Using statistics from the best-of-five Division Series to project or predict what players will do in the upcoming Championship Series can be both risky and misleading, yet what else do we have to go on? Even a brief one or two-game slump (or a one or two-game hitting streak) during the short Division Series is so incredibly magnified that it can create misgivings (or false hopes) of what might happen in the next round of play. That being said, there are some things that simply cannot be ignored from the just-concluded National League Division Series between the Dodgers and the Washington Nationals, as the victors move on to the best-of-seven National League Championship Series against baseball’s best team later this evening at Wrigley Field.

Although it is a common practice to throw out the highs and the lows when trying to establish a mean average, this too might be a bit risky. Granted the top two Dodgers hitters from the Division Series were Andre Ethier and Carlos Ruiz, who went 1-for-2 and 2-for-4 respectively (.500), but all four of those hits had an enormous impact on the eventual outcome of the games in which they occurred and made the decision by the Dodgers brass to include both of them on their postseason roster a brilliant one – especially Ruiz. “Chooch’s” clutch pinch-hit two-run home run in Game-3 and even more clutch RBI single in Game-5 are a big reason why the Dodgers are advancing to the NLCS and the Nationals are headed home for the winter.

For a brief moment it appeared that Carlos Ruiz’s dramatic fifth-inning pinch-hit two-run home run in Game-3 of the NLDS was going to be the defining moment of the series. Unfortunately, the Dodgers eventually lost the game by a score of 8-3. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

It comes as a surprise to no one – at least it shouldn’t – that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was the Dodgers best hitter among the regulars in the Division Series. The 31-year-old Long Beach, California native and lifelong Dodger fan went 6-for-15 (.400) with a home run, a triple and five RBIs in the NLDS. He was followed closely by Joc Pederson‘s 5-for-15 (.333) with a home run, a double and three RBIs; Howie Kendrick‘s 3-for-9 (.333) with a double; and Josh Reddick‘s 4-for-15 (.267) with one RBI.

What is a surprise is that the guy most Dodger fans naturally assumed would be at the top of the pack, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, went 4-for-20 (.200) with one home run and two RBIs in the five Division Series games. He was followed closely by Chase Utley‘s 3-for-16 (.188) with zero extra base hits and three RBIs; and Corey Seager‘s 3-for-23 (.130) with all three of his hits being for extra bases (two home runs and a double) with three RBIs. It doesn’t take a genius to quickly realize that all three of these guys are heft-handed hitters and the very reason why Nationals manager Dusty Baker used his abundance of left-handed pitchers against them – which almost worked.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, aside from Game-1 starter Jon Lester the next three scheduled Cubs starters will be Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey, all of whom are right-handers. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Cubs manager Joe Maddon added rookie left-hander Rob Zastryzny to his NLCS roster to give him four lefties out of his bullpen – including flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman.

Worthy of note and a legitimate reason why we may not see much of him in the Championship Series – at least initially – is that Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig went 0-for-5 in the Division Series with two strikeouts and three walks. Granted this is a very small sample size but, as noted above, success and failure in a short series is incredibly magnified. That being said, it’s hard to believe that the oft-controversial 25-year-old Cienfuegos, Cuba native won’t leave some kind of mark on the Championship Series.

…let’s just hope it’s a good mark.