The Major League Baseball postseason has, for all intents and purposes, devolved. In the two pennant clinching games, the four starting pitchers combined to pitch a total of 11 innings. The Cardinals' Edwin Jackson, whose team eventually won the game and series, only played two innings. The League Division Series averaged fewer than nine runs per game, while the League Championship Series averaged more than 11.
So where does that leave us for the World Series? Well, the Texas Rangers scored 15 runs in their clinching game to the St. Louis Cardinals' 12, so that's a start. In all seriousness, no one should be surprised by the teams that have made it here. The Rangers are the best all-around team in the American League and looked dominant in both of their matchups. The Cardinals had all the momentum in the world entering October, outpitched the Phillies and then outhit the Brewers.
But St. Louis has hit the end of the road. They won't be facing another senior circuit team in the Fall Classic; instead, they will be up against a real big-league team in the Rangers, and no distracting squirrel can save them from that. Here are five reasons why:
1. Been there, done that
The Texas Rangers will be representing the American League in the World Series for the second consecutive year, becoming the first team to do so since the Yankees ran the gamut from 1998-2001. Since 1970, junior circuit teams are 9-3 in the World Series after having played the previous year. The Rangers have not changed all that much in a year, and six of the team's starters from Game 5 of the 2010 Series will likely be in the lineup tonight.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, haven't been to the Fall Classic since 2006. This year's iteration has only three holdovers from that squad: Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter and Yadier Molina. So while the franchise has been there before, this team has not. The Rangers' experience will undoubtedly play a part in the coming weeks.
2. Don't Mess with Texas
The Rangers finished the season tied for the second-best home record in baseball, and with good reason. Rangers Ballpark can be an intimidating place, especially come October. After dropping their first game of the postseason at home when Tampa Bay's Matt Moore decided to be the second coming of Cy Young for a night, they have rattled off four straight home victories as the crowd rallied behind them with towels waving. While other teams' fans have at times lost their juice — think Milwaukee Brewers fans booing Shuan Marcum or Detroit Tigers fans nearly going silent during Game 5 of the ALCS — those crazy Texans just keep on going at it. Having the best hitters' ballpark in the league according to ESPN's Park Factor hasn't hurt that power-heavy Rangers lineup either.
While the Cardinals have home-field advantage, they will likely need to win a game in Texas to take the title, and that will be a tall task.
3. Forever Young
Remember in February when Michael Young, after being told he would be the designated hitter in 2011, was demanding a trade out of Texas? Those days are long gone. After giving up his third-base job to Adrian Beltre, Young hit .338 with 106 RBI for the season, eventually earning the cleanup spot in manager Ron Washington's lineup. He was even seen playing first base in Game 6 of the ALCS; during that series, Young had a home run and five RBIs. Young is likely to man that position again in the games played at Busch Stadium.
Who do the Cardinals have to counter Young at DH for games three through five? They will likely start Allen Craig, who has yet to play a full season's worth of games in the Majors. Sure, Craig hit .315 in 200 at-bats this season, but he has more strikeouts than hits this October and a meager .222 batting average. The edge here clearly falls to Young, only further solidifying the Rangers' advantage at home.
4. Going, Going, Ogando
What we have learned over the course of this October is that you don't actually need a good starting pitching staff to be successful. In fact, both the Cardinals' and Rangers' starting rotations posted ERAs over 6.00 in their respective Championship Series, and the teams instead relied on strong relief work.
But while there is no real edge in the bullpens — both have been superb — the Rangers have the advantage of being able to turn the ball over to Alexi Ogando if one of their starters gets shelled early. With a record of 13-8 and a 3.51 ERA as a starter in the regular season, many teams in the league would be more than happy to have Ogando at the top end of their starting rotations. But Texas has enough pitching depth to use him in long relief. The benefits have been significant: In 10.1 innings of postseason work, he is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA and a 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio. When pitchers start imploding over the coming week — and let's be honest, in this postseason, they are bound to — Texas has the advantage in the middle innings.
5. Disarming Sir Lancelot
The strength of the Cardinals' lineup is the heart of the order, which features the terrifying trio of Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman. Unfortunately, the last of those three has a glaring weakness in his game — Berkman struggles to hit left-handed pitching, and he was benched in Game 4 of the NLCS when the Brewers started Randy Wolf.
In 2009, the switch-hitting Berkman logged a .710 OPS against southpaws. Last year, that number plunged to a horrific .517. And even though Berkman showed some improvement versus lefties this season, he still hit 27 of his 31 homers against righties with an OPS nearly 200 points higher when batting left-handed.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Rangers' postseason rotation features three southpaws and only one righty. Game 1 starter C.J. Wilson will lead the way for Texas, before Derek Holland and Matt Harrison pitch later in the series. That means Berkman's bat will be neutralized for the majority of the Fall Classic, placing even more pressure on Pujols and Holliday to keep up with the potent Texas offense.
