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  #1  
Old 10-10-2005, 03:26 PM
Aceshigh7 Aceshigh7 is offline
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Default Cardinals-Astros Matchups

I have seen alot of conjecture regarding the NLCS and here is my breakdown of the Cardinals-Astros matchups. I am obviously an Astros fan but I have tried to be as objective as possible.



Starting pitching:
Carpenter is the only "ace" quality pitcher on the Cards' staff, and he is unproven in the playoffs. Morris is close to this level and he seems to be improving as of late. The Astro's set of aces has the upper hand on the Card's pair.

(Edge: Astros)

Bullpen:
Houston's bullpen is much improved this year. Qualls and Wheeler have emerged this season to provide dependable setup work to get to Lidge. Outside of Isringhausen the Card's bullpen is quite inconsistent.

(Edge: Astros)

1st Base:
Pujols is scary good and is the best first baseman in baseball.
For the Astros, Lamb has pop in his bat and is coming on strong lately.

(Edge: Cardinals)

2nd Base:
At the age of 38, Biggio has had a hell of a year, hitting 26 homers and driving in 69 runs near the top of the order. His defense has slipped a bit though this year and he is prone to errors. Grudzielanek is a very average second baseman both offensively and defensively.

(Edge: Astros)

Shortstop:
Eckstein is a much better hitter than Adam Everett. However, Eckstein is a joke defensively, whereas Everett is solid with the glove. The Astros rely heavily on the speed game and this could present problems for the Cards when the ball is hit to short.

(Edge: Draw)

Third Base:
No contest here. Ensberg is a power hitting all star having the best year of his career. Nunez has not done much at all in place of Rolen.

(Edge: Astros)

Left Field:
Sanders having a nice year but Berkman is the man for Houston.

(Edge: Astros)

Center Field:
Nice rookie season for the speedy Taveras. Still, Edmonds is much better. He kills the Astros all the time.

(Edge:Cardinals)

Right Field:
Walker has declined alot from what he used to be and now is only slightly better than Jason Lane is.

(Edge:Cardinals)

Bench:
I am not impressed with the Cardinal's bench. Mabry, Taguchi, and Seabol are all average or below average. The Astros' Orlando Palmiero (a former Cardinal) is a great contact and situational hitter. Bagwell has been money in pinch-hit situations since returning.

(Edge: Draw)

Manager:
LaRussa has been making some weird decisions lately and I know some Card's fans that don't like him. Garner's aggressiveness has been exactly what the Astros needed.

(Edge: Astros)



My prediction: Astros in 6 or 7 games.

I don't know if the Cardinals players are underestimating the Astros in this series. I definitely know the Cardinals fans are.
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  #2  
Old 10-10-2005, 04:45 PM
Clarkmeister Clarkmeister is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

This doesn't need it's own thread. There already is a series thread.
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  #3  
Old 10-10-2005, 04:55 PM
Aceshigh7 Aceshigh7 is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

Yes there is, and it degenerated into a stupid argument on variance with little baseball content.
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  #4  
Old 10-10-2005, 04:57 PM
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

Hey, if someone is going to bring up variance and how the Astros are gonna lose, then I'm gonna argue it! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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  #5  
Old 10-10-2005, 09:36 PM
Jack of Arcades Jack of Arcades is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

Not only is this a worthless exercise, it's factually wrong (Eckstein's a joke defensively?)
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  #6  
Old 10-10-2005, 09:53 PM
lastchance lastchance is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

STL's bullpen is a better than Houston's. They're 4 deep (Ishringhausen, Reyes, Eldred, Tavarez) + whoever they decide not to make their 4th starter while Houston's is just 3 deep. Solid edge for STL there. You're going to need more than 3 guys in the bullpen if Clemens, Oswalt and Pettitte can't go 7+ innings consistently, but they probably can. Still, I'd rather have STL's depth.

SS, I think Eckstein contributes much more. You don't give up .1 of OPS and expect them to equal. Eck's glove just isn't that bad.

And you missed catcher.
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Old 10-10-2005, 10:00 PM
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

[ QUOTE ]
STL's bullpen is a better than Houston's. They're 4 deep (Ishringhausen, Reyes, Eldred, Tavarez) + whoever they decide not to make their 4th starter while Houston's is just 3 deep. Solid edge for STL there. You're going to need more than 3 guys in the bullpen if Clemens, Oswalt and Pettitte can't go 7+ innings consistently, but they probably can. Still, I'd rather have STL's depth.

SS, I think Eckstein contributes much more. You don't give up .1 of OPS and expect them to equal. Eck's glove just isn't that bad.

And you missed catcher.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wheeler, Qualls, Lidge, Rodriguez??? You guys clearly don't have a huge advantage. Wandy was a true rookie this year and won us 10 ballgames.

What would lead you to believe Pettitte clemens and oswalt cant go 7 innings?

Eckstein is good with the glove but being 5'7", he doesn't have the range of the 6'0" Everett, and his arm is horrible. His throws are huge arcs.

Even if he gets to the ball, some of our speedy guys may beat out his lobs from shallow shortstop.
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  #8  
Old 10-10-2005, 10:07 PM
lastchance lastchance is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

So Everett's better defensively. Eck's a lot better with the bat, too much to really make it close between the two. That's what I was saying.

I'm not saying the Big Three can't go 7+ innings consistently, they can. I'm saying, if they can't, I'd much rather have STL's bullpen than Hou's bullpen in terms of depth. STL has more depth to bail out their pitchers.

Rodriguez has a 5+ ERA... Come on. Sure, he might be good in a pinch, but I'd rather depend on STL's bullpen in a series where Hou's starting pitching can't take over the series.
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  #9  
Old 10-10-2005, 10:41 PM
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

Wandy's ERA is high but he's either really on or really off. He wins the close games.

I will submit that Eckstein will be worth about 110% his usual value when he plays in MMP, because of the short porch. I can easily see Eck hitting gopher balls up in there.

I don't think there is a huge edge in any category in this series. Very similar ballclubs. Hou has more veteran leaders though. And TLR has a lot more experience than Garner, but Garner has a very unorthodox managerial style that is very much hit-or-miss. I don't think managers like having to manage against a guy like Garner just because of this. And nobody wants to manage agaisnt Tony just because of his track record.
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  #10  
Old 10-10-2005, 10:48 PM
lastchance lastchance is offline
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Default Re: Cardinals-Astros Matchups

HOU has a pretty nice edge in starting pitching, but STL's lineup is deeper, and it has Pujols, who's insanely good.
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