There has been no hotter team in baseball over the past month and a half than the St.Louis Cardinals.
Back on Sept. 1, the Cardinals were eight and a half games behind the Atlanta Braves for the wild card spot in the playoffs and basically had no shot at making the playoffs. The Cardinals ended up over taking the Braves for the wild card spot and earned a trip to the postseason.
The Cardinals have managed to stay hot throughout the playoffs and have earned a match up with the Texas Rangers in the World Series on Wednesday night.
The Cardinals have been able to win ball games with a strong combination of solid hitting and clutch pitching performances from the bullpen.
Manager Tony LaRussa has a deep and multi-dimensional roster at his disposal. On any given night, he is able to rely on solid veterans such as Ryan Theriot, Nick Punto and Rafael Furcal in the middle infield positions to produce in the field and at the plate.
The middle of the batting order is the driving force behind the Cardinal offense. With right fielder Lance Berkman, left fielder Matt Holliday and three-time MVP award winner Albert Pujols capable of putting up big numbers every game.
The one player to watch will be National League Championship Series MVP David Freese. The third year third baseman batted an astounding .545 with three homeruns and nine RBI’s. Look for Freese to continue his strong play and give the Cardinals a strong advantage in the World Series.
Other than Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals starting pitching have been the team’s Achilles heel. The three other starters Edwin Jackson, Jaime Garcia and Kyle Lohse have combined for a 1-4 record with a robust 6.34 earned runs average.
The Cardinals have been able to overcome poor starting pitching performances with dominant play from the bullpen. Cardinal middle relievers like Fernando Salas, Mark Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel have been coming in around the fifth inning every game and have been able to hold onto leads to turn it over the hard throwing closer Jason Motte.
Motte has tallied four saves, zero earned runs and one hit during the entire playoffs and will look to continue its shutdown play in the world series. The series will be a slugfest throughout and lots of runs will be scored. I believe in the end, with the help of the relievers and one of the top players in the game Albert Pujols, the Cardinals will outlast the Rangers and win the series in seven games.
