LINEUP
- Texas - What a gauntlet... One of, if not THE, deepest lineups in the entire league... Nelson Cruz had one of the best series in the history of baseball with 6 bombs and 13 RBI in the LCS, and he's not even the best hitter on his team (hits 7th!)... Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Ian Kinsler all have season OPS's over .820, and the legend of Mike Napoli (the catcher with 30 HR in 369 ABs and a hilarious 1.046 OPS) continues... there are no holes here unless you count Mitch Moreland (who's been on the bench a bit anyway)...
- St. Louis - Pujols is the best hitter alive (still)... and they've gotten big seasons from Berkman and Holliday.. but the drop is pretty severe after that... Yadier Molina had a career year with an .814 OPS and 14 bombs, but after that?... I guess I'll take Allen Craig?... Yeah...
STARTING PITCHING
- Texas - Wilson, Lewis, Holland, Harrison - Wilson is a legit high-end guy... the rest is a bit of a mishmash... Matt Harrison had a great season (3.39 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) and he's been solid, but Holland and Lewis both hover around 4 ERAs and aren't overly impressive...
- St. Louis - Carpenter, Garcia, Lohse, Jackson - Carpenter is the pitcher I trust most in the entire series... Wilson has had the better year stat-wise for Texas, but Carpenter has the track record and has been lights-out in the playoffs... that's where the trust ends... Jaime Garcia ended the year with a 3.56 ERA but was abominable for about the last 6 weeks of the season... Kyle Lohse is average... and Edwin Jackson is about as hit-or-miss as you could get....
BULLPEN
- Texas - Feliz is the better closer in the series... Mike Adams and Koji Uehara (albeit awful in the playoffs) are legit big-time set-up men, and with Mike Gonzalez to supplement them, that's really solid... then there's the Ogando/Hunter combo in long relief has been legit... really deep and really good...
- St. Louis - Oh, Tony La Russa... what an over-manager... no one really stands out as elite in this pen... Jason Motte has been lights-out since being inserted (re-inserted? sort of) as the closer... and they've gotten good stuff from Salas and Dotel (against all odds)... the matchup to watch is TLR vs. himself...
BENCH
- Texas - Bench doesn't matter as much in the DH games, but they'll need to utilize it in St. Louis... Moreland, Torrealba, David Murphy (or Gentry), and Endy Chavez... pretty darn good... Torrealba is a top-20 catcher in the majors, and whether Moreland starts or not, this is a good unit...
- St. Louis - There are more lineup choices for TLR than for Texas... but it basically comes down to Descalso, Punto, and either Schumaker or Theriot... yeah...
PREDICTION
- Carpenter wins game 1 for St. Louis... and Texas dominates from there...
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