2011 World Series Preview

The 2011 World Series starts tomorrow between the St Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers. The Cardinals represent the National League after winning the wild card with a 90-72 record after finishing second in the Central Division then topping the Philadelphia Phillies 3 games to 2 in the division series and the Milwaukee Brewers 4 games to 2 in the NLCS. The Rangers represent the American League after winning the West Division with a 96-66 record then topping the Tampa Bay Rays 3 games to 1 in the division series and the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 2 in the ALCS.

The Cardinals starting lineup the final two games of the Championship Series was Rafael Furcal at shortstop, Jon Jay in center, Albert Pujols at first, Lance Berkman in right, Matt Holliday in left, David Freese at third,Yadier Molina at catcher and Nick Punto at second. For the season with the Cardinals Furcal hit .255/.316/.418, , Jay hit .297/.344/.424, Pujols hit  .299/.366/.541, Berkman hit  .301/.412/.547, Holliday hit .296/.388/.525, Freese hit  .297/.350/.441, Molina hit  .305/.349/.485 and Punto hit .278/.388/.421. Pujols led the team with 37 home runs followed by Berkman with 31 and Holliday with 22.

In the playoffs Furcal has hit .204/.220/.388, Jay has hit .216/.326/.270, Pujols has hit .419/.490/.721, Berkman has hit .237/.341/.342, Holliday has hit .375/.444/.531, Freese has hit .425/.485/.850, Molina has hit .279/.326/.349 and Punto has hit .143/.208/.143. Freese has hit 4 home runs follwed by Pujols with 2.

In the post season the Cardinals have relied on Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Edwin Jackson and Kyle Lohse as the starters and Jason Motte as the closer. In the regular season with the Cardinals Carpenter was 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, Garcia was 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA and 1.32 WHIP, Jackson was 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, Lohse was 14-8 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.17 WHIP and Motte was 5-2 with a 2.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 9 saves. In the post season Carpenter is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, Garcia is 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA and 1.53 WHIP, Jackson is 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA and 1.53 WHIP, Lohse is 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA and 1.45 WHIP and Motte is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 0.13 WHIP and 4 saves.

The top eight in the Rangers lineup this post season has been Ian Kinsler at second, Elvis Andrus at short, Josh Hamilton in center, Michael Young at first, Adrian Beltre at third, Mike Napoli at catcher, Nelson Cruz in right and David Murphy in left. For the season with the Rangers Kinsler hit .255/.355/.477, Andrus hit .279/.347/.361, Hamilton hit .298/.346/.536, Young hit .338/.380/.474, Beltre hit .296/.331/.561, Napoli hit .320/.414/.631, Cruz hit .263/.312/.509 and Murphy hit .275/.328/.401. Beltre and Kinsler led the team with 32 home runs each followed by Napoli with 30 and Cruz with 29.

In the playoffs Kinsler has hit .275/.396/.450, Andrus has hit .205/.326/.205, Hamilton has hit .293/.311/.415, Young has hit .209/.244/.349, Beltre has hit .238/.289/.524, Napoli has hit .316/.381/.395, Cruz has hit .243/.300/.784 and Murphy has hit .391/.481/.565. Cruz has hit 6 home runs followed by Beltre with 3.

In the post season the Rangers have gone with starters C.J. Wilson, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis and closer Neftali Feliz. In the regular season Wilson was 16-7 with 2.94 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, Holland was 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, Harrison was 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.28 WHIP, Lewis was 14-10 with a 4.40 ERA and 1.21 WHIP and Feliz was 2-3 with a 2.74 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 32 saves. So far this post season Wilson has struggled going 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA and 1.85 WHIP, while Holland has been 1-0 with a 5.27 ERA and .176 WHIP, Harrison has been 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, Lewis has been 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and Feliz has been 0-0 with a 1.17 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 4 saves.

The Cardinals has one of the best manager in the history of the game in Tony La Russa while the Rangers are lead by Ron Washington. I give the edge to the Cardinals for manager. Both teams bring impressive line ups that swing the bats well for both average and power. I have to give the edge to the Cardinals because they have more players riding hot streaks in the playoffs. The pitching is fairly even as both staffs have been beat up on so far in the post season. The Rangers are back for their second straight World Series while the Cardinals were most recently in the series in 2006 when they won for the tenth time in their history. I think history will be on the side of the Cardinals again although it should be a good series that I hope goes seven games to maximize our baseball enjoyment before the season picks up new next spring.