Sizing up the World Series - Sox/Cards Preview - Offense and Pitching

[Orange Juiced]

It’s almost upon us, the 2013 World Series. And, friends, your Boston Red Sox are in it. Amazing, considering where we were just one year ago. This year has exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations, but hey, since we’re here, might as well win it all. That said, here’s my WS preview.

 

Offenses

As we know, the Red Sox scored the most runs during the regular season. They finished #1 in runs, #1 in ops, #1 in obp, #1 in slg. They also were 4th in baseball in stolen bases, and led in sb%. Ten of their regular rotation players had ops+ numbers of 111 or better, so there’s tremendous lineup depth. And adding Xander Bogaerts has made them even more dangerous.

 

During the playoffs, however, the Sox’ offense has struggled. They averaged 5.3 runs per game during the regular season, but just 4.5 during the playoffs. That’s not surprising, considering these have been the pitchers they’ve faced:

 

Price: 3.33 era, 1.10 whip, 7.3 k/9

Moore: 3.29 era, 1.30 whip, 8.6 k/9

Cobb: 2.76 era, 1.15 whip, 8.4 k/9

Hellickson: 5.17 era, 1.35 whip, 7.0 k/9

Scherzer (2x): 2.90 era, 0.97 whip, 10.1 k/9

Sanchez (2x): 2.57 era, 1.15 whip, 10.0 k/9

Verlander: 3.46 era, 1.31 whip, 9.0 k/9

Fister: 3.67era, 1.31 whip, 6.9 k/9

 

Other than Hellickson (who lasted just 1+ ip), this is a veritable all-star pitching rotation. They faced the 2012 Cy Young award winner (Price), the presumptive 2013 Cy Young award winner (Scherzer), a 2-time Cy Young award winner (Verlander), this year’s AL era champ (Sanchez), a guy who would have finished #7 in all of baseball in era if he had qualified (Cobb), and throw in Moore and Fister, and it’s understandable that the Red Sox would struggle to score runs. The combined regular season era of the starting pitching they have faced in the playoffs so far was 3.40. Long story shorter, it’s actually somewhat remarkable that the Sox have averaged 4.5 runs per game given the quality of the starting pitching they’ve faced.

 

But the Cardinals are no slouches offensively. They led the NL in runs scored with 783, and ranked 3rd in obp, 13th in slg, and 10th in ops. Like Detroit, they present no real threat in the stolen base department, having swiped just 45 bases out of 67 attempts, for a 67% success rate (23rd in MLB). They have eight players with an ops+ number of 101 or higher, so they’re not as deep as Boston is in terms of quality. One of their key guys, Allen Craig, is returning from injury, so it remains to be seen how effective he will be.

 

During the regular season, St. Louis averaged 4.8 runs per game, but in the playoffs, it’s dropped to 3.8. Like the Red Sox, they’ve faced some remarkably good starting pitching, including the likes of Kershaw, Grienke, Ryu, Cole, etc. But the quality of starting pitching they’ve faced isn’t as good as what Boston has faced, and they’ve scored, even relative to their regular season performance, fewer runs per game than the Sox have.

 

A key advantage St. Louis may have is with the DH rules. When they play in Boston, the Red Sox will field their normal lineup. But the Cardinals get to add Allen Craig to boost theirs. But when they play in the NL park, the Cardinals play their usual lineup, while the Sox have to subtract either Ortiz or Napoli from the lineup. Moreover, the Cardinals’ pitchers are used to batting, so they may be able to lay down an extra sacrifice bunt or two more than Boston’s pitchers, and that might end up being the difference in a game.

 

All told, the Red Sox have the better offense, despite the edge St. Louis has with the DH rules.

 

EDGE: BOSTON

 

 

Starting Pitching

If we talked about the starting rotations of these two teams in spring training, our conversation would look totally different. The Sox had yet to know what John Lackey would do this year, they didn’t have Peavy, and we had no clue if Lester would rebound from his awful 2012 campaign. Meanwhile, St. Louis would have been counting on Jaime Garcia, and had no idea that Michael Wacha would emerge as he has.

