San Francisco would be an excellent fit. They have all the pitching in the world but they hit like the Brewers field.
If Fielder actually signs with Seattle or Washington, well, he’ll get what he deserves.
He would also make Pablo Sandoval look downright trim.
The link to Seattle is that their GM, Zduriencik, was with the Brewers when they drafted Fielder. I don’t know if they have any actual relationship. Washington, well, who knows how all the prospects pan out and it wouldn’t be as bad as the Werth signing. It seems like it would hamstring their budget, though.
That’s weird, because gonzomax said the complete opposite, and says so every single year like the swallows at Capistrano. He couldn’t possibly be wrong, could he?
No he is not. you need pitching. There of course are some games that hitting breaks out. But if you are a betting man, bet on the team with the best pitching and you will do quite well. if you love hitting teams, the Yankees and Red Sox would have cost you money.
If you love hitting teams you’d be up a lot of money.
Cardinals: #1 in the National League in runs scored, #9 in runs allowed
Rangers: #3 in the American League in runs scored, #5 in runs allowed
The Cardinals are one of the most hitting-dependent teams in the major leagues. It seems to me they’re playing in something called a “World Series” this week.
As opposed to the pitching teams, right?
Best pitching team in the NL: Philadelphia Phillies, giving up 3.27 (!!!) runs per game during the regular season.
Best in the AL: Tampa Bay Rays, giving up 3.79.
I’m looking forward to this week’s Phillies-Rays World Series.
Just remember, good pitching will always stop good hitting, and vice-versa.
– Usually attributed to Yogi Berra, but more likely from former pitcher Bob Veale.
Yes, like that game where Nelson Cruz hit six homers. This year those “some games” were called the ALCS and the NLCS. Texas scored 6.5 runs a game in the ALCS and St. Louis scored 7.2 runs per game in the NLCS. You can’t say these teams won with pitching. St. Louis didn’t have a starter record an out in the sixth inning of any game. They got by with smoke and mirrors from their bullpen. Detroit and Milwaukee were a bit below their season averages in scoring, but even if they’d been above their averages they still would have lost. The other teams scored too many runs.
As a fan of the Astros too, I’m well aware of the damage the Cards can inflict and the disappointment they can create. They’ve broken my heart before but this time the Rangers seem to be firing on all cylinders as opposed to last year’s Series slump. I think the Cards will take Game 1 but I’m thinkin’ it’ll end up Rangers in 7.
Last night w/ no ball was painful, as will be tonite. Wednesday simply can’t get here soon enough.
Amen brother.
“No he is not. you need hitting. There of course are some games that pitching breaks out. But if you are a betting man, bet on the team with the best hitting and you will do quite well. if you love pitching teams, the Phillies and Rays would have cost you money.”
So…balance between good hitting and pitching would be a good thing? That’s just crazy talk!
Hitting is nice, but it will get shut down by pitching. I suppose anybody can bump into a fast ball at a opportune moment and win a game.
A bad pitching team will not get into the series.
You know that the St. Louis Cardinals are a below-average pitching team, right?
Except when it doesn’t.
WTF?
You say this like it’s some sort of accident that people like Albert Pujols and Nelson Cruz crush home runs on a regular basis. “Yeah, you know, they just stick their bat out there somewhere and hope that the 98-mph fastball happens to hit it in the right place.”
Are you kidding? Hitting is an incredible skill, some people are much better at it than others, and having a lot of those people on your team gives you an excellent chance to win baseball games, whether in the regular season or in the playoffs.
Average runs conceded per game by all National League teams in 2011: 4.16.
Average runs conceded per game by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011: 4.27.
So, anybody got a prediction or thoughts about this WS matchup? Two rather similarly-constructed teams, it seems. Both rotations have been shaky (to say the least) but the flame-throwers in the pens and mashing offenses have got them this far.
Starting Pitching - Edge has to go the Rangers, I think. Carpenter may be hurt (although he claims he’s fine), and after that any of the Cards starters can be had. None of them went over 5 innings in the NLCS. One interesting thing is that the Rangers throw a lot of lefties out there, but they’re more the “hard throwing” variety that the Cardinals hitters seem to handle better than the “soft tossing” types. I think we’re looking at one or two “pitcher’s duels” at the most, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a 4-run lead in any game (especially not in Arlington).
Bullpens: Again the Rangers probably have the advantage. However, the Cards bullpen has surprising depth and is now a team strength (after being a massive weakness for the first 2/3 of the season). Only two arms remain from the initial bullpen (Motte and Boggs).
Lineups: Two teams that absolutely crush the ball, both in the regular season and the post-season so far. The Cards got a lot of BABIP luck so far, and they’ll need it to keep up to score enough to win games in this series. Freese’s power surge has added a ton of depth to the lineup. I’d probably call this a draw, with the Cardinals perhaps having an edge in St. Louis where the Rangers lose one of their big bats.
Benches: I need to read up a bit more on the Rangers bench, as I don’t see a ton of names that really strike fear. Maybe a Ranger’s fan can fill me in on who the first PH will be (against righties and lefties). For the Cards the bench is only decent, with Craig being the only real power available. Schumaker will likely be back on the roster, and Theriot is there to hit against lefties (he should never be allowed to face a right-hander). I’m not really confident that any of them can get a big hit off the Rangers bullpen arms. In the end I’m not sure that the benches have that much impact in a short series, although in the NL park there will at least be a couple of pinch-hit opportunities.
Defense: Cardinals defense is much better with Furcal and Punto up the middle than it was with Theriot and Schumaker. That said, it’s still only average, IMO. Can a Rangers-watcher fill me in on them (either quantitatively or qualitatively)
Management: This is probably the only area where I’d give the Cardinals the edge. Duncan and LaRussa have managed this team beautifully, pushing all the right buttons. They’ll need to out-manage Washington to at least one win to have a chance in this series.
In the end, I don’t see how the Cards can pull this out without a Tigers-in-2006 meltdown and continued great fortune on BABIP. Even if Carp is healthy and wins his two games, I still think the Rangers win in 6. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
And average runs conceded by the Cardinals per game in the NCSL: 4.33, so it’s not like their pitching took a big leap forward. (Granted, Milwaukee scored 9 runs in the first game and slowed way down after that.) It was already noted upthread that the Cardinals ERA+ this year was below average. I’m not sure how many more ways this game can be said. You win baseball games by having more runs than your opponent than the end of the game, so you need a combination of pitching and hitting. That doesn’t mean the team with the better pitching always wins, and getting guys on base and scoring runs isn’t a matter of luck.
Sure you need hitting. You have to score at least one. I am not saying you don’t need hitting. I am saying pitching is more important. That is all.
It would be great to have bothb but if you are going in with 1, take pitching.
You need to throw out all the pitching statistics for the Cardinals, because they’ve all been skewed by the horrible pitching during the first half of the season.
The team went 17-9 in September (not to mention 7-4 so far in the playoffs.) It won’t be a walkover for Texas.
Which is why St. Louis had below average pitching and they beat the team with the best pitching in the majors.
Even though the teams that had the best pitching lost to teams with better hitting?