It’s been nine years since the Mets’ most recent National League Championship Series, and 12 since Chicago last stepped foot in the series that decides the NL pennant. Which is why Saturday’s Game 1 start arrives packed with anticipation — as two franchises with starving fan bases square off in a series that should feature a significant clash of styles.

It was only a little less than three months ago that a pair of young infielders took the field amid a swirl of uncertainty. One was recovering from an injury that had cost him a likely summer summons to Chicago. The other was playing under the bright New York City lights that, at times, seemed to overwhelm him.

Cubs-Mets was not a popular preseason choice for the National League Championship Series, yet those are the two teams who will meet up for Game 1 on Saturday at Citi Field (7:30 p.m. ET, TBS). There are many reasons for the teams’ surprising seasons, but as Statcast™ shows us, a variety of impressive tools is certainly part of the recipe.

On one hand, this National League Championship Series is about the present, with the Cubs’ stable of young sluggers set to take their hacks against the Mets’ parade of power pitchers. On the other hand, it’s a repeat history, and a chance for the Cubs to erase the pain of blowing a big lead to the Mets in the newly-created NL East in 1969.

The simple, superficial, conventional way to look at this series is to picture it as the Mets flamethrowers against the booming bats of the Cubs. There will be some of that in the National League Championship Series, which begins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TBS. But that generalization actually sells the Mets short.

Matt Harvey’s tumultuous season mentally and physically in the wake of returning from Tommy John surgery comes down to this: a Game 1 start in the National League Championship Series against Cubs veteran left-hander Jon Lester on Saturday night at Citi Field.

The Cubs’ big pitch to free agent Jon Lester was an all-day affair last November that ended with a three-hour dinner at a downtown Chicago steakhouse. The club’s baseball brass, led by chairman Tom Ricketts, employed video, slides and printed materials to paint a vivid picture for Lester and wife Farrah about everything from family life in Chicago to the Wrigley Field renovations and the concurrent rebuilding project happening on the field.

The Mets and Cubs could stage their own home run derby in the National League Championship Series, as this showdown features the two teams that hit the most balls out of ballparks in the second half of the regular season.

When Ned Yost and Terry Collins, who are managing in the American League and National League Championship Series this week, respectively, look across the dugout, they’re certain to see a very familiar face.

Along with a strong duo atop their starting rotation, the Cubs boast a lineup chock full of young sluggers. Speaking of youth, the Mets will lean heavily on a formidable starting rotation consisting entirely of some young stars of their own, while their lineup will be anchored by veteran hitters.

Daniel Murphy helped the Mets gain an early lead and then showed some hustle and awareness while moving himself in position to score on Travis d’Arnaud’s game-tying sacrifice fly in the fourth inning of Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

There will surely be a buzz throughout Kauffman Stadium when Josh Donaldson settles into his stance for the Blue Jays against the Royals on Friday night. Plenty of fans will have their cell phones out, hoping to capture a potential clash with Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez.

Troy Tulowitzki is not concerned that he could aggravate a shoulder injury by playing for the Blue Jays when the games matter most. Because for the first time since 2009, the five-time All-Star shortstop is back in the postseason.

The Game 5 showdown between the Dodgers and Mets featured an action-packed first inning, as Los Angeles generated a pair of runs on four consecutive one-out singles after a video review helped New York open the scoring.

The Blue Jays have named right-hander Marco Estrada their starting pitcher for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, which starts Friday at Kauffman Stadium, with David Price to start Game 2.

Jose Bautista’s enormous bat flip after his decisive three-run homer in Game 5 of the American League Division Series vs. the Rangers on Wednesday night was neither unprofessional nor unprecedented, and the Blue Jays’ slugger certainly picked the right moment for his emotional reaction.

On Saturday, the Cubs will play in the National League Championship Series for the fourth time in team history. Here is a look back at the North Siders’ past LCS appearances.