Why the St. Louis Cardinals Will Win the NL Pennant
Writing by admin on Friday, 20 of April , 2007 at 5:03 pm
Winning a World Series doesn’t have the street cred it used to.
The St. Louis Cardinals are 14-1 on the futures market to defend their championship. The New York Mets (6-1) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (10-1) are higher up on the food chain, while the Chicago Cubs (15-1) are nipping at their heels. The Cubs? The last time they won the World Series was the same year the first Model-T rolled off the line.
Nobody gave the Cards much respect last year – except handicappers, of course. They saw established value in Jeff Suppan (27.0 VORP) and upside in rookie Anthony Reyes and the enigmatic Jeff Weaver. All three came through in the crunch, as did Chris Carpenter, the 2005 Cy Young winner. Carpenter matched that performance with a 67.8 VORP, but his 15-8 record (sandbagged by 10 no-decisions in 32 starts) kept him out of the limelight in 2006.
The rotation looks a little different this year. Carpenter and Reyes remain, joined by Kip Wells, Braden Looper and converted reliever Adam Wainwright. So far, it’s the newcomers holding things together. Carpenter is battling elbow problems and is expected to remain out of action until May. That’s one of the main reasons St. Louis is plugging along at 6-9 thus far.
Another reason: Albert Pujols isn’t even hitting his weight. His .730 OPS is way below last year’s 1.102 mark, which was actually an improvement over his 2005 MVP season when Pujols posted a 1.039 OPS. That slump isn’t going to last. Neither will Jim Edmonds’ (.503 OPS) or Scott Rolen’s (.576 OPS). That’s the heart of the batting order right there. Chris Duncan (.981 OPS) is holding the fort in what promises to be a breakout campaign. Handicappers should hope St. Louis continues to drag its heels for a while, because when the Cards come back, money will be made.
Category: Online MLB Baseball Betting
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