NLCS KTE - St. Louis Cardinals

[Elster88]

="SteveJRogers"]Nice, but I'm pretty sure I said that I was going to do one for every Metly opponent and since no onelse stepped up I was going to do something along the line of my Dodger one.

[Elster88]

TheOldMole wrote: Such Bullshit from a Chicago sportswriter. The Cardinals are not mediocre.

Their record was remarkably close to .500, though. The reporter may have a point.

[metirish]

From Buster Olny

] Top 10 NLCS matchupsposted: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry Here are the 10 biggest matchups of the NL Championship Series: 1. Willie Randolph vs. Albert Pujols The Padres generally elected to go after Pujols, and the Cardinals' first baseman hurt San Diego, batting .333 and banging away for a .600 slugging percentage; he had only one walk in four games. The Mets' manager probably will approach him more cautiously than Bruce Bochy did, issuing some intentional walks. "You don't want the big boy to hurt you or anything like that," Randolph said Tuesday, "so that's a good possibility. We'll wait until we get to that point. It's safe to say he's one of the guys you don't want to hurt you. I won't etch it in stone, but yeah, if you have a situation where he can hurt you and it's a big situation, yeah, it's smart to probably walk him." 2. Mets' starting pitchers vs. Innings John Maine lasted 4.1 innings in Game 1 against Los Angeles, and Steve Trachsel managed just 3.1 innings; by comparison, Tom Glavine was a workhorse, and he had a modest six-inning stint. The Mets' bullpen is incredibly deep, unquestionably, but it'll be interesting to see if the relievers can stand up to perhaps seven games of work over nine days, including Games 3, 4 and 5 in succession, if the starters continue to leave nine to 18 outs on the table for them in each game. 3. Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds vs. Their Injuries Rolen admitted Sunday that he hadn't been honest about how much his bad shoulder has been bothering him, and he was benched for the Cardinals' series-clinching Game 4 win over the Padres. Edmonds has been back in action for only a handful of games after recovering from the effects of a concussion, and he looks like Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich when he plays, slowly peeling himself off the ground, as if maybe his whole body is hurting so much that he can't possibly continue. It's hard to imagine these guys will be able to stay on the field the whole series. Manager Tony La Russa was asked about Rolen and Edmonds before the Cardinals' workout Tuesday. "I watched Scott work out," he said. "He's been surrounded most of the morning and the afternoon. But I know the report is that he came through the workout well. Looked like he was moving well, so I'd be optimistic that he would be in there. "I think Jim has got through that first series, and probably got a little discomfort from time to time, but he's playable and I expect to start him, as well." Rolen says he's ready to go after getting a cortisone shot, writes Derrick Goold. 4. Jose Reyes vs. Chris Carpenter The brazen and hypertalented baserunner who will try to steal bases at any time against the pitcher who shuts down would-be base stealers. Opposing base stealers have tried to swipe bases in 19 instances the last three years and have been successful four times. Carpenter would seem to have a big advantage here, but that won't prevent Reyes from running under certain circumstances (with two outs in an inning, for example). Reyes is the spark plug for the Mets' engine, writes Mike Vaccaro. 5. Tyler Johnson vs. Left-handed hitters We saw how much the absence of left-handed reliever Joe Beimel hurt the Dodgers as they tried to cope with the Mets' left-handed hitters and switch-hitters in the Division Series. St. Louis has two matchup lefties, Randy Flores and Johnson, and Johnson showed against the Padres how good he can be when he throws his nasty slider for strikes. The Padres' plan was to simply wait out Johnson, wait for those times when he couldn't throw strikes -- and Johnson kept throwing strikes. Johnson has faced Shawn Green three times in the past and struck him out each time; no other Met has more than two plate appearances against him. Carlos Beltran is 1-for-4 against Flores, while Carlos Delgado is 0-for-2. 6. Tom Glavine vs. A Bunch of Cardinals Who Hammer Him The Mets' left-hander has evolved as a pitcher, using his changeup inside. But keep in mind, as he works in Game 1, that many of the Cardinals' hitters have pounded Glavine in the past: Pujols is 9-for-20, Ronnie Belliard 5-for-12, Juan Encarnacion 13-for-36 (.361), Rolen 19-for-53 (.358). 7. Jeff Weaver vs. Carlos Delgado The Mets' first baseman has video-game numbers against the Cardinals' Game 1 starter: 19-for-38, four homers, eight walks, .620 OBP and a 1.594 OPS. And you can bet that both are well aware of this history. Weaver surprised the Padres by throwing so many breaking balls in his start in Game 2, and it's a decent bet that he will try to pitch to Delgado this way, with lots of curves. 8. David Wright vs. October The guy looks like he has The Big Game Gene -- it looks like he'll have fun and won't feel the pressure of the postseason. He went 4-for-12 with four RBI in three games against L.A., and you can expect a lot more. 9. Ronnie Belliard vs. The Rest of October So far, the free agent-to-be is playing like Roberto Alomar in the playoffs, diving all over the place, making plays, getting hits. He went 6-for-13 in the Division Series and flat-out killed the Padres. 10. Braden Looper vs. His Ghosts He was the Mets' closer for two years and heard a whole lot of boos, despite the fact that he was pitching hurt. Looper is not the main cog in the St. Louis bullpen, but he could be used in matchups against Wright and/or Paul Lo Duca (who is 1-for-9 against Looper in his career). When Looper comes into a game in Shea, he is going to hear a whole lot of boos that he'll have to ignore. Getting healthy has helped Looper a ton, he says.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

