The OTHER Wild Card Matchup: Dodgers vs. Cardinals
Understandably, everyone is excited about tonight’s matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees. As a Red Sox fan, I’m much more interested in that matchup than maybe any other that comes up this postseason. That said, the NL Wild Card Matchup being Dodgers vs. Cardinals should also be a good one. Let’s take a look at the team’s going into Wednesday’s game.
St. Louis Cardinals
The visiting team for the NL Wild Card game is red hot, and not just because of their color scheme. After seemingly being the odd man out of the Wild Card race, the Cards rattled off 17 straight wins in September, with a total record of 23-7 in that month. Led by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado on the corners and a breakout season from outfielder Tyler O’Neill on offense, this can be a tough team to pitch against, even despite a bad year from shortstop Paul DeJong.
Starting on the mound for the Cardinals is longtimer Adam Wainwright, who is having quite the resurgence for the team. While he was good in the limited 2020 season, no one was expecting such a return to form after how his 2016-2019 had gone. After going 17-7 with a 3.05 ERA, he has been the ace for the team this year, and he’ll get a chance to spur his team to the Division Series on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Dodgers
After winning 106 games, you wouldn’t think this team would be playing in a one game elimination, but thanks to a simply incredible year from the San Francisco Giants, here they are. The 2020 World Series winners are stacked all around, and there’s no clear weakness in their lineup, outside of Cody Bellinger. He could really use these playoffs to wipe away his awful season. Despite playing in the Wild Card, they’re still the favorites to win it all, and for good reason.
Their pitching, as well, is quite strong. Max Scherzer is expected to start, and in his 11 games with the Dodgers this year he posted an 1.98 ERA. Despite the Cardinals’ chops at the plate this year, runs will likely be hard to come by for them. The bullpen should be able to hold it together if he gets in trouble, with Kenley Jansen, Blake Trinien, Joe Kelly, and Phil Bickford all with an ERA below 3.
Conclusion – Dodgers vs. Cardinals:
Anything can happen in a single game playoff, but there is also a clearly better team in my opinion in this Dodgers vs. Cardinals matchup. If the Dodgers do not win this game, they have to consider this season a disappointment. There’s no way they shouldn’t be able to to make at least the NLCS with this roster. But if a couple things fall the other way, they’ll find themselves in trouble against this hot Cardinals squad. They can’t be nonchalant about this game.
Featured Image Source: Dodgersbeat.com
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– Pat Shuman (@PShu1996 on Twitter) Check out my other articles here!