Two Days To Ponder

Much was made of the Dodgers late season slide, and how they backed into the playoffs, finishing the season with a 7-8 record over the last fifteen games. "It's important how you finish" you'll often hear people say. Based on this logic, even though there's no conclusive evidence to support it, a series victory against the Cardinals can't be too far behind. As you can see the Cardinals finished their final fifteen games with a 6-9 record, including a stinky 1-6 run to conclude the season. Preach momentum all you want, but two days off should negate any gravitational forces that currently exist for either team. Wednesday brings a clean slate.

Another topic of recent has been the relationship between a good bullpen and playoff success. David Schoenfield of ESPN goes as far as to state, "that a good bullpen is a better predictor of playoff success than a team's win-loss record or its offense." Anyone know which team had the best bullpen in the major leagues this season? Say it together with me now.

While the Dodgers bullpen was tip top in 2009, the Cardinals bullpen was no slouch either, and is getting love within the web pages of ESPN. The author, Christina Kahri, determined that the Cardinals have the best bullpen in the playoffs based on the strength of their top four "dudes." Nonsense I say! How could she leave out Guillermo Mota?

With that said, a semi series preview courtesy of MSTI.