The Rangers and the Cardinals will face off Wednesday night for game one of the World Series.
Up until this postseason, many were under the impression that pitching wins championships. Most analysts and baseball fans believe that one, maybe even two, dominant starters are required to reach the World Series. This was a common belief given the fact that 2010 and 2011 were labeled “years of the pitcher,” by the media.
However, Texas and St. Louis are doing everything they can to eliminate this notion. In fact, both teams’ starting pitching was down right horrible in their respective championship series.
The Cardinals only had one pitcher who made it through five innings versus the Brewers. The starters combined to throw 24.1 innings, with a woeful 7.10 earned run average (ERA), and 1.784 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP). While the bