(3) St. Louis Cardinals vs. (2) Los Angeles Dodgers

like '09

 

here's a little somethin from BSPN ( keep in mind that Vegas has us as the NL favorites to get to the WS) -



That's why I just finished polling 15 astute baseball executives, from clubs that didn't make the postseason, to see which teams they thought were about to play in the World Series, and which juggernaut they picked to win it. Well, here's how they saw it:
National League Champ: Nationals (12 votes), Pirates (2), Dodgers (1)
American League Champ: Orioles (7), Angels (4), A's (3), Tigers (1)
World Series winner: Nationals (11), Orioles (2), A's (1), Dodgers (1)

Why not the Dodgers?
I thought for a while that nobody was going to pick the Dodgers. It took the next-to-last voter to get them on the board. Which is shocking, in a way, when you consider they've led the NL in runs scored since the All-Star break, they employ Clayton Kershaw and they've got almost a quarter-billion-dollar payroll. But ...
"That team is such a mess," said one NL executive. "They could beat you on pure talent. But they're a total mess. As soon as I say that, though, you think, 'In a five-game series, you'll probably face Kershaw twice and [Zack] Greinke once.' So good luck."



so as you can see, one NL exec thinks the Dodgers are " a mess ", but he backtracks and loves our talent and starting pitching. interesting. looks like the Dodgers' antics have rubbed another NL exec the wrong way..or Towers, is that you?

 

These stupid gifs are driving me insane, my computer sucks.

 

BBTN has 3 predicting the Angels losing in the WS and 1 predicting the Tigers losing to the Nationals. 2/3 of the Angels predictions lose to the Nationals and the other has the Cardinals winning it all again which means we lose in the first round. I don't see this happening.

On the flip side, ESPN.com's "expert picks" has Blue coming out ahead in the NLDS 6 of 6 picks.

 

In a way, the Dodgers are a mess.
The huge holes in the BP and at catching could, uh...catch up to us... so could manager. Or the substantial talent all over the place may totally overcome what seems to be an albatross at those so important spots, like it has been recently.
If the starters can go late in the game, very late hopefully, and we don't need yeomans work from our set-up men/man, and get right to Hanley with no BS, we'll be much better off, I would think.
But that is a hell of a lot to ask. Who DBB/Colletti picks as our BP will be very interesting...to see where the confidence lies with the FO/mgr. after what we've witnessed in the recent past.
I think Paco is scary. So is JP, somewhat, but the big rest may really help him.
Everyone else is a crap shoot, with the most dependable probably Baez.
And Jansen, of course.
I've got a hunch Frias will make it, in spite of Coloradogate.

 

And no one picks us to win it all? Or even go to the WS?
Bridesmaids again would be so very sad...

 

It was only a 4 person panel but no, we got no love.

 

I'm on vacation. I'm going to be busy hiking through some national parks during the day, but I can catch night games. #whitepersonproblems

 

So this is what 15 execs who didn't make the playoffs think? Their collective opinions are worthless. If they knew what they were talking about they wouldn't be sitting at home right now.

 

I like the new feature where the quoted text isn't fully shown and you can expand it by choice. Using this site on mobile with the Dodger Blue skin is really clean and easy to navigate. Good work DSP!

I really am bummed about the Game 1 start time. I can probably get off work but I want the money. If I can get a half day that'd be awesome.

Taking game one would be huge. Then all we have to do is split 4 with Greinke, Ryu, and Kershaw going 3 of those potential 4 games.

Interested to see what crappy coverage Fox Sports 1 comes up with.

 

I don't know guys... The media and talk show radios on Sirius are all licking the Nads asses.. They probably won't talk talk about the Cardinals and Dodgers series until that time comes. On the other hand some of them have picked the Dodgers to win it all... As a Cards fan I want them to win but me being a senior curcuit guy I would have to go with y'all's team. This is going to be the best series hands down!!!!

 

No word on who's starting game 2 for the Cards? What's going on with that staff? I'd like to see Martinez in it since we tend to do well against him but I figure Wainwright, Lynn, Miller, Wacha. Is Wacha available? Anyone got anything for me?

 

Wainwright talking crap already. They clinched in AZ and took a shot at us for going in the pool. I want to sweep the Cards.

 

I hope Lynn pitches game 2, Lackey game 3... fuck Wacha

 

Did they refrain from celebrating on the field at the request of the Diamondbacks?

 

Kershaw, to this point, has pitched like 50 less innings than last year..unless he gets shelled, you can mark him down for 8 innings. he's in a work-load groove right now that only Curt Schilling has matched in the history of the game.

Greinke sometimes gets in trouble early, but usually comes back..i think we can mark him down for 7.

Ryu is obviously the question mark because of his health, but he beat Wainwright last post season when we needed it most. the Cards struggle to score in general, but even moreso with left handers.

Haren himself would be a 15 game winner if we offered him any run support in his last couple starts. he gave up 3 runs in his last start against STL and again he got no run support.


if you have Baltimore-level starters, you're moreso in need of a lock-down bullpen. if Ryu is dealing and we're running the bases, we'll need far less. a JP here..a Baez there..and we're home.

 

Is it Friday yet?????????

 

I totally forgot about Lackey. It sounds like Wacha is still up in the air. He didn't necessarily blow people away after coming back from his injury but he also out pitched Kershaw twice last season so he's got that going for him. If they start him then either Lackey or Miller are left out both of which have pitched better than Wacha recently. Also, the article I read says the Cards aren't even sure if putting him in the bullpen is a good idea. Seems like they feel he's either in or out. They have some choices to make as far as their roster goes.

 

This series is going to be tough. The 2 pitching staffs are close to equal but after Kershaw, Greinke, and Haren it falls way off and they have the advantage. The hitters edge has to go to LA, and should be lethal in every game. Of course they have to show up with an attitude, believing they can light up the cards pitchers. I feel that if Kershaw doesn't win the opener, cause the team doesn't give him some run support, it could be a disaster. In the last game he pitched he himself had to get the bats started with that rbi triple. Hopefully these guys will start before that. It will be interesting to see if Crawford, and Kemp can keep up with their September pace. Turner, Uribe, Van Slyke, Gordon, A Gonz, and Ramirez must be aggressive and smart at the plate. Ramirez looked "suspect" in the latter part of the season. I like what Jansen has done but the rest of the relievers and Wilson scare me. Guess were going to find out, and Go Beautimus Blue!!!

 

our starters are definitely under a lot of pressure because of the bullpen, no question..but if we can plate some runs early, and i mean like one of our signature 3 to 6 run innings that we put on Bumgarner and Hudson, that'll help take some of the pressure off our starters. look to be aggressive on the 1st pitch and then take the count deep thereafter. last thing the Dodgers need to do is just go up there and swing at 3 straight pitches everytime and we definitely have more than a few guys in the lineup that will take that silly ass approach.