The Chicago Cubs are set to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, a rematch of last year's league championship series which saw the Cubs take it in six. The Dodgers this year have home field advantage as they hold the best regular season record in the majors with 105 wins and begin the NLCS with five days rest after sweeping Arizona in the NLDS. Chicago comes to Los Angeles after a heart-pounding five game series against the Nationals.

The roster was finalized this morning and everything looks the same except for one bullpen spot. Justin Wilson, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers before the deadline, was left off the list, and manager Joe Maddon put on former closer Hector Rondon.

Everything else looks the same.

Rondon over Wilson

Justin Wilson had come to Chicago in a package trade along with catcher Alex Avila to add more veteran depth and bolster the bullpen. While in Detroit, he posted a 2.68 ERA, 0.942 WHIP and 3.23 FIP in 42 games. In a very strange turn of events, the veteran lefty struggled in his 23 games in the Cubs bullpen, which featured a 5.09 ERA and 2.094 WHIP. The biggest problem with him was his command, as he walked 19 batters in 17.2 innings, which is three more than he walked in 40.1 innings in Detroit. Wilson went from a guy Joe Maddon had trusted greatly into someone he did not, and he only saw 0.2 innings in the NLDS when the team was down 5-0 late.

Hector Rondon had been with the Cubs since 2013, and was once one of the better closers in baseball in 2014-2015. The past two years he has had some injury problems, including bone chips in his elbow, which has lead to inconsistency. He was left off the NLDS roster as there were a lot of left-handed batters on the Nationals and an extra lefty arm was put on by Maddon.

His overall numbers this year read as follows: 4.24 ERA, 1.221 WHIP, 69 strikeouts in 57.1 innings. In the month of September, however, he made eight appearances, giving up zero runs and striking out 10 while holding opponents to an .083 batting average. His fastball has been touching the upper 90s and the slider has the bite it had when he was at his best, so having him against a dangerous Dodgers team could potentially be big to have considering how hard the pen worked in game five of the NLDS.

Game one match up

The opening game at Dodger Stadium will feature Clayton Kershaw going for the Dodgers and Jose Quintana going for the Dodgers. Kershaw pitched 6.1 innings and gave up four runs in his one start in the NLDS. Quintana threw a short portion of an inning in game five but is ready to start tonight. It was also announced that Corey Seager will not be on the Los Angeles roster due to back problems.

Game one will be on TBS at 7:00 CDT.
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