'Both teams are elite, but ...': How the Cubs stack up with the Astros

HOUSTON -- One player who has faced both the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros this season might have summed it up best when comparing the two fairly recent World Series champions.

He said, "Both teams are elite, but the Astros are simply deeper. And Houston plays in the right division."

That description has played out in the first two games of this late-May showdown as the Cubs will attempt to avoid the sweep Wednesday night when Kyle Hendricks faces Astros newcomer Wade Miley.

"It's a lot of fun playing against guys like this," Albert Almora Jr said before the series.

He meant an Astros team full of stars, but no fewer than three of their bigger names have yet to take a swing in the first two games. George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are banged up, so instead, first-time big leaguers Jack Mayfield and Garrett Stubbs have led the way. The Cubs have played without Kris Bryant the past two days -- they're now 0-4 without him in the lineup this season -- but the Astros' depth has won out.

Of course, two days in a long season usually doesn't tell us anything, but considering it's the only time the 2016 and 2017 champions will square off, let's examine where they are, starting with that "right division" in which the Astros reside.

The competition

The Oakland Athletics just won 10 games in a row, yet they barely dented the lead the Astros have already built in the AL West. Oakland can be a formidable opponent for Houston, but everyone else in the division is fish food for the Astros. It gives them leeway to get players healthy while developing from a good farm system.

Meanwhile, the Cubs play in the rough-and-tough NL Central, where only five games separate the top from the bottom. Missing Bryant for a few days feels like a big blow to Chicago because that's all it takes to drop in the standings -- a few bad days. And the Cubs aren't getting help from their minor league system the way they were just a few years ago. With the standings so tight, it's not the right season to lack depth.

Advantage: Astros

Pitching

Houston is tied with theLos Angeles Dodgersfor the major league lead in quality starts with 31 and has the lowest bullpen ERA -- 2.91, the only team under 3.00. That combination makes the Astros lethal on any given night and will obviously play well in October. Even the Cubs' manager can't deny what the Astros can do and have done on the mound.

"They probably have pitched to a little bit higher level, overall," Joe Maddon said.

The Cubs can pitch a little too, but they can't match the Astros out of the pen. Houston's 80 percent save percentage is in line with the best in the league, and Chicago ranks 28th at 47 percent. That's the Astros' advantage, as both starting staffs are capable of going on winning runs. The Cubs did it for about a month before some regression. The difference is in the bullpen, where middle relievers have become key cogs.

Advantage: Astros

At the plate

In a mini poll of several scouts comparing the middle of each order, they chose Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez over Altuve, Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley. But Springer put the Astros over the top when you deepen the comparison to the Nos. 1-4 spots in the order. Kyle Schwarber just doesn't cut it compared to Springer, who has a .389 on-base percentage. Then again, Schwarber is filling in while Ben Zobrist is on leave from the team for personal reasons. Either way, Springer is about as good as there is.

But the Cubs' lineup from top to bottom, considering it resides in the NL, earned high marks. One scout noted the lift the Cubs are starting to get from Addison Russell, who has homered in the first two games of this series.

Advantage: Neither

Who can get better?

Obviously, the Astros will be better when their walking wounded return, but the Cubs have more room for improvement. First off, a couple of June or July additions to the bullpen seem paramount considering how many leads the Cubs have already blown. And Chicago is more likely to deal than Houston simply because its needs are more widespread.

But the Astros have proved to be smart buyers in July, as well, so they'll probably strengthen what is already strong for them. Maddon says he knows an October rematch won't necessarily look like a series in May.

"There's so much time between now and then for us to get better, for them to get worse, or vice versa," he said.

Maddon called the two teams "real close" and "real similar." Many do not believe that after watching the first two games of the series, but Memorial Day is no time to pass judgment. If it were, the Astros would win any contest right now -- as they have the first two games of the series.