It would always rankle me when the guys on ESPN would say that whoever represents the National League in the World Series is going to get slaughtered, but now I’m finally coming to grips with that assessment. Yes, St. Louis and New York thoroughly dominated their opponents in the NLDS, but their opponents (San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles) looked so anemic that they may as well have been playing the Pirates and the Cubs. Will the NLCS be a blowout as well? The Scores Report handicaps the series…
St. Louis Cardinals
Strengths: Clutch hitting and solid defense. Their series against San Diego may have been lopsided, but it’s not as though they blew the Padres out or anything. They scored 14 runs in four games, a mere 3.5 runs per game. To win games like that, you need to play good defense, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Weaknesses: Their pitching is still suspect. Jeff Weaver was fantastic in Game 2 of the NLDS, but the Cardinals would be wise to lower their expectations for Weaver against a much more potent Mets lineup. Also Chris Carpenter will likely only get one start this time around, which means Weaver, Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis will all have to step up.
New York Mets
Strengths: Sweeping the Dodgers allows the Mets to get their rotation back in line, meaning Tom Glavine will start Game 1. The everyday players also get a few extra days of rest, an invaluable currency at this point in the season. And speaking of those everyday players, the Mets have twice the bats that the Cardinals have.
Weaknesses: Pedro and El Duque are done, and Cliff Floyd appears to be headed for the shelf as well. John Maine pitched well in the NLDS, but the Mets are thanking their lucky stars they didn’t have to send Oliver Perez out to the hill, something that will be unavoidable here. The bullpen is tough, but they won’t matter if the starters give up ten runs.
Good for St. Louis for not crumbling in the playoffs the way they crumbled down the stretch. But it ends here.
Prediction: Mets in 6
