NLDS Preview and Predictions

Cardinals vs. Dodgers:

Head-to-Head: In the regular season, St. Louis took 5 of the 7 games against LA. The Cardinals won the NL Central with a 91-71 record, 7.5 games up from the second place team. The Dodgers took the NL West , finishing 95-67 with a three game lead.

On the Mound: Postseason is all about pitching. St. Louis is throwing NL Comeback Player of the Year Chris Carpenter in game 1. Carpenter ended the regular season with a 17-4 record and 2.24 ERA, which made him the NL leader in ERA and 2nd most in wins. Joe Torre is sending Randy Wolf to oppose Carpenter. Wolf had an 11-7 regular season record with a 3.23 ERA.

My pick: Cardinals: One of the biggest factors in postseason performance is momentum, and that factor is leaning heavily in favor of St. Louis. First of all, Pujols and the boys are quite familiar with the playoffs. Just four years ago they took the NL Central and NL pennants, followed by the club’s 10th World Series win. While the Dodgers are used to winning the NL West, in recent years, they haven’t seen much postseason play. And if they keep playing like they have in the end the regular season, things aren’t looking too good. The Dodgers won just 4 of their last 10 games, including series losses to Pittsburgh and San Diego – both sub .500 teams. LA is also going to have a lot of trouble with the Cards’ pitching staff. Not only will they have to face Carpenter, but Wainwright will prove troublesome on the mound, too. The tall righty had 19 wins against 8 losses and a 2.63 ERA. He also finished 4th in the NL with 212 strikeouts.


Rockies vs. Phillies:

Head-to-Head: Philadelphia took the season series against Colorado 2 games to 4. The Phillies won the NL East 6 games up with a 93-70 record. The Rockies had a similar record at 92-70 and slid into a playoff spot by winning the Wild Card race.

On the Mound: In game 1, the pitching matchup isn’t anything too remarkable. The Rockies are sending Ubaldo Jimenez, who went 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA, to the mound. The Phillies are starting Cliff Lee, who has struggled after his Cy Young/All-Star 2008 season with the Indians, when he was also named AL Comeback Player of the Year. But Lee has a lot to comeback from after his 2009 record of 14-13, although is ERA is at 3.22. Philadelphia fills out the rest of their rotation with names like Hamels, Happ and Blanton who all were on the World Series winning roster a year ago. They also have Pedro Martinez, a post-season veteran while in Boston. In 9 starts, Pedro is 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA. The Rockies have Cook, Marquis, DeLaRosa, Hammel and their own post-season vet Contreras to fill out their rotation.

My pick: Rockies: I am a firm believer that “the numbers don’t lie” and love to crunch stats, but although the numbers are leading towards Philadelphia in this matchup, I have to go with Colorado. I think I’m going to have some déjà vu in this series. Like the 2007 Rockies clinched the Wild Card and swept the Phillies in the Division Series to go on into the World Series…well, I don’t think it will be exactly the same this season, but a similar start. It will be a close match, but Colorado will prevail. Plus, the Rockies get my award for best postseason slogan: “Rocktober.”


Stay tuned for my ALDS predictions after the completion of the Twins-Tigers tiebreaker.