 

As currently constructed, here are the likely rotations for the World Series:

 

Boston

Lester (2.33 postseason, 3.75 regular season)

Lackey (3.00 postseason, 3.52 regular season)

Buchholz (5.40 postseason, 1.74 regular season)

Peavy (8.31 postseason, 4.04 regular season)

 

St. Louis

Wainwright (1.57 postseason, 2.94 regular season)

Wacha (0.43 postseason, 2.78 regular season)

Kelly (4.41 postseason, 2.69 regular season)

Lynn (5.40 postseason, 3.97 regular season)

 

Wacha has been nearly unhittable during this postseason, and Wainwright is an absolute stud ace. Kelly and Lynn were terrific during the regular season and less so in the playoffs, but they are both quality pitchers. It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals’ pitchers do having to face a lineup with a DH. It’s a very different proposition having Napoli in the lineup instead of a pitcher. Conversely, it might be a bit easier for the Red Sox’ starters to face a pitcher instead of the DH they normally have to deal with.

 

I am not totally comfortable with the Sox’ rotation at the moment, however. Peavy worries me, and Buchholz tires too easily to go deep into games. If he can give the Sox six excellent innings per start, maybe that’s all we can expect. On the whole, I think the Cardinals’ rotation is superior, but the gap isn’t as big as it was between Detroit and Boston.

 

SLIGHT EDGE: ST. LOUIS

 

 

Relief Pitching

During the regular season, the Cardinals had the 12th best bullpen era in the majors, at 3.45. Boston’s was 21st, at 3.70. The Cardinals have some serious flamethrowers in the bullpen, featuring rookie closer Trevor Rosenthal (2.63 era, 12.9 k/9 during the regular season) and John Axford (9.6 k/9 during the season). They also have rookie starter Shelby Miller in the bullpen, and all he did this year was go 15-9 with a 3.06 era and 8.8 k/9. During the postseason, the Cardinals’ bullpen has been brilliant, posting a 1.80 era, and allowing opponents to hit just .177 off them. They can bring in two tough lefties in Randy Choate (2.29 era, 7.1 k/9) and Kevin Siegrist (0.45 era, 11.3 k/9) and they have depth all over the place.

 

Meanwhile, the Red Sox’ bullpen has been even better, posting this line during the playoffs: 0.84 era, .209 baa, 7.9 k/9. Their back 3 of Breslow, Tazawa, and Uehara has been incredible, and Brandon Workman has added a fourth reliable option. It is the rest of the bullpen that could be troublesome, as they don’t have as much quality depth as St. Louis has.

 

A potentially huge advantage the Sox have is at closer. Koji Uehara has been as good as a closer can possibly be, both in the regular season and playoffs. Just mind-boggling numbers, and he has carried that over in the playoffs. But Trevor Rosenthal has also been incredible (0.00 era, 0.71 whip, 11.6 k/9 in 7 ip). The key is that he’s just a rookie, and who knows how he’ll respond to the biggest stage possible.

 

If we see any extra-inning games, the Cardinals have a deeper bullpen and can use a guy like Shelby Miller. The Sox’ bullpen isn’t as deep and the prospect of sending Ryan Dempster up against Shelby Miller is not one the Sox should look forward to. But if the starters do their job, I favor the Red Sox’ back end of the bullpen over St. Louis’. Nonetheless, I think a slight edge should go to the Cardinals, for the variety of weapons they can bring at you, and the emergence of Rosenthal at least makes the closer spot pretty close.

 

SLIGHT EDGE: ST. LOUIS

[sk7326]

Well, if we want a serious analysis - the most important player in the series, or at least the wildcard, is Allen Craig.

 

Craig is arguably their best hitter, and he is making his return in this series. If he is healthy, he allows Saint Louis to field 9 legitimate hitters for the AL games, which is always a challenge for the NL team. If he is not right, then the Red Sox will clearly have that DH/PH advantage that they customarily have in the World Series.

[Midwest Manners]

Craig has been taking taking at bats for the last week or two from pitchers who didn't make the Cardinals roster to freshen up. One thing that will work to Craigs advantage is that he has a very short compact swing which will make it easier to get in sync than it might for a traditional pull hitter. The thing going against him is that they haven't come out and said Craig is healed or that he's definitely going to be on the roster with Matheny saying he'l make that evaluation tomorrow.

 

It would be a real shock if Craig isn't on the roster but he's probably not close to 100 percent right now.

 

One thing I will tell you about the cardinals is not be fooled by the low power numbers, this does not mean that the team does not have power potential rather it is a decision made by the players to focus more on hitting the ball the other way and up the middle than to pull the ball. This along with luck is why the Cardinals have such a high average with runners in scoring position, the cards are completely happy to pass the baton to the next guy rather than go for the 3 run blast.

