With the Wild Card games over, baseball’s stage is set for an exciting round of divisional series games. Four legendary teams face off in the National League side. No one will be surprised if any of the teams moved on to the World Series at this point. Only five games separated them in the win columns.
Here is a breakdown of the National League Divisional Series:
Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals
Thursday Wednesday 5 pm EST on TBS
Few organizations are top to bottom better assembled than the Cardinals. From scouting to coaching to fan loyalty, there is a reason they are one of the most successful franchises in history. They write the book on winning (and distribute to everyone in the organization). They are the Yankees without the arrogance, the Rays with a budget, the Cubs with a winner for the loyal fans.
Yet, no one living further than 200 miles away from the Mississippi wants to see them win. Why?
Well, they are facing another storied franchise. Albeit, one that has hit hard times. If baseball is a reflection of America then the Pirates are a perfect mirror of Pittsburgh. A decline in population was met with a decline in attendance… and budget payroll. Imagine the alternate reality if Barry Bonds were re-signed. Instead, they have had 21 losing seasons.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, a desire for storylines of underdogs winning doesn’t always work the way we want.
The Cardinals barely missed a step since watching Albert Pujols walk. Craig Allen, Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams have all come into bolster the offense. Leading the staff is Adam Wainwright and his 19-9 record.
“Leading” the staff may be an understatement. Behind him are youngsters Shelby Miller (22), Lance Lynn (26), Joe Kelly (25), Michael Wacha (22), and Trevor Rosenthal (23). Only closer Edward Mujica (29) is a veteran and effective… and he got knocked around the last month. The big question will be how those young arms will handle the playoff pressure.
The Pirates will coming with a double whammy of momentum and experience. Yeah, okay, so it is one day of experience but that is all you need. They are hungry and pack punch. Except for Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates lack a follow-up star but have a lot of pretty good guys who can contribute. As the wild card game proved, they can get contributions from any number of guys, including the mid-season pick-ups of Marlon Byrd and Justin Morneau.
Advantage – Pittsburgh Pirates
I don’t trust the Cards’ young arms. All it will take is the Buc Nation to find the next verse to “Cueeeeeeeeeeetttto… Cueeeeeeeeeeetttto” and Miller and Kelly will struggle at PNC.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves
Thursday 8:30 pm EST on TBS
Since June, none of the negative stereotypes of Dodger fans have been true. They have arrived early, stayed to the last pitch and have been involved with every pitch. The “Magic Castle,” as Dodger Stadium is now known, has been on playoff noise level for months. All in part to the Yasiel “Spark” Puig. Not only has he pumped up the crowd, he has pumped up the clubhouse — his antics and way of enraging the rivals helps too.
On the other hand, the Braves fans have been going to the playoffs so regularly they have trouble selling out. With the Phillies and the Nationals rarely making noise in the division, it has been a relatively boring jog to the playoffs. The biggest news of their season was hot start to ex-plumber, Evan Gattis.
The Dodgers certainly have the bats with everything from rookie superstar (Puig) to crafty veteran (Adrian Gonzalez) to superstar (Hanley Ramirez). But, it will be their pitching that determines how they fare against the Braves. Clayton Kershaw has been a sabermetrician’s dream, with one of the greatest season in the modern era (1.83 ERA).
How good are the Dodgers’ three starters? Here are their 2nd half numbers:
Clayton Kershaw 1.59 ERA, 9.23 K/9, 0.93 WHIP
Zack Greinke 1.85 ERA, 7.77 K/9, 0.98 WHIP
Hyun-Jin Ryu 2.87 ERA, 7.29 K/9, 1.13 WHIP
It is hard to believe Zack Greinke has pitched this well since breaking his collarbone.
Each team will be without one star. The Dodgers lost Matt Kemp to an ankle injury for the rest of the season. The Braves decided to sit Dan Uggla due to lack of production.
Uggla isn’t the only Brave the Tomahawk Faithful would like to see more production from. B.J. Upton joined the team along with his brother, Justin. B.J. finished the season below the Mendoza line, hitting a paltry .184. Making up for it is a quad-hydra of bats with Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, and Justin Upton. If that wasn’t enough, Chris Johnson was in the batting title for much of the season.
The Braves are no slouches with pitching either. Their top trio finished #7, #20, #21 in WAR in the second half. Here are their second half numbers:
Kris Medlan 2.38 ERA, 7.67 K/9, 1.02 WHIP
Julio Teheran 2.97 ERA, 9.41 K/9, 1.09 WHIP
Mike Minor 3.48 ERA, 7.19 K/9, 1.10 WHIP
Advantage – Dodgers
The only advantage the Braves have is home field, which has been lethargic the past few times in the playoffs. The Dodgers come with swagger in a line-up that hits everyone hard. Atlanta’s pitching is good, but the Dodgers are better and they are healthy.
Brian Reddoch is a CraveOnline reporter and rabid fan of all teams Seattle. You can follow him on Twitter @ReddReddoch or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
