I think this team is in a very interesting position here at the end of the regular season. The offense is super hot right now, but the pitching is obviously not doing so well. The middle and close relief seemed to make some small improvments over the last series, but they're still not playoff-ready in my eyes.
So, on that note, how do you guys feel about this post season?
I'm feeling supremely confident against these Padres strictly because our offense is so hot right now. I think we can easily ride the bats through this first series.
What I'm hoping will happen is that the arms will get a little confidence with these revitalized bats behind them, and use this series as a warm-up for the NLCS.
Is there anyone here who thinks that Atlanta, with all of their youth and inexperience, can actually beat Roger, Oswalt, and Pettite in a short series?
If we beat Peavy tomorrow and Carp reappears then I don't think we can be stopped. Pettitte is the only SP that Houston has that scares me. For some reason the Cards can't hit lefty junk. Don't get me wrong Oswalt and Clemens are great but I have supreme confidence in the bats.
I'm with pogo. It seems that every time I saw them against Clemens or Oswalt, it was either the offense or the pitching that stepped up and got it done. I didn't see them face Pettite too many times, but against the other two it was either Mulder or Carpenter pitching a gem or the offense getting off to a quick start. I'm not scared about the Pads at all, should be a good tune-up for the real competition. As I'm sure you guys have noticed, I'm not big into playing up the Cards around here, so that oughta tell ya something.
Overall, they're still the favorites to take the NL in pretty much everyones mind I imagine.....well except for those dilusional Padre fans of course. The only thing that really has me worried is which pitching staff will show up. The starters have seemed to be a little more hit and miss than most of the season and the bullpen, while coming around, doesn't inspire the same confidence it did last year. All things considered, I still think this team is better than last year if for no other reason than it is much more balanced and has arguably two aces instead of the zero of a year ago. I'm just hoping the AL all beats up on each other with long, drawn out series, especially if the Halos (because of the pitching and small-ball) or Yankees (because they are pretty hot right now) make it through. All in all if they make it back to the series and put up a little more of a fight than last season, I guess I'd be satisfied, but not particularly happy of course.
al reyes is out for the playoffs (and most/all of next year) which really hurts. not only was he effective, but he was good against lefties which was good insurance since ray ray has been getting hit pretty hard. also one of the few guys we could bring in out of then pen to get a strikeout. we always seem to get one big injury before/during the playoffs---matheny, rolen, carpenter, now reyes. hell even vince coleman got trapped under a tarp. hopefully carp and mulder can go deep into games but i dont feel particularly good about morris or marquis or whoever is pitching so losing a good bullpen guy hurts.
Pogotheostrich wrote:If we beat Peavy tomorrow and Carp reappears then I don't think we can be stopped. Pettitte is the only SP that Houston has that scares me. For some reason the Cards can't hit lefty junk. Don't get me wrong Oswalt and Clemens are great but I have supreme confidence in the bats.
I'm not comfortable with using so much of our bullpen today. I understand that Carp didn't go long by his standards, so relievers were necessary. However, in a series longer than 3 games, I think it is of utmost importance that you keep your relievers from being overexposed early because you lose the element of "surprise" later in the series as the opposing team's hitters get used to the relievers and their styles.
I understand that LaRussa is just trying to get some of these guys a little non-pressure, post season experience, but I would have been happier with Marquis pitching the 7th, 8th, and maybe even the 9th.
Pogotheostrich wrote:No one threw alot and there is a day off tomorrow.
My only concern is that they will become overly familiar with each pitcher, but given that they've probably already faced them at least once this season and that it's only a 5 game series, that's a minor concern at best. I just hope Carpenter is alright. I heard that on the way home from school, and my first thought was are you f---ing kidding me? Are you F---ING kidding me?!?
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by StlSluggers » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:15 pm 
