The Cubs open up the latest iteration of the Wrigley renovations with a series against their NLCS foes. I have not been on top of the renovations, but I think this is the year where the bullpens will be moved to the outfield? I guess we will find out. The Cubs dodge Hill and Kershaw in this series, or, as was pointed out yesterday, Kershaw and Hill dodge the Cubs. Kershaw's last start against this team was one we recently enjoyed.

Team Leaders

(per quasi-papal projections)

Dodgers

• OBP: Yasiel Puig (.344)
• SLG: Corey Seager (.468)
• HR: Joc Pederson (24)
• R+RBI: Seager (188)
• wOBA: Puig (.346)
• BSR: Seager (0.3)
• SP K/9: Clayton Kershaw (11.14)
• SP BB/9: Kershaw (1.37)
• SP FIP: Kershaw (2.28(
• RP K/9: Kenley Jansen (13.79)
• RP BB/9: Sergio Romo (1.79)
• RP FIP: Jansen (2.02)
• WAR: Kershaw (6.4)

A .344 OBP leading the team? My still stuck on 2008 baselines brain is spinning.

Cubs

• OBP: Anthony Rizzo (.382)
• SLG: Rizzo (.529)
• HR: Rizzo / Kris Bryant (33)
• R+RBI: Bryant (213)
• wOBA: Rizzo (.385)
• BSR: Javier Baez (1.3)
• SP K/9: Jake Arrieta (8.95)
• SP BB/9: Kyle Hendricks (2.03)
• SP FIP: Jon Lester (3.34)
• RP K/9: Wade Davis (12.51)
• RP BB/9: Hector Rondon (2.03)
• RP FIP: Davis (2.71)
• WAR: Bryant (5.8)

Injuries, etc

Javy Baez seems to be fine after that nasty looking collision on Friday. Not surprisingly, the Dodgers have several players on the shelf. Rich Hill is on the DL with a return of his blister injury, and Scott Kazmir is out with a hip injury. Andre Ethier is out with a herniated disc. The Cubs bats will be sad to see that Pedro Baez, the current Human Rain Delay title holder, is also on the DL.

Pitching Matchups

K/9, BB/9, projected ERA listed for each starter.

Monday: Alex Wood, LHP (7.59, 2.70, 4.09) vs Jon Lester, LHP (8.92, 2.14, 3.08), 7:05 PM CT

Wood saw a huge jump in his strikeout rate last year and look poised to break out, but various elbow problems limited him to just sixty innings. He was sent to the pen to start the year but given the fact that Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, and Rich Hill were in the rotation ahead of him you would have to figure that he might get the most starts out of all those players. He's mostly a sinker guy per pfx, so it's a real surprise to see him racking up those strikeouts. He's filling in for Hill in this start.

Lester looked a little shaky on opening day, going just five innings and throwing a lot of pitches. He was flipped with Arrieta because the Dodgers struggle against lefties, not at all because the Brewers love to go nuts on the basepaths. That said I don't think I remember the Brewers stealing at all in the last series, even on the equally indifferent Arrieta.

Wednesday: Brandon McCarthy, RHP (6.44, 2.15, 4.09) vs John Lackey, RHP (7.90, 2.39, 1.07), 7:05 PM CT

McCarthy might have the best twitter account among active baseball players (who knew what we had in Dan Haren?), but he has a lot to prove if he is going to live up to his contract. He signed a 4/48 deal going into the 2015 season, and has given the Dodgers all of 63 innings. Unlike Wood he is more of a fly ball guy, so he's prone to the long ball. He held the Padres to two runs over six innings in his first start of the year.

Lackey looked better than his stat line in his first start, which was hurt by some sloppy defense not turning an easy double play ball in the first inning. He should remain a useful piece this year, but hopefully the Cubs have a plan for his spot in the offseason.

Thursday: Hyun-Jin Ryu, LHP (7.27, 1.99, 3.99) vs Brett Anderson, LHP (6.15, 2.62, 4.33), 1:20 PM CT

Ryu got off to a great start to his MLB career with the Dodgers, posting 7.6 WAR over his first two seasons. Since then, he has provided the Dodgers with 4.2 innings of work due to shoulder and elbow injuries. He didn't go all that deep into his first start, just 4.2 innings against a decent Rockies lineup (though not at Coors, at least). He had a fantastic changeup when coming into the league, but it looks like the league has figured it out since then.

Anderson looked perfectly adequate in his first start of the year, pitching into the sixth and killing a lot of worms. If he can manage to stay relatively healthy, he'll get a lot of money from someone this offseason.