Given the way the 2016 World Series has unfolded thus far, it won't be surprising if the bullpens play a deciding role in Wednesday's Game 7. These, after all, are two teams that buttressed their relief stables leading up to the non-waiver deadline based on the very possibility that they'd be deep in the postseason. Now here they are, as deep as you can go in the postseason.

The particulars of Game 7 make it even more of a possibility. For the host Indians, Corey Kluber will be starting on short rest for the second straight outing. His manager, Terry Francona, has proved to be most adaptive in these playoffs, particularly when it comes to wedging relief ace Andrew Miller into the game regardless of the inning. On the other side, Kyle Hendricks goes for the Cubs -- the same Hendricks that Joe Maddon pulled after 4 1/3 shutout innings in Game 3.

All of this raises the matter of recent bullpen usage and how that might play a role in Game 7. On one level, it's November, and every pitcher left standing is tired. On another level, though, most relievers still respond to rest patterns the way they usually do. With all that in mind, let's take a look at how the key high-leverage relievers for both teams compare in terms of rest heading into the last game of 2016 ...

Pitcher Days of rest for Game 7
 Total pitches over prior three days
 Total innings in series
Aroldis Chapman, Cubs
 0 62 6 1/3
Pedro Strop, Cubs
 0 11 2
Carl Edwards Jr., Cubs
 2 10 2
Andrew Miller, Indians
 3 0 5 1/3
Cody Allen, Indians
 2 36 4
Dan Otero, Indians
 0 11 3 1/3

To be sure, those aren't all the relievers we might see in Game 7. Those six relievers, however, are probably right now at the top of their respective bullpen food chains (maybe you argue for Bryan Shaw ahead of Otero).

On the Cleveland side of things, Miller hasn't pitched since Game 4, which means he'll be going into Game 7 on three days' rest. It's certainly not a good thing from the Cleveland standpoint that they lost Game 6, but that it was out of hand pretty early allowed them to avoid using Miller. So he's about as rested as a high-leverage reliever can be this time of year, and if needed it seems likely he could give Francona a 40-pitch outing. Allen also didn't pitch in Game 6 after getting heavy use in Game 5. As for Otero, his Game 6 outing seemed like more of a "get some work in" appearance to get him primed for the last game of the series. During the 2016 regular season, Otero pitched on back-to-back days 14 times, so he's more than capable of giving Francona a frame or so on Wednesday.

Somewhat controversially, Maddon in Game 6 used Chapman for a multi-inning appearance despite having a comfortable lead for almost the entire game. I don't blame him. Unlike Francona, Maddon was managing an elimination game, and the downside of blowing a lead in the late innings without your best reliever on the mound is vastly greater than it is during any other contest. What was less explicable was Maddon's decision to send Chapman out for the first out of the ninth after working all of the eighth and the last out of the seventh. Here's what he said about that ...

Eh ... I'm not so sure about that explanation. After the Rizzo homer, Ben Zobrist drew a five-pitch walk, and then Addison Russell took two pitches before grounding out for the third out. Throw in the break between the top and bottom half of the inning, and that should be plenty of time for Strop to get ready. Maddon, though, is certainly working with more information than I am, so let's take him at his word. In any event, 20 pitches isn't a lot for Chapman, but it comes two days after one of the longest outings of his career. His velocity was fine on Tuesday night, but he struck out only one batter.

In any event, Chapman's worked on consecutive days once this postseason and 18 times during the regular season. For his career, he's worked on zero days' rest 111 times, not counting the playoffs. Here's how his numbers in those situations compare to the more sizeable remainder ...

Rest Games ERA K/BB ratio
Zero days
 111 1.70 4.92
All other
 272 2.23 3.33

He's done it quite a bit, this pitching on back-to-back days, and he's surprisingly been better when doing so. That's certainly encouraging from the Cubs' perspective. The question, is whether the cumulative effects of all this 2016 pitching might be acutely felt at just the wrong moment. On that point, one last thing ...

Pitcher Pitches thrown in 2016 (counting postseason
Aroldis Chapman
 1,210
Andrew Miller
 1,380

The recent rest probably helps Miller, but he's been worked just a bit harder this season. You'll see other relievers of course, and on the Chicago side you might even see John Lackey or Jon Lester get the call at some point. The early innings will chart the course for both managers.

The only safe bet is that you're going to see both of these elite relievers pitching with the belt and the title on the line Wednesday night. For that, we can hardly wait.