[stevenash]

Originally posted on 07/17/2013:

St. Louis Cardinal to win the NL Central 1:1

This edition of the Cardinals is better than any of the Pujols Cardinals.
One of the most well balanced teams I have seen in the last 25 years.

Fact: runs scored +127 more than runs against.
No other team can sniff that. Second closest are the Braves at +78
That is just an astouding stat.

Cardinals are third in the majors in hitting, runs scored, and OBA.
Cardinals have the best hitting catcher in the game that also happens to be also the best defensive catcher in the game.

Cardinals first half of the lineup all hit .300+
Cardinals are so diversified, Molina leads the team in average, Beltran leads the team in homers, but doesn't lead the team in RBI's, Craig does, but Carpenter leads the team in runs scored.

Cardinal lineup is so stacked, John Jay, who can slap the ball around well, hits eigth.

Cards can go deep with Holliday, Beltran and Craig, they can play hit and run with Jay and Carp, the only thing they don't do is steal bases, because they don't have to. Carpenter has a .400 OBA leading off, Molina and Craig are above .375.

Their front four starters are as good as any front four starters in the majors, the first three have over 100 K's so far, Wainwright belongs in the same sentence with Harvey and Kershaw, their bullpen bridge of Choate-Rosental-Mujica is rock solid, and their long man, spot starter Joe Kelly is beyond dependable.

This team has no holes, they have 13 games left with Pitt, who is a nice feel good story this year, but don't have the horses to keep pace with this Red-Bird unit, and will be shocked if the Bucco's win 6 out of those 13 left.
The Pirates just don't match up well against them, and the Reds just have too much work to do to get even.

I am seriously thinking about dropping a nickle, and that is a big play for me on the Cards to win the NL Central
at even money.

[konck]

Good stuff