those homers have been by players who are younger than 24 years old. They had a .506 SLG as a team.

The Cubs had a 0.89 WHIP in the opening series.

Jake Arrieta had 20 strikeouts over the course of 14.2 innings. He had a 2.45 ERA and 0.75 WHIP.

Kris Bryant was not good (.150/.190/.400). He struck out seven times in 20 at-bats.

Dexter Fowler had a .983 OPS.

Kyle Hendricks had a 0.86 WHIP over his 4.2 innings but he allowed three homers leading to a 5.79 ERA.

Addison Russell has been ruled out of the NLCS due to a hamstring issue.

Kyle Schwarber had a 1.831 OPS as he hit three homers.

METS

The Mets hit an awful .206.279/.381.

The Mets had 49 strikeouts and just nine walks in five games though their 3.86 ERA was a bit elevated.

Yoenis Cespedes hit two homers with four RBIs and four runs scored despite a .250 average and not a single walk.

Lucas Duda struck out 11 times, an NLDS record. He has one hit in 18 at-bats.

Jacob deGrom wasn’t at his best in Game 5 but he kept the club in the game. In two outings he’s posted a 1.38 ERA and has 20 strikeouts in 13 innings.

Jeurys Familia appeared in four of five games. He posted two saves.

Curtis Granderson drove in five runs though he only scored one time despite an impressive .476 OBP.

Matt Harvey, who will start Game 1 of the NLCS, gave up three runs (two earned) in his five-inning start.

David Murphy hit three homers and drove in five runs while scoring five times in five games against the Dodgers.

Noah Syndergaard had 11 strikeouts over 7.1 innings.

David Wright had one big hit but overall he produced just that one hit in 16 at-bats.

BLUE JAYS

The Blue Jays hit 11 homers in the opening series.

The Blue Jays had a 3.06 ERA in the opening series.

The Blue Jays became the third team to come back and win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games of the series at home (Yankees 2001 and Giants 2012).

Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista combined for 120 homers during the regular season.

Ryan Goins played some good defense but he also had 17 at-bats without a hit.

David Price went 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 10 innings.

Marcus Stroman made two starts with a 3.46 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.

Troy Tulowitzki hit .095 with seven strikeouts in 21 at-bats.

ROYALS

The Royals hit .244 in the opening series.

The Royals struck out 58 batters in the opening series. They had 16 of those strikeouts in Game 4, a franchise playoff record.

The Royals team hit a total of 139 home runs.

The Royals struck out 973 times this season, the fewest in baseball.

Lorenzo Cain has a hit in nine straight games in the postseason.

Johnny Cueto retired the last 19 batters he faced in a row to help the Royals win Game 5. The last time an AL hurler retired the last 19 batters he faced in a game was Don Larson during his perfect game (Game 5, 1956 World Series). Cueto had a 0.86 WHIP over 14 innings in two starts.

Eric Hosmer had a .524 OPS.

Kendrys Morales had a 1.037 OPS with three homers and six RBIs.

Mike Moustakas hit .111 with a .405 OPS.

Yordano Ventura made two starts. He had a 7.71 ERA and 1.71 WHIP. 

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