The World Series begins tonight as the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers battle it out for baseball supremacy. This is going to be a great matchup regardless of who wins. So let’s take a look at these teams and maybe throw in a prediction or two.
Here are how the lineups should look. I’ve included it with and without the DH and I’ve also included their benches.
NL:
| NL order | |
| Kinsler – 2B | Furcal – SS |
| Andrus – SS | Jay – CF |
| Hamilton – CF | Pujols – 1B |
| Young – 1B | Holliday – LF |
| Beltre – 3B | Berkman – RF |
| Napoli – C | Molina – C |
| Cruz – RF | Freese – 3B |
| Murphy – LF | Punto – 2B |
| Pitcher | Pitcher |
| NL Benches | |
| Moreland – 1B | Craig – LF |
| Torrealba – C | Laird – C |
| German – 2B/3B | Descalso – 2B |
| Chavez – OF | Schumaker – 2B/SS/3B |
| Gentry – OF | Theriot – 2B/SS |
| Treanor – C | |
AL:
| AL order | |
| Kinsler – 2B | Furcal – SS |
| Andrus – SS | Jay – CF |
| Hamilton – CF | Pujols – 1B |
| Young – DH | Holliday – LF |
| Beltre – 3B | Berkman – RF |
| Napoli – C | Molina – C |
| Cruz – RF | Freese – 3B |
| Murphy – LF | Punto – 2B |
| Moreland – 1B | Craig – DH |
| AL Benches | |
| Torrealba – C | Laird – C |
| German – 2B/3B | Descalso – 2B |
| Chavez – OF | Schumaker – 2B/SS/3B |
| Gentry – OF | Theriot – 2B/SS |
| Treanor – C | |
I’m going to have to go with the Rangers in this case. Three hitters that got higher than a 5.5 WAR in the regular season with the Cardinals having three that made it just over 5.0 at 5.0, 5.0 and 5.1. The Rangers have got power and speed up and down the line up. From the seven spot in the lineup, Cruz just hit 6 HRs including 2 in the 11th inning. As a team they own a .283/.340/.460/.800 all of which rank in the top five of baseball. Granted the Cardinals weren’t to far behind with a .273/.341/.425/.766. The Rangers also posted almost a 100 greater wRC+. Gotta give it to the Rangers.
Now let’s take a look at the starters:
| Starters | |
| Wilson | Carpenter |
| Holland | Garcia |
| Lewis | Jackson |
| Harrison | Lohse |
The Ranger starters have been pretty suspect in these playoffs. Yes they finished the season extremely strong, but they have yet to record a quality start in the playoffs. Maybe this is Ron Washington’s doing, but it’s still no good to see that happening. I’ll give the edge to the Cardinals for that reason.
Their bullpens:
| Bullpen | |
| Adams | Boggs |
| Feldman | Dotel |
| Gonzalez | Lynn |
| Ogando | Rhodes |
| Oliver | Rzepczynski |
| Lowe | Salas |
| Westbrook | |
Bullpen is going to the Rangers. The combo of Ogando/Gonzalez/Adams scares me more than any combination in the St. Louis bullpen. Over the months September and October, the Ranger bullpen is number 1 in WAR with 5.0 and St. Louis is 8th with a 3.9. In that same time frame, the Rangers have a .45 FIP, .37 xFIP, 13 xFIP-23 FIP-, .59 SIERA lead and a K% that is 3.1 higher to go with a BB% 2.5 lower. Big edge to the Rangers.
Last but not least, the closers:
| Closer | |
| Feliz | Motte |
Because Feliz has been here before in this situation and Motte has not, I’m going to give the edge to the Rangers. Both pitchers are extremely skilled and have a great heater and really are on the same skill level. But as I just said, Feliz has been here and been here recently. Edge go to the Rangers.
The last thing I’ll talk about is the managers. I think they are pretty evenly matched. They’ll be a ton of fun today, especially being completely opposite. LaRussa is quieter while Washington gets super excited.
All in all, I’m going to take the Rangers in 6. Either way, both teams have had an amazing season.
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