Lineup vs Lineup; 2015 Royals vs 2016 Cubs

I think I've decided to make these lineup comparison posts that I began yesterday into a series called "Lineup vs Lineup," a series in which I compare lineups from 2 different teams. They could be the same team in different seasons like I did in yesterday's post. It could also be different teams from the same season, something I'm definitely interested in trying out next as a way of finding which team, at least in my opinion, was truly the best in a certain year.

For today's post, however, I'm going to vary this as much as possible by doing 2 different teams from 2 different seasons. The catch? Both of these teams are recent World Series champions.

That's right, today I'll be comparing the lineup of the 2015 Kansas City Royals to that of the curse-breaking 2016 Chicago Cubs.

Now, the Cubs are an NL team which means no designated hitter, so in order to keep it simple, I decided to cut out that position completely and only focus on 8 positions, meaning a tie is possible. For the future, I'll try to do teams from the same league to avoid complications.

Without any further adieu, I'll begin comparing these 2 teams, and I'll start at the catcher position.

The catcher position for the 2016 Cubs is a tricky one. Despite showing huge potential after being called up in June, the Cubs did not make Wilson Contreras a full-time catcher. He instead split time with Miguel Montero and David Ross, who despite being a fan-favorite, didn't produce a whole lot offensively during his 166 at-bats. Salvador Perez didn't have his best year in 2015, but he played a full year and was very good offensively, which, in this case, is enough to give the Royals the advantage at catcher.

C Position; Advantage 2015 Royals

2015 was a breakout season for Royals 1st baseman Eric Hosmer. He set a career-high in RBI, hit .297 with a respectable 18 home runs and 33 doubles. It was the best season of his career up until that point or at least one of them. However, 2016 remains the best season of Anthony Rizzo's career as he hit over 30 homers, more than 100 RBI, hit nearly .300 while finishing 4th in the NL MVP race. Rizzo's season was nothing short of historic, something Hosmer was simply unable to match in his 2015 season.

1B Position; Advantage 2016 Cubs

The 2nd base position is pretty simple if you ask me. Ben Zobrist's performance in 2016 for the Cubs was greater than his 2015 performance for the Royals. Yes, he was on both teams. His batting average may have been slightly better in 2015, but I'm looking at overall productivity. Fact is, even though he had more at-bats, Zobrist was still more productive in 2016 than he was in 2015. He had more RBI in 2015 than he had since 2011, back when he was still with the Rays.

2B Position; Advantage 2016 Cubs

Neither Alcides Escobar in 2015 nor Addison Russel in 2016 dazzled anyone with their pretty dismal batting averages. Therefore, I had to look past that stat to find who was better in their respective season. And what I found was that honor went to Addison Russell. He hit 95 RBI for the Cubs in 2016, trailing just superstars Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant in the club category. He also played a very good shortstop defensively. Escobar may have been a big part of the Royals' success, but ultimately, Russell's value to the Cubs was something Alcides could not eclipse.

SS Position; Advantage 2016 Cubs

This matchup is frankly almost unfair for the Royals' 3rd baseman Mike Moustakas. The 2-time All-Star hit .284 in 2015 with 22 homers and 82 RBI. However, when you're up against the NL MVP, you don't really have a shot at beating him unless you're the AL MVP which wasn't Moustakas in 2015, it was Josh Donaldson. Bryant hit nearly .300, just like Rizzo. But he managed to hit 39 home runs to go along with 102 RBI. I'm sorry Mike Moustakas, but there's just no beating that.

3B Position; Advantage 2016 Cubs 

And with that, the Cubs have taken 4 spots in a row or the entire infield of competition. Moving on to the outfield.

Leftfield was a weird position for the 2016 Cubs. With Schwarber missing the entire season except for a couple of games, they relied heavily on Jorge Soler who also got injured. Bryant and Zobrist would play occasionally, but they truly lacked a reliable starter at that position. Therefore, the door was open wide for Alex Gordon and his 2015 performance that included an All-Star appearance, a .271 batting average, and 48 RBI in just 354 at-bats, to take the leftfield position in the name of the 2015 Royals team.

LF Position; Advantage 2015 Royals

Dexter Fowler surprised everyone when he showed up at Spring Training in 2016 to play one last season for the Cubs. And while his performance was all the Cubs could really ask for, it was Lorenzo Cain's 2015 performance for the World Champion Kansas City Royals that stole the show. Cain hit .307 with 72 RBI and even 28 stolen bases in 2015 for Kansas City. In fact, he even finished 3rd in the AL MVP race, something I never knew until today. To this day, his 2015 year will remain the best, by far, of Lorenzo's career and enough to beat out Fowler's 2016 season.

CF Position; Advantage 2015 Royals

With the score currently Cubs 4 Royals 3, it all comes down to right field. If the Cubs win, they win the matchup. But if the Royals win, it ends in a tie.

Let me be clear, neither Alex Rios for the 2015 Royals nor Jason Heyward for the 2016 Cubs are your typical starters for a World Series-winning team. Rios hit .355 in his 385 at-bats for the Royals in 2015. Heyward hit an abysmal .230 with just 49 RBI as an everyday starter for the 2016 Cubs. So, why did I choose Heyward over Rios? One word, defense. Heyward remains one of the best defensive players in the game, and that was the case in 2016 as well. He won his 4th career Gold Glove in right field for the 2016 Cubs, which is what sets him apart from Rios. To be clear, neither of their performances in their respective seasons were all too good. But it was Heyward's defense that ultimately saved him and won this matchup for the Cubs 5-3.