Are the Cubs bats no longer comatose? 4 things to look for in Game 1 of the Cubs-Marlins wild-card series.

David Ross tossed and turned, unable to sleep as he envisioned his first postseason game as Chicago Cubs manager. The weird part is, this transpired Monday.

Finally Ross had to remind himself: The game is not until Wednesday.

“I get nervous the first day I take my kids to school,” Ross said. “That’s just my personality.”

The Cubs host the Miami Marlins in Game 1 of the best-of-three wild-card series at Wrigley Field. First pitch is 1 p.m. with coverage on ABC-7. Here are four things to look for.

Who wins the series between the Cubs and Marlins? Our matchups and predictions.

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1. Did the White Sox series awaken the slumbering bats?

Yes. The Cubs scored 10, five and 10 runs against the Sox after scoring three runs — total — in the three-game series in Pittsburgh. Now the Cubs have to hope to, as Sammy Sosa used to say, keep it continue.

“It’s such a dumb game sometimes,” David Bote said Tuesday with a laugh. “Anytime you can end (the season) on a note like that, anytime you can go into it with guys feeling good, that’s a positive.”

Bote said some Cubs are “excited” to have their individual stats go back to zero. Kyle Schwarber (.188 batting average), Javier Baez (.203), Kris Bryant (.206) and, yes, Bote (.200) are grateful for a fresh start.

Bote homered Sunday against the Sox. So did Bryant, who also hit a grand slam Saturday. Baez had hits in all three games. Schwarber reached base in all three.

“Our offense perked up; that was nice to see,” David Ross said. “We’ll try to carry that into the postseason, but I don’t think there’s a real correlation.”

2. The Cubs love their Game 1 starter.

Kyle Schwarber knows what to expect from Kyle Hendricks: “The guy will be stone-faced. He might not smile but he won’t frown either.”

Hendricks is the rock of the rotation, a high-performing, low-maintenance right-hander who is as consistent as a Big Mac. He lasted at least six innings in nine of his last 10 starts and posted a 1.45 ERA in five September starts.

“Kyle has been such a stud and a staple in this rotation,” Schwarber said. “Playing behind him, you know you will get early contact and weak contact. Hopefully that will result in not many runs. We want to get him the lead early, so he can pitch with the lead and do his thing.”

His thing is to attack hitters. Hendricks posted the lowest walk rate among qualifying major-league starters — 0.89 per nine innings.

David Ross called it “comforting” to send him to the hill. And the Cubs manager has rewarded Hendricks by allowing him to work deeper into games: 6.2 innings per start compared with 5.6 innings under Joe Maddon in 2019.

Hendricks called it “a goal of mine” to last longer in games and said he accomplished it mainly by using his curveball to get two- and three-pitch outs. It also helped, he pointed out, that designated hitters were used in the National League in 2020, eliminating some pitching changes in close games.

3. David Ross is ready for the big stage.

David Ross sounded like he was recording a promo for MLB when he said of the postseason: “This is exciting. This is the fun part. This is where you make history.”

He also sounded humble, saying he has felt “green” many times as a first-year manager.

And asked if the season has affirmed that he is good at managing, Ross said: “I literally have no idea. You guys judge me on all that and my bosses judge me. I try to be myself, learn from my experiences, value the opinions of people around me and communicate with the players.”

Ross said he also consulted with some veteran skippers regarding managing strategy in the postseason. Among those he chatted with was Joe Maddon, whose Los Angeles Angels missed the postseason at 26-34.

4. David Bote feels like James Brown.

Good.

“Today is probably the best I’ve felt in two weeks,” David Bote said Tuesday. “I woke up feeling 99%. The off day was really helpful.”

Bote would not specify his ailment, saying he was taking ground balls when “something happened … I’ll let you know at the end of the season.”

Which the Cubs hope is still weeks away.

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