Truth be told, I was hoping for a NLDS against the Reds this year. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I kinda like the look of exasperation on Dusty Baker’s face when the Cardinals outsmart the Reds. Let me correct that, I like that look during the regular season, but I LOVE that look during the postseason.
Looking at the match ups head-to-head, the Cards have played both the Pirates and the Reds 19 times during the 2013 regular season. Record vs the Reds: 11-8; record vs the Pirates: 9-10. Better match up as per regular season: Reds. Looking at stats leaders, the Reds’ leader for BA is Joey Votto-.305; Reds’-McCutchen-.317. Cards’ best? Yadi-.319. Beat them both. I’m not real big at believing homeruns win games, the Cardinals have proven me brilliant for having that opinion during the season; I’m not going to go there.
As far as I’m concerned, the biggest stat to compare is ERA. Let’s just look at the leaders. The Reds have Latos who has 14 Ws with a 3.16 ERA; the Pirates have their ERA leader in Burnett with an ERA of 3.30, but their wins leader is Liriano, with 16. The Cards are looking at the best of both pitching worlds with Waino at 19 wins and 2.94 ERA. Based on this stat, Cards win!
Another truth to be told, I’m tired of Andrew McCutchen. I’m a big ol’ #4 wearing; pick off admiring; caught-stealing loving; dear God, you better slide because you aren’t too fast cheering member of Cardinal nation. Lots of talk these days (as per the telecasts/sports reports) I catch that McCutchen is likely to nudge out Molina for the NL MVP. My thoughts were: the less of Mr. McCutchen seen in the 2013 postseason the better. BUT, my mind has changed.
As I sit here, witnessing the Pirates beating the Reds 6-1 in the bottom of the 7th, I have to think forward as to what a match up against the Pirates would look like. First off, to go with the above mentioned yearning for McCutchen to be out of the postseason, it may just turn out to be a good thing to have the two teams face each other. I have all the confidence that Yadi will prove to those baseball analysts and he is the better player, head to head. I mean, the guy caught how many rookie pitchers this year, leading them to 97 wins during the regular season?! Sorry, if it were me, and it was my next life, I would want Yadi to be the leader of my team. Hands down. Done talking about it. The end.
MVP discussions aside, pitching match ups will be key. My money is on Waino during the postseason every time. He has Chris Carpenter on his side. Enough said. I am, however, a little worried about Lynn being the second starter. Lynn gives me flashbacks of Westbrook. Fortunately for him, I am giving him this opportunity to prove me wrong.
Oh, and one more thought: hey, Pirates pitching, I would like to re-introduce you to a guy you may not have already known too much about. His name is Matt Adams. Yeah, he’s from your neck of the woods, but he’s with us now.
Long story short, postseason begins in less than 48 hours for us Cardinal fans. How exciting is this time of the year?!
Go Cards!
