It’s a brand new season for the Chicago Cubs as they now have a 0-0 record. The Cubs will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series which will start off on Wednesday at 5:30 CT. The first two games of the best of five series will be played in Chicago and then game three will be played out in Los Angeles. If necessary, game four will be in L.A. while game five would be back in Chicago.

Even though the Cubs will mostly have a right handed lineup against the Dodgers pitching staff, I really like their chances. The Cubs can play small ball or hit for power depending on how the game is going. If Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano hit the ball in this short series, then I expect the Cubs to win the series three games to one. However, if Lee continues to struggle and ground into a lot of double plays and Soriano can’t get on base, it will make things a lot harder for the Cubs to advance.

You have to give the Cubs pitching the nod when you compare them to the Dodgers as well. The Dodgers will be sending Derrek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda to the mound as their starting pitchers for the first three games. The Cubs will counter back with Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and Rich Harden. Ted Lilly will be used in game four if needed. I love the fact that we have Dempster going in game one as he been awesome at Wrigley Field.

One thing that the Cubs cannot do is let Manny Ramirez beat them. I don’t care if they intentionally walk him everytime, you cannot let him beat you. It will be interesting to see how the Cubs bullpen throws as well as they struggled in the later part of the season. I do not want to see Bob Howry with the ball in a crucial situation that is for sure. Hopefully we can see our starters throw seven or eight innings and then close the door with Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood.

Game 1 - Ryan Dempster / Derrek Lowe - October 1st, 5:30 CST
Game 2 - Carlos Zambrano / Chad Billingsley - October 2nd, 8:30 CST
Game 3 - Rich Harden / Hiroki Kuroda - October 4th, 9:00 CST

I say that Cubs win the series 3-1.  What do you all think? Leave us a comment and let us know your prediction!