Now then, let's get into it. Here's a breakdown of both division series.
Starting Lineup
San Francisco is coming off putting up an eight spot against the Pirates. During the regular season, the Giants, who hit .255 as a team, finished 4th in the league in hitting. The Giants look to ride Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, who have both been hitting the cover off the ball this year. Throw in the likes of Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford, this gives the Giants a solid middle of their lineup.
Lets not sleep on the Nationals here either. The Nats finished 3rd in the NL in runs scored and 5th in home runs. Denard Span and Jayson Werth ranked in the top 10 in batting average in the NL. Then take into account that Adam LaRoche led the team in home runs (26) and RBI (92) while Ian Desmond also drove in 91 runs. Oh and the Nationals were able to have the high powered offense without the services of Bryce Harper, who missed 57 games due to a thumb injury but is batting .288 since the All-Star break.
Edge: Nationals
Starting Rotation
Since the all star break, the Giants starting rotation has a 3.67 ERA, which is 5th worst in the league. Their best pitcher in Madison Bumgarner had 18 wins and four complete games. The only problem is he pitched the Wild Card Game and won't be available until Game 3 on Monday. Jake Peavy, who was acquired from the Red Sox in July, has the lowest ERA in the majors since Aug. 13 (1.35) while Yusmeiro Petit is sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.23) among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched. So there is some hope for the Giants rotation, but not much.
Meanwhile, the Nationals could have the best rotation in not only the National League, but maybe even all of baseball. All five of the National starters, Doug Fister (16 wins), Tanner Roark (15 wins), Stephen Strasburg (14 wins), Jordan Zimmermann (14 wins) and Gio Gonzalez (10 wins) each hit double digits in victories. Fister and Zimmerman each finished in the top ten in ERA, while Strausberg lead the league in strikeouts with 242.
Edge: Nationals
Bullpen
San Francisco is certainly tested as standbys Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt are used to postseason baseball. Casilla converted 19 of 23 save opportunities and allowed just three runs in 34 1/3 innings on the road. Tim Lincecum, who is also used to the postseason albeit as a starter, will also be in the bullpen. It goes to show just how deep a pen the Giants have.
In Washington, Rafael Soriano had 32 saves while Drew Storen has not allowed an earned run in 23 appearances since Aug. 5. There’s not a lot of postseason experience among the relievers, which could be a detriment.
Edge: Giants
Bench
San Francisco doesn't have much of a bench. Really, the Giants bench is not that deep, which showed up during the second half of the season when injuries almost derailed their postseason hopes. Joaquin Arias appeared in 100-plus games for the third consecutive season but batted a career-low .254. Most of the remaining bench players are in the postseason for the first time.
As for Washington, they do have Scott Hairston coming off the bench. Hairston is the majors' active leader in pinch-hit home runs with 13. Jeff Kobernus is a pretty good utility player who can also be used as a pinch runner. The rest of the bench offers plenty of versatility.
Edge: Even
Final Analysis
We saw this in the Wild Card game, the San Francisco Giants are the best pressure team, come playoff time, in the league right now. You put them in an elimination situation in October, the Giants will find a way to fight it off. That's what makes them so good, they know what it takes to pull a win out of the fire. Washington was favored a few years ago in this same round against the Cards, but they couldn't hold the fort down. This is what's going to be so intriguing about this matchup and makes it so hard to predict. San Francisco won't go away quite.
Prediction: Nationals in Seven!
Starting Lineup
Despite the fact that the Cards managed to win 90 games this season, they actually managed to score fewer runs than they did last year. St. Louis scored 165 fewer runs than a year ago, finishing tied for ninth in the NL. That's a big dip considering they lead the league in runs scored last season. The Cards main problems? Their batting average with runners in scoring position fell from a historic .330 to a mediocre .254 and they finished last in the NL in homers. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta led St. Louis with 21 homers, while left fielder Matt Holliday was right behind with 20 homers and a team-high 90 RBI.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, have what the Cards had a year ago. Los Angeles has a high scoring offense. The Dodgers had the best offense in the league, leading in scoring after the All-Star break and was at its best in September, hitting .295 as a team and averaging 6.24 runs a game. Outfielder Carl Crawford hit .448 in the final month and wasn't the only one to put up gaudy numbers in the second half. Outfielder Matt Kemp led the NL with 17 homers after the break and had 54 RBI, two fewer than first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, the MLB season leader with 116. Four of the NL's top five runs leaders in September were Dodgers: Kemp, right fielder Yasiel Puig, second baseman Dee Gordon and Gonzalez.
Edge: Dodgers
Starting Rotation
Both teams have 20 game winners in their rotations, but hands down the Dodgers have the best pitcher in the game in Clayton Kershaw. He is almost a lock to win the Cy Young, in my book, and may have to make room for a possible MVP trophy as well. He isn't the only solid pitcher in that LA rotation. Zack Greinke proved more than a capable No. 2, going 17-8 with a 2.72 ERA. He scuffled a bit in August but finished strong, going 4-0 in five September starts. There's a considerable drop-off after the top two, though, partly because of shoulder woes that have limited lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. No. 4 Dan Haren has struggled in his past two starts against St. Louis.
St. Louis is no slouch though. They have the other 20 game winner in the form of 20-9 Adam Wainwright. Behind him the Cards have Lance Lynn, playoff veteran John Lackey and Shelby Miller, who began relying more on a sinker in August and enjoyed his best stretch of the season. What has me wondering is Michael Wacha, who was the MVP of last year's NLCS but has not quite worked his way completely back after missing 2½ months with a shoulder reaction. Or has he?
Edge: Dodgers
Bullpen
Pat Neshek has been dominant for the Cardinals. He emerged early as a dominant setup man and allowed only three runs before the All-Star break. Over the last month, he has stumbled a little, which can be a bit of a concern because he has started to wear down. Fear not though, the Cards have Trevor Rosenthal and Seth Maness, who have also appeared in more than 70 games for St. Louis. Both guys have been pretty lights out from the pen.
As for the Dodgers, they have a solid closer in their pen in the form of Kenley Jansen, who did manage to record 44 saves this year in Los Angeles. But the problem the Dodgers have is, outside of JP Howell, getting the ball to him from the rest of the pen. Brian Wilson hasn't been the same pitcher.
Edge: Cardinals
Bench
St. Louis got a big bolster to their bench as the season went along. Picking up the likes of Randal Grichuk and Oscar Taveras plus last winter's trade for speedy Peter Bourjos and the July pickup of veteran A.J. Pierzynski give the Cardinals a deeper bench than a year ago. Two key bench players in Shane Robinson and Pete Kozm are in flux right now. Still it's a loaded bench for the Cards to have.
Same can't exactly be said for the Dodgers. Adding Justin Turner, who hit .340 coming off the bench was a nice plus. And yes they still have solid outfielders in Scott Van Slyke and Andre Ethier. Other than that, the Los Angeles bench leaves a little to be desired.
Edge: Cardinals
Final Analysis
This is a different scene that it was a year ago when these clubs met in the playoffs. Yes there were pressure on the Dodgers to perform big and it just didn't happen. Now its a little different. They have a healthy Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez. Plus just look at the numbers. Last year's Cardinals team had good pitching and an outstanding offense. This year the pitching is good but the offense can't match it. The Dodgers have good pitching and a balanced offense, making it a pretty easy call.
The Pick: Dodgers in Four!
(Author's Note: Thanks to Fox Sports and EPSN for contributing to this Post)
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