Earlier this season, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon felt his team was "out-experienced" when they played the St. Louis Cardinals, the reigning division champion and a perennial juggernaut in the National League Central.
After watching his precocious team take two of three games from the division leader at Wrigley Field this past weekend, however, Maddon no longer questions his club's ability to match up with St. Louis, even after the Cardinals eked out a 4-3 victory in Sunday's series finale.
"(The Cardinals) win, give them credit. But I think now we know we can beat them and they know we can beat them, too, and that's a good thing," Maddon told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
Despite their youth - the Cubs' position players are, on average, about a year and a half younger than those in the Cardinals' lineup - the Cubs boast a 40-22 record since the All-Star break while relying on a cadre of rookies including Kris Bryant (23), Addison Russell (21), and Kyle Schwarber (22).
"I could not be more proud of our guys," Maddon said. "It's obvious that we're playing on the same level as (the Cardinals) are now. I'm really proud of our guys for that and how far we've come in one season to get to this particular game today."
There's hardly a statistical category in which the Cubs don't rank among the National League's best this season, either. Their 639 runs scored rank fifth in the league, and they've hit more home runs (163) than all but three NL teams. The Cubs have thrived on the mound, too, posting the fifth-best ERA in the league (3.53) with the second-best strikeout rate (23.4 percent).
For the Cubs to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1945, they'll have to make it past the Cardinals, who clinched their fifth straight playoff appearance Saturday and have a 92.3 percent chance of winning the division.
"Obviously, the ultimate goal is through them," Cubs left-hander Jon Lester said of the Cardinals. "They've proven they can do it year in and year out. We haven't. The way we've been playing baseball this year, I don't see why we can't compete with these guys, if not beat them."
