This has potential to be the best of the first round playoff series. Great pitching and a lot of offense are the strengths for both of these teams. The acquisition of Matt Holliday is working out pretty well, he was straight murdering the ball right away. He's back down to earth since then, but is definitely a key part of the Cardinals offense. The Dodgers had some trouble closing out the season, and Manny Ramirez has looked like...well... a guy that's no longer on steroids, but there's always a chance he'll find his stick in the playoffs, and between him, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier there's a lot of danger for a quick burst of offense.
Cardinals Player to Watch:
Matt Holliday, St. Louis definitely does not regret going after this guy as he has solidified himself as a key part of the Cardinals offense, which really wasn't all that bad to begin with...Albert Pujols, maybe you've heard of him? Let's not forget that Holliday's a free agent after this, so he'll definitely want to use this opportunity to fatten up any potential contract that's on the horizon after this postseason, I'm expecting big things from him.
Honorable Mentions: Ryan Ludwick, Chris Carpenter, Ryan Franklin
Dodgers Player to Watch:
Clayton Kershaw, this kid got off to a great start this season before a shoulder injury hampered him. He's been kinda sketchy ever since. The Dodgers need their pitching in general to come up big and keep up with the superior Cardinals staff.
Honorable Mentions: Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, Manny Ramirez
The Prediction:
While it does have potential to be the best matchup, to me the Cardinals pitching staff is just too good, and the Dodgers have too many question marks at the wrong time of the season. Carpenter, Wainwright, and Piniero are a lethal 1-2-3 punch and just might be enough to get a clean sweep of the Dodgers right back to Mannywood to lick their wounds. Speaking of, ManRam has been in a big slump lately and I just don't think he'll recover. The Cardinals get the edge in every aspect of this one to me, I like them to sweep.
Cardinals in 3
It just doesn't get much more wrong than this.
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