Opinion

1. Cubs Fever: Catch It

So, who starts Game 1, Jon Lester or Jake Arrieta?

It's got to be Arrieta, now 10-2 with a 2.08 ERA over his past 15 starts. Right?

OK, so maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, the Chicago Cubs must win the National League Wild Card Game. But given that the Cubs are threatening to get ahead of themselves right about now anyway, it's OK think ahead a bit, no?

After his Colorado Rockies were swept last week at Citi Field, Nolan Arenado explained it away by raving about the New York Mets' pitching.

"The Mets have four No. 1's. We saw all four of them," Arenado said.

No one ever says that about the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On April 28, Jung Ho Kang owned a .182/.208/.227 slash line. He had one extra-base hit to his name. It was way early, sure, but it was also worth wondering if the Korean import's game was going to translate to the big leagues.

Almost four months later, Kang has answered that question with an emphatic "ne." (That's "yes" in Korean.)

By now, you probably already know that Major League Baseball is enjoying one of its finest rookie classes ever in 2015. In particular, the limelight has had little trouble finding the likes of Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson, Kris Bryant, Noah Syndergaard, Randal Grichuk and Kyle Schwarber. 

But enough about them. It's high time the limelight was cast on someone else. His name is Miguel Sano, and he's quietly all sorts of awesome.

September is rapidly approaching, and the cream is rising to the top around Major League Baseball.

But which teams can be considered true World Series contenders, and which should be considered pretenders?

Watch as Scott Miller joins Adam Lefkoe to break down some of baseball's best squads.

When they shoot Field of Dreams II, and it's inevitably based on Madison Bumgarner's straight-to-DVD, hackishly unbelievable real life, they'll probably model the Big Game after the performance he had Sunday.

It was an equipment bag. How many times have you picked up your gear and not thought anything of it?

Surely, when Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell reached for an equipment bag in New York the week before last, he did so without a second thought. Like pulling on a shirt or tying his shoes.

This time, though, as he lifted, he suffered a hernia.

Which led to a minor, routine procedure in Detroit a few days later.

That led to an absolutely stunning, horrifying revelation.

No matter the situation, Matt Harvey wants the ball in his hand. It's an admirable trait to have an unyielding competitive streak running through his veins, and it's not something that can be taught. You either have it or you don't.

But as New York's 26-year-old star understands better than most, it's something that can oftentimes lead to frustration.

The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays opened a three-game series Friday with everything on the line, and they finished it Sunday with nothing settled.

That's how it's going to be in the American League East: back and forth, tit for tat, right down to the wire. Simply put, we're watching the best division battle in baseball unfold.

Talk all you want about odd-year curses. Point out that the San Francisco Giants are looking up at the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and at the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race.