[sk7326]

Craig has been taking taking at bats for the last week or two from pitchers who didn't make the Cardinals roster to freshen up. One thing that will work to Craigs advantage is that he has a very short compact swing which will make it easier to get in sync than it might for a traditional pull hitter. The thing going against him is that they haven't come out and said Craig is healed or that he's definitely going to be on the roster with Matheny saying he'l make that evaluation tomorrow.

 

It would be a real shock if Craig isn't on the roster but he's probably not close to 100 percent right now.

 

One thing I will tell you about the cardinals is not be fooled by the low power numbers, this does not mean that the team does not have power potential rather it is a decision made by the players to focus more on hitting the ball the other way and up the middle than to pull the ball. This along with luck is why the Cardinals have such a high average with runners in scoring position, the cards are completely happy to pass the baton to the next guy rather than go for the 3 run blast.

 

The low power numbers are a function of playing in a pitcher's park - no more. The Cards led the league in doubles and in on-base percentage. They were still very much a "go for the big inning" sort of team. 3rd in slugging in the NL, 2nd in BA. The offense is plenty powerful, although deciding to hit the ball the other way is more narrative than actual reality - if you could hit 3-run homers, you would. But Busch doesn't let you - so you cope. The average with RISP is misleading as usual since it doesn't really measure anything - but the Cards can hit. Carpenter is an MVP-level guy, Craig's return could help a lot, Holliday is flawed but clearly dangerous, Molina is excellent. This is a better team than the one which was cannon fodder in 2004, or the Jeff Suppan led team which stumbled into a title in 2006.

[Midwest Manners]

Make no mistake that 105 win 2004 team was the best Cardinals team I've ever seen, they ran out of gas in the world series and were hurt by the loss of Chris Carpenter, but that was a very good team. No team was going to beat the 2004 Red Sox after they won 4 in a row against the Yankees.

 

As far as your points about Busch, Busch isn't really that much of a pitcher's park it's pretty fair. Cards are 25th in homeruns on the road and 27th in home runs at home. They just don't hit home runs because besides for Carlos Beltran they don't try to pull the ball, they just take what the pitcher gives them.

[sk7326]

Make no mistake that 105 win 2004 team was the best Cardinals team I've ever seen, they ran out of gas in the world series and were hurt by the loss of Chris Carpenter, but that was a very good team. No team was going to beat the 2004 Red Sox after they won 4 in a row against the Yankees.

 

As far as your points about Busch, Busch isn't really that much of a pitcher's park it's pretty fair. Cards are 25th in homeruns on the road and 27th in home runs at home. They just don't hit home runs because besides for Carlos Beltran they don't try to pull the ball, they just take what the pitcher gives them.

 

Bit of chicken-egg at work there. Busch was near the bottom of the league across all park factors - the players they acquired built for a big homerun sapping park, so makes sense they act that way on the road too. The narrative of the 2004 World Series is a bit much there, after all in 2003 "nobody" would beat the Yankees after such a glorious win. It's baseball, all of these series are fluky, c'est la vie. Cards won 105 games at the apex of the gap between the 2 leagues in quality. That has closed some since then.

[Midwest Manners]

you're probably right about buying into the narratives to much in the 2004 case but in my 30 years of cardinals fandom I've never seen such a dominant team as the 2004 team. 4 games is a small sample size but it just felt over after Julian Taveras blew the game in Game 1.

[redsoxrules]

I didn't think that 2004 St Louis team was good at all.

I mean Jeff Suppan? Woody Williams? Marquis ? those are just average pitchers compared to what the Sox will be facing this year around.

[sk7326]

I didn't think that 2004 St Louis team was good at all.

I mean Jeff Suppan? Woody Williams? Marquis ? those are just average pitchers compared to what the Sox will be facing this year around.

 

If Carpenter were healthy it would have helped - but otherwise the starting pitching matchups were dreadful ... it was a team that throve on offense (St Louis) against a team which was better at everything.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Honestly, I have the Cards winning. I like their team overall than the Sox. The Red Sox seem to not give a f*** about things like that and always pull off wins out of their ass. I hope that's the case with the Cardinals.

[Wasatch]

I think we can take them pretty easily, but you never know. GO REDSOX!

[User Name]

I didn't think that 2004 St Louis team was good at all.

I mean Jeff Suppan? Woody Williams? Marquis ? those are just average pitchers compared to what the Sox will be facing this year around.

 

Their pythag had them going at 100-62, so by all measures, they were no fluke. Saying they were "not good at all" is silly. They had slightly above average starting pitching (Their starting five combined for a 105 ERA+) but they had a lights-out BP and the most potent offense in the NL, featuring three guys with OPS's above 1.000 in Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen. Let's be serious here, that was an elite team.

