The Greek has this one lined very wrong. they are still offering this line on who will win the Nl Central
Cardinals -230
Field +190
This is lined very very wrong, as this price first popped up a while ago when the Cardinals had opened up a 4 or 5 game lead, but now its back to a tie and the price remains unchanged. This is a great line to get on and let me tell you right now, i dont know who will win the NL Central, but The CARDINALS will not be the team to win the Nl Central.
The 2010 Cardinals are being given way too much respect here based on the success of recent years. This however is a much weaker Cardinals team than what we are used to seeing. The traditional strength of this team, pitching is way down. And their best, most consistent hitting threat, Albert Pujols has gotten up in years.
The Cardinal lineup is lead by Ryan Freese batting .313, then Pujols at .305, but thats about it hitting north of .290. They do have Holliday hitting .286 and Ludwick hitting .287 but it remains to be seen whether either of these 2 guys will stay above .275 as the season wears on. My guess on that would be a strong NO.
Other than that this is a lineup that is very bad and every time they have faced a decent or better pitcher is has shown. This team did just go through a stretch where they scored 14 runs in 6 games. In their last 21 games, the Cardinals have scored 2 or fewer runs 9 times. I think that is indicative of what we are going to see from this offense as the season progresses.
The Cardinals starting rotation only has one real good pitcher. That is Chris Carpenter and even he is questionable IMO. He is 5-1 with a good but not great 3.09 ERA. He has however been pitching for over 15 years so he is no spring chicken and I expect it will show on him as the season moves along.
The second best starter, Jaime Garcia has a 1.14 ERA and I think everyone knows that will not continue. I expect we will soon see the real Garcia. The guy who had a near 6.00 ERA in 2008, his last season with the Cardinals. Even with as good a season as Garcia has had, he has taken 2 losses, given up a lot of walks, and only averaged 6 innings per start.
Kyle Lohse has a 5.89 ERA, and has given up 63 hits in 47 innings pitched. He has 9 starts which have only been for an average of just over 5 innings per start. He has contributed greatly to this terribly overworked bullpen.
The Cardinals relief pitching brings Hawksworth with a 5.40 ERA, Miller 3.38 ERA, Boggs 4.01 ERA, Motte 2.89, and Dennis Reyes as the only bright spot with a 0.59 ERA in only 15 innings pitched. Reyes has a lifetime 4.14 ERA and for the Cardinals to have any chance here he is going to have to keep pitching in the 1.00-1.50 ERA area.
Time was I remember that middle relief and closers were expected to have ERA's far below those of starting pitchers since the relievers only went an inning or two, thus had all their juice and never faced the same guy twice in the same game. Looking at this Cardinals relief core I really question how this team could be such an overwhelming favorite ( 70%) over the entire division.
The relief core is bad, and the starters are not strong enough to keep the relief out of the game. the Cardinals best average per start is Garcia and he is only giving them 6 innings per start. That leaves a lot of time for the opposition to smoke this relief core.
I think the Cubs, Reds,a nd even teh Astros are going to remain competitive in this division and the Cardinals at -230 over the field is crazy.
Take the entire division over the Cardinals at +190. An amazing price and the best book there is. Its an early christmas present gift from the greek.com.
Cardinals -230
Field +190
This is lined very very wrong, as this price first popped up a while ago when the Cardinals had opened up a 4 or 5 game lead, but now its back to a tie and the price remains unchanged. This is a great line to get on and let me tell you right now, i dont know who will win the NL Central, but The CARDINALS will not be the team to win the Nl Central.
The 2010 Cardinals are being given way too much respect here based on the success of recent years. This however is a much weaker Cardinals team than what we are used to seeing. The traditional strength of this team, pitching is way down. And their best, most consistent hitting threat, Albert Pujols has gotten up in years.
The Cardinal lineup is lead by Ryan Freese batting .313, then Pujols at .305, but thats about it hitting north of .290. They do have Holliday hitting .286 and Ludwick hitting .287 but it remains to be seen whether either of these 2 guys will stay above .275 as the season wears on. My guess on that would be a strong NO.
Other than that this is a lineup that is very bad and every time they have faced a decent or better pitcher is has shown. This team did just go through a stretch where they scored 14 runs in 6 games. In their last 21 games, the Cardinals have scored 2 or fewer runs 9 times. I think that is indicative of what we are going to see from this offense as the season progresses.
The Cardinals starting rotation only has one real good pitcher. That is Chris Carpenter and even he is questionable IMO. He is 5-1 with a good but not great 3.09 ERA. He has however been pitching for over 15 years so he is no spring chicken and I expect it will show on him as the season moves along.
The second best starter, Jaime Garcia has a 1.14 ERA and I think everyone knows that will not continue. I expect we will soon see the real Garcia. The guy who had a near 6.00 ERA in 2008, his last season with the Cardinals. Even with as good a season as Garcia has had, he has taken 2 losses, given up a lot of walks, and only averaged 6 innings per start.
Kyle Lohse has a 5.89 ERA, and has given up 63 hits in 47 innings pitched. He has 9 starts which have only been for an average of just over 5 innings per start. He has contributed greatly to this terribly overworked bullpen.
The Cardinals relief pitching brings Hawksworth with a 5.40 ERA, Miller 3.38 ERA, Boggs 4.01 ERA, Motte 2.89, and Dennis Reyes as the only bright spot with a 0.59 ERA in only 15 innings pitched. Reyes has a lifetime 4.14 ERA and for the Cardinals to have any chance here he is going to have to keep pitching in the 1.00-1.50 ERA area.
Time was I remember that middle relief and closers were expected to have ERA's far below those of starting pitchers since the relievers only went an inning or two, thus had all their juice and never faced the same guy twice in the same game. Looking at this Cardinals relief core I really question how this team could be such an overwhelming favorite ( 70%) over the entire division.
The relief core is bad, and the starters are not strong enough to keep the relief out of the game. the Cardinals best average per start is Garcia and he is only giving them 6 innings per start. That leaves a lot of time for the opposition to smoke this relief core.
I think the Cubs, Reds,a nd even teh Astros are going to remain competitive in this division and the Cardinals at -230 over the field is crazy.
Take the entire division over the Cardinals at +190. An amazing price and the best book there is. Its an early christmas present gift from the greek.com.