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NLDS Series Preview - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
The St. Louis Cardinals (91-71 SU, 77-85 RL, 68-86-8 O/U) and Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67 SU, 76-85 RL, 71-77-13 O/U) will kick off their National League Divisional Series on Wednesday and this in-depth preview and analysis will give you the information you need to break the bank on what promises to be a thrilling NL showdown featuring two of the greatest managers in MLB history.
With the opening pitch for this matchup drawing near, let’s get started.
Cardinals
The Cardinals have the best hitter on the planet in Albert Pujols and added another terrific hitter during the annual trading period in Matt Holiday, not to mention two of the top three contenders for this year’s NL Cy Young award in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.
Dodgers
The Dodgers may have problems with their starting pitching despite the fact that three starters won at least 11 games this season and have home-field advantage in this series. Still, getting Manny Ramirez out is always a tough task and lest anyone forget, the Dodgers still have the best manager on the face of the planet in Joe Torre who will make his 14th consecutive appearance in the postseason, tying Atlanta’s Bobby Cox 1991-2005.
Offense
The Dodgers ranked fourth in all of baseball in hitting, compiling a .270 team batting average while St. Louis ranked 12th in the majors in hitting, batting a collective .263.
L.A. didn’t have a single .300 this year and had just one player top 30 home runs during the regular season (Andre Ethier). The Dodgers saw two regulars top the 100-RBI mark with Ethier driving in 106 runs and Matt Kemp driving in 101 runs. James Loney added 90 RBI and Manny Ramirez (19 HR, 63 RBI) almost assuredly would have driven in 100 runs had he not missed 50 games due to a PED suspension.
Albert ‘The Machine’ Pujols leads the Cardinals with his blistering .327 average, 47 home runs, 135 RBI, 124 runs scored and a whopping 115 walks. Skip Schumaker also hit over .300 (.303) as did Matt Holiday (.353) in 63 games with the Dodgers. While Pujols was the only Cardinals player to drive in 100 runs, Ryan Ludwick recorded 97 RBI and Matt Holiday drove in 109 runs and hit .313 while splitting time with Oakland (93 games) and St. Louis.
The Cardinals hit 160 team home runs, ranking 18th in the majors while the Dodgers hit 145 team home runs, 23rd in the majors.
Edge: Cardinals
Defense
The Dodgers and San Francisco led the majors in runs allowed, giving up an average of just 3.8 runs per game while the Cardinals were just behind L.A., tied for third place by holding their opponents to just 4.0 runs per contest.
L.A. and Frisco also tied for the major league lead in hits per game allowed, giving up an average of just 7.8 hits per contest while the Cardinals ranked fifth overall, allowing 8.7 hits per contest. The Cardinals’ fine staff allowed just 2.8 walks per game, best in the majors along with Minnesota while the Dodgers allowed 3.6 walks per game. Surprisingly, Los Angeles averaged more strikeouts per nine innings (7.9) than the Cardinals did (6.5).
Edge: Dodgers
Starting Pitching
The Cardinals were the only team in baseball this season to have at least three 15-game winners but the Dodgers led the major leagues in team ERA (3.44) while St. Louis checked in at fourth with a 3.66 team ERA.
Los Angeles held opposing hitter to a .233 batting average and .312 on-base percentage while St. Louis held opposing hitters to a .258 batting average and .319 on-base percentage.
L.A. ’s starting staff allowed 127 home runs while St. Louis gave up 123 long-balls.
Clayton Kershaw (8-8) led the Dodgers with a fine 2.79 ERA while Randy Wolf (11-7) recorded a solid 3.28 ERA. Jon Garland (11-13) and Chad Billingsley (12-11) recorded 4.01 and 4.03 ERA’s respectively.
Chris Carpenter (17-4, 2.24 ERA) and Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA) had fantastic Cy Young-quality seasons while Joel Piniero (15-12, 3.49) looked like somebody’s staff ace on numerous occasions this season. However, those three starters were the only Cardinals hurlers to surpass 162 innings pitched this season.
Edge: Cardinals
Bullpen
The Dodgers had the best bullpen ERA in all of baseball (3.18 ERA) while the Cardinals ranked fifth in bullpen ERA (3.67). L.A.’s relievers did give up 45 home runs compared to the Cardinals’ 43 bullpen home runs allowed. However, the Dodgers relief pitchers went a stellar 37-23 with a stellar .229 ERA while the Cardinals’ relief pitchers went just 22-18 with a .238 ERA.
Edge: Dodgers
MLB Divisional Series Odds
St. Louis Cardinals -145
Los Angeles Dodgers +115
Analysis: This series in the Cardinals’ to lose if you ask me. While the Dodgers have home-field advantage in this series, the slightly better manager and deeper batting order 1 through 9, the Cardinals could very easily take Games 1 and 2 on the road with Wainwright and Carpenter taking the hill with their stupendous array of mystifying pitches.
I also like St. Louis to put up their fair share of runs against a Dodgers starting staff that has largely struggled over the regular season’s second half and doesn’t have a true staff ace at this point, though Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley both have the stuff to become one.
I genuinely believe the addition of Matt Holliday will be the key that pushes St. Louis over the top as the Cardinals have gone an NL-best 39-24 since acquiring the sweet-swinging Holliday from Oakland back on July 24.
The Dodgers are +250 to win the NL Pennant in the bettor-friendly BetUS MLB sportsbook while the Cardinals are +200 to win the NL Pennant.
Prediction: Cardinals in 4