[marklmw]

Honestly, I have the Cards winning. I like their team overall than the Sox. The Red Sox seem to not give a f*** about things like that and always pull off wins out of their ass. I hope that's the case with the Cardinals.

 

Keep it to yourself ... no spreading bad karma.

[sk7326]

Keep it to yourself ... no spreading bad karma.

 

Reverse jinxes are ok - I picked the Cards too

[mvp 78]

@Sean_McAdam: Lots of intrigue re: Sox rotation now. Trainers conferring, Peavy unsure whether he goes GM 3 or 4 & Doubront suddenly throwing to hitters.

[BornToRun]

Apparently there's some concern about Buchholz's inability to make it further than the 5th. Some people are thinking about using Doubie to piggy back him if he has trouble in St Louis.

 

Also, Thornton was seen throwing so just maybe that means Morales gets the boot. Thornton is a pure LOOGY but with Breslow doing his thing right now, I don't think we'd need Matt to be anything more than that.

[Jasonbay44]

Apparently there's some concern about Buchholz's inability to make it further than the 5th. Some people are thinking about using Doubie to piggy back him if he has trouble in St Louis.

 

Also, Thornton was seen throwing so just maybe that means Morales gets the boot. Thornton is a pure LOOGY but with Breslow doing his thing right now, I don't think we'd need Matt to be anything more than that.

I don't care who of Morales/Thornton makes world series roster, I just hope whoever makes it doesn't pitch in any game, unless its a complete blowout and we don't want to waste our main relievers. Both are incredibly inconsistent and cannot be trusted in close games.

[jung]

There are a few things that scare me about this Cardinal team.

1. They will not beat themselves anything like the way the Tigers did. It is no wonder that Leyland fell on his sword. Your team may not have the talent sometimes or might suffer from the match ups but when everything goes sideways like that, usually the manager ends up taking the hit

2. They have very solid relief pitching. The Sox method of running up the starters pitch count will not be hard to employ but it will be harder to make work.

3. Molina....It is not that we ran so much in the Detroit series but almost every time we did, it meant something. How many double steals do I expect to see from us in this series? ....about none. In a series like this seeing Molina so many games in a row generally has runners with their heads on a swivel. They can't get used to the idea that the ball just about appears in the 1st or second baseman's hands. The runner has no idea how it got there...he is is just out. So as opposed to the pitchers getting rattled by potential base stealers, the runners end up rattled by Molina.

 

Things that worry me from our end are losing Napoli in St. Louis and 5 inning Buch.

 

Thankfully, we have home field. Were it not for that, I might have a hard time working up much optimism for this series. But...we do have home field and we have XB, basically an unknown wild card that so far has been an Ace when Farrell has flipped that card over. There is no reliable ML book on XB at this point. That may not sound like much but as we must realize by now, these series turn on pebbles of sand, not mountains of rock. We have marginally better starting pitching. I expect a great series with the games hinging on which team brings its strengths to bear best as opposed to one team or the other just wilting in the WS heat.

[SoxSport]

I don't know if sizing up the personnel on two teams will make much difference.

 

They are both good teams with the same season record--but in different leagues who have faced very different opponents.

 

The advantage must go to the Red Sox for the following reasons: 1) they have home field, and they win 2 out of every 3 games at Fenway, 2) they are in the best division in baseball and have played most of their games there--with the best record, and 3) the AL is generally considered to be better than the NL in recent times--the Red Sox have done very well in interleague competition.

 

A lot of people were surprised--including lot of "brilliant" sportswriters--when the Red Sox swept the powerhouse Cardinals in '04. They shouldn't have been, when you consider they beat the Yankees--a team which might have also beaten the Cardinals, and they were coming out of the superior league. Besides, didn't they have Pedro and Schilling? The Cardinals had no answer to them in pitching.

 

In the media discussions I've heard, once again the advantages the Red Sox have (home field, superior division & League) are being overlooked. They compare the teams as though they had the same opponents all year. Not so. Plus the home field could be decisive.

 

Having said that, anything is possible. But the odds are in favor of the Sox.

[jung]

I just don't think the Sox have faced another team like the Cards all year long. In one sense the Cards are the NL version of the Sox.

 

I heard some talking heads today discussing the star factor, commenting that the Cards are a real lunch pail team "they have no superstars like Ortiz and Pedey and Ells". Ortiz is 38 years old and a DH....as good as he is, he is past superstar status. Pedey....come on...Ells, maybe a star but a long way from a superstar at this point. These are really two lunch pail teams that are going to duke it out. I would not at all be surprised to see this go 7 with the Sox winning four home games and losing three road games. That said I have picked the Sox in 6.

[Youk Of The Nation]

All of the same people on TV and radio who picked the Tigers in 6 or 7 are now picking the Cardinals in 6 or 7. I give those predictions the same credence I gave the ALCS predictions. To wit, none whatsoever. The Sox are the Sox. Go Sox. Sox in 6.

[sk7326]

I just don't think the Sox have faced another team like the Cards all year long. In one sense the Cards are the NL version of the Sox.

 

I heard some talking heads today discussing the star factor, commenting that the Cards are a real lunch pail team "they have no superstars like Ortiz and Pedey and Ells". Ortiz is 38 years old and a DH....as good as he is, he is past superstar status. Pedey....come on...Ells, maybe a star but a long way from a superstar at this point. These are really two lunch pail teams that are going to duke it out. I would not at all be surprised to see this go 7 with the Sox winning four home games and losing three road games. That said I have picked the Sox in 6.

 

The narrative is all silly. Carpenter may not be a superstar, but he was one of the 5 or 10 best players in the National League this year. Petey, Ellsbury have bigger names certainly, but whose fault is that? Pedroia, Ellsbury and Victorino have all had MVP-ish seasons (at least getting votes). Superstar is a weird term to use for somebody as scruffy as Pedroia, but he is the Red Sox "brand name" player and a former MVP - most alleged superstars don't have that going for them.

 

These are two superb offensive units with a lot of diversity. The Cards are not as proficient with the homeruns, but they double plenty and their home park is not one that yields much of that anyway. Nobody is weeping for them, they led their league in runs and On Base too. After the Red Sox 1-year lapse in managerial/front office competence is back with Saint Louis as two of the best run orgs in the entire league - outfits which have spit out GMs for other teams as much as wins. The Sox beat some top shelf starters in the ALCS - the challenge in the World Series harkens back more to the Tampa series ... a pitching staff with youth and stuff for days.

 

Now I don't want to get too bogged down in the analysis - after all, this is baseball and if four pitchers throw four shutouts, all of this analysis goes out the window. (it's like having a hot goaltender in hockey in that sense) But the Red Sox will bring their batting eye with them and force the Cardinals pitchers to come to them. This postseason it has resulted in some big innings, yes - but it also has allowed them to create opportunities when they weren't hitting. (it is rare to say a near no-hitter with 17 Ks featured some GENUINE squanders, but the Red Sox had em in Game 1 of the ALCS) LOBs suck, but it is the stat that is not all bad - since it means that you are generating chances.

 

Key player in the series is Allen Craig who can close the gap between the lineups substantially if he is healthy. For Boston, it's still the starting pitchers. If they can continue to allow Farrell (his own compulsions aside) to be able to skip the Morales-Workman part of the bullpen every time out, we're going to be in good shape.

[jung]

Funny how after all this time and all these games we will likely life or die by the bridge...have to use it and we likely die...avoid it and we very likely live.

[iortiz]

At bet365 Sox are fav -140 in order to win the WS. I concur.

[sk7326]

Funny how after all this time and all these games we will likely life or die by the bridge...have to use it and we likely die...avoid it and we very likely live.

 

Well, to be fair, the true bridge is Tazawa/Breslow, who have been plenty good. After all, most team's 5th/6th inning sorts are largely not very good either. And I do trust Workman as much as I'll trust any guy of that ilk (trust less than Tazawa/Breslow, more than Morales/Thornton) - I can get behind him being put into an important spot at least.

[SoxSport]

Forget the media and their predictions. They are mostly NY based anyways, and are biased against Boston. In '04, I ran into a couple of them from ESPN at the airport just before the Cardinals series, and they sneered at the Red Sox ("Cardinals in 5"). I said Red Sox have better pitching. I was right.

 

This time, the same bunch at CBS -NY, etc are tweeting the same. No mention that the Red Sox have home field, they have the best record in Baseball's best division, and the AL by now is known to be better than the NL.

 

Make no mistake, this is more of an uphill climb for the Cardinals than it is for the Red Sox.

[Orange Juiced]

The Cardinals have a much deeper bullpen filled with quality guys than the Sox do. But the Sox' last 3 - Taz, Breslow, and Uehara - are terrific. The key for Boston is that their starters get deep enough into games that the Cardinals' bullpen depth advantage is nullified.

 

What the Cards can do, though, is do a lot of lefty/lefty and righty/righty matchups late in games because they have so many quality arms.

[sk7326]

The Cardinals have a much deeper bullpen filled with quality guys than the Sox do. But the Sox' last 3 - Taz, Breslow, and Uehara - are terrific. The key for Boston is that their starters get deep enough into games that the Cardinals' bullpen depth advantage is nullified.

 

What the Cards can do, though, is do a lot of lefty/lefty and righty/righty matchups late in games because they have so many quality arms.

 

Lot of truth there, and a lot of youth there too ... at the same time the Red Sox are going to challenge them - it's the best lineup these guys will face the rest of the way. We were able to get to Tampa Bay, whose pitching staff has many similar virtues.

 

We may or may not win this series (duh) ... but I think this squad is probably better than the 2007 team, but definitely not as good as the 2004 one.

[Carter]

Cards fan here. Reading this topic really brought home how little I know about the Sox. And how little you know about the Cardinals. But analyzing stats and making optimistic predictions is fun. You all have a pretty good overview on the Cards as a team, generally. But allow me to give you a heads up on them specifically.

 

Most dangerous hitter in the clutch is NOT Allen Craig. It's Molina. If he had batted 3rd or 4th, (instead of 5th) and was not a catcher to limit his playing time, he would easily have led the league in RBI.

 

Wainwright is not the ace. Wacha is.

 

Rosenthal is not the hardest reliever to hit. Martinez is. Rosie is always around the zone, whereas Martinez is a tad wild. He will bounce one a foot outside and then paint the black at 100mph. It's hard for the hitter to get comfortable.

 

Matt Holliday, batting 3rd, is actually the 5th best hitter on the team. Despite his decent looking numbers, he is by far the EASIEST Cardinal to strike out or GIDP. (led the NL) He is NOT a money player.

 

Big Matt Adams: Reminiscent of Boog Powell, this kid is a masher. However, the NL employed an odd shift to deal with him. The 2nd baseman would drop back to short RF, and Matt did hit hard line drives to him for easy outs. Matt made adjustments with some success, but his HR's were greatly reduced.

 

Matt Carpenter is a doubles machine (55) and will be a problem for the Sox.

 

David Freese can still come up with a clutch hit, but is not the same player you remember from the 2011 WS.

 

Jon Jay in CF is probably in the running for the worst in baseball, and he hits like s*** too. Bench player, Shane Robinson is better, but Matheny does not seem to think so. However, the St. Louis fans and media have been making a lot of noise lately, and Matheny may have to crack and put him in. Robinson is a burner. Very hard to stop on the bases unless stifled by Matheny and his station to station approach.

 

The man to watch is Carlos Beltran. As you know, very dangerous in the playoffs, but it's unknown how he does in the WS.

 

The manager Matheny: A baby clone of the incredibly over rated LaRussa. He likes to award outs after leadoff dbls with bunts... Dbl. switches EVERY single time he can.... A terrible bullpen manager. Will yank a lights out pitcher at the drop of a hat for the L/R ********. Boston's best shot at winning will be on Kelly and Lyne who are 5 to 6 inning pitchers. Get to the pen early, and watch Matheny get into a switching frenzy!

 

Bench: Its extremely weak. The only decent hitter is Matt Adams, who is STARTING. You won't see much of this bench except in mop up situations.

 

Of course you know that Cards fans are fairly slobbering at the chance for 2004 payback. But there isn't a single Card on this team from that season. I don't think it's an issue at all for the players. They just want to keep winning.

 

But they DO have a sensational "Phoenix crushing" story line: Pirates....rise from the 20 year ashes, crushed. The Dodgers....mired in last place before the ASB and roared to 1st place...crushed! The Boston Red Sox....from the ashes of last place to Pennant winners. Crushed?? LOL, we shall see.

 

My prediction: If the Cards win game 1, they win it in 6. If Boston wins game 1, the series will go to 7 and who knows who wins it!? OK, thanks for reading my rambling.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Carter

[Carter]

The Cardinals have a much deeper bullpen filled with quality guys than the Sox do. But the Sox' last 3 - Taz, Breslow, and Uehara - are terrific. The key for Boston is that their starters get deep enough into games that the Cardinals' bullpen depth advantage is nullified.

 

What the Cards can do, though, is do a lot of lefty/lefty and righty/righty matchups late in games because they have so many quality arms.

You got that a little backwards Juice. The Cards were the worst extra inning team in the NL because Matheny BURNS up the pen in regulation! Get to extra innings and you got 'em by the balls.