]8. David Wright vs. October The guy looks like he has The Big Game Gene -- it looks like he'll have fun and won't feel the pressure of the postseason. He went 4-for-12 with four RBI in three games against L.A., and you can expect a lot more.

That's good to know. I wonder if baseball scouts are working with scientists to isolate the Big Game Gene. If it can be screened for, that would certainly provide a competitive advantage.

And maybe it would provide Alex Rodriguez with the hope for a cure.

]9. Ronnie Belliard vs. The Rest of October So far, the free agent-to-be is playing like Roberto Alomar in the playoffs, diving all over the place, making plays, getting hits. He went 6-for-13 in the Division Series and flat-out killed the Padres

Hopefully he'll continue to play like Roberto Alomar, but he'll switch to the Mets version.

[Frayed Knot]

NYC native Jason Marquis is OFF the StL roster - meaning that the first pitch of Game 4 is likely to be from (Anthony) Reyes to (Jose) Reyes


StL NLCS Roster:
Pitchers (11): Chris Carpenter, Randy Flores, Josh Hancock, Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney, Braden Looper, Anthony Reyes, Jeff Suppan, Brad Thompson, Adam Wainwright, Jeff Weaver.

Hitters (14): Ronnie Belliard, Gary Bennett, Chris Duncan, David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds, Juan Encarnacion, Aaron Miles, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, John Rodriguez, Scott Rolen, Scott Spiezio, So Taguchi, Preston Wilson.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Johnson (LHP), Kinney and Wainwright are the survivors from an in-season bullpen meltdown and re-build.

Wainwright was the guy the Braves gave up for JD Drew. I hope we don't have to prove that was a bad deal for both teams.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Here are the Cardinals that the Mets faced in the 2000 NLCS:

Rick Ankiel, Andy Benes, Jason Christiansen, Will Clark, Eric Davis, J.D. Drew, Shawon Dunston, Jim Edmonds, Pat Hentgen, Carlos Hernandez, Mike James, Darryl Kile, Ray Lankford, Eli Marrero, Mark McGwire, Matt Morris, Craig Paquette, Placido Polanco, Britt Reames, Edgar Renteria, Fernando Tatis, Mike Timlin, Dave Veres, Fernando Vina, Rick Wilkins.

That's 24 players. There was one player on the postseason roster who didn't appear in any of the five games. Don't ask me who it was; I have no idea!

At a quick glance, it looks like Edmonds is the only holdover from that series. For either team.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, Wainwright was a highly touted starter who was considered just about ready when the Braves dealt him as the main bait for Drew a coupla years back ... and then he promptly got hurt and started falling short of expectations like a typical Atlanta prospect that it looks like they got rid of at exactly the right time.
So in working his way back he wound up in the pen and was eventually "promoted" to the set-up role and finally the closer's spot after Izzy went down.
He's tough to miss at about 6' 7" and pitched well down the stretch.

[Gwreck]

That's 25 players. You got them all, Yancy.

[Valadius]

Who else is excited about facing Looper?

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's August 11th, I'm excited about facing anybody.

Pounding Looper will give me no greater thrill than pounding Carpernter, et al.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Gwreck wrote: That's 25 players. You got them all, Yancy.

I guess I'm better at pasting than I am at counting.

[Willets Point]

Edgy DC wrote: It's August 11th, I'm excited about facing anybody.

It is? The Mets rock to clinch a playoff berth so early!

[Valadius]

August, Edgy?

[seawolf17]

He posted in this thread... from the past!