NEWSLETTER
In the past few weeks, I have written four different articles about the Cubs receiving six different recognitions for 2016. As it would appear, Buster Olney and ESPN really likes the 2016 iteration of the Chicago Cubs. As a quick recap, he believes the team has the fifth best bullpen, fourth best rotation, second best outfield, best infield, third best lineup and best overall team in all of baseball. But I don’t think you’re sick of reading about how good the Cubs are and I’m sure as hell not sick of writing about it.
So it is on the basis that I bring the following to your attention today: The Cubs have the best quartet of offense in all of baseball.
[adinserter block=”1″]Yup. According to Andrew Simon of MLB.com, the Cubs’ foursome of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber are the best foursome of sluggers on one team in all of Major League Baseball. And here’s the rest of the list:
- Chicago Cubs
- Washington Nationals
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Los Angeles Angels
- Detroit Tigers
To come up with the rankings, Simon used the 2016 Steamer projections, based primarily on cumulative offensive runs (Off) as well as weighted runs created plus (wRC+). For more on the the particulars of each team’s foursome and how good they project to be, check out the full article, here.
Aptly, Simon immediately acknowledges the depth and strength of the Cubs offensive talent. Limiting the group to just four players eliminates the offensive upside of starters Addison Russell and Jorge Soler, the veteran and consistent offense of Ben Zobrist, and the legitimate power and capabilities of bench bats Chris Coghlan and Javier Baez.
The Cubs are in another stratosphere of pre-season love right now, and I can’t get enough of it.
