Last spring training, after the Astros had won the World Series, then-Houston starter Dallas Keuchel was asked about the possibility of a World Series hangover. Keuchel's response: "We're not the Cubs."
He was referring to the previous year's World Series champions, who stumbled their way through a mediocre first half in 2017. "It was just a different intensity," Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo would later say in explaining the club's slow start that year. "It's hard to match the intensity of a Game 7 World Series or being down 2-1 to the Dodgers and coming back and beating Kershaw.