Chicago Cubs: 5 things to watch for in the City Series

The Chicago Whitesox rookie was originally thought to be on track to be one of the Chicago Cubs players that would star for years in Wrigley. Traded in the Jose Quintana deal, he's hitting .247 with 11 homers so far this season. At times he has struggled but he's in a groove right now. If he comes out and kills Cubs' pitching, there are likely going to be some blog posts lamenting that trade once again.

The crosstown rivaly has seemingly died down a bit in the last few years. That's largely because the Whitesox have been real bad, while the Cubs have been real good. This spring, Tim Anderson made clear his thoughts about Cubs and Cubs fans this spring and talked about how Cubs fans are among the most annoying in baseball. Will be interesting to see how Wrigley welcomes him..

The Cubs have had a rough June so far, especially offensively. While Tuesday's starer Ivan Nova hasn't been unhittable by any stretch, Wednesday's hurler, Lucas Giolito sure has. Can the offense find a way to get behind Jon Lester and score against a pitcher who is 10-1 with a 2.22 ERA this season?

It seems like it's been a while since both teams had the kind of electric players they have in Tim Anderson and Javy Baez. Both are flashy defenders and among the best hitters in the game at their position. This could be quite the matchup to see who gets the better of the other.

Speaking of Baez, he's been cold for a really long time. Over the last 28 days he's hit .216 and had an OBP of .248. The one saving grace has been his pop. He's still slugging .443 over that period. When you zoom in further, he gets even colder. Over the last two weeks his slashline is .180/.180/.340. Yes that means he has not drawn a walk in two weeks. Never a guy to get a ton of free passes, the bat numbers and lack of walks seem to show he's out of whack and opposing pitchers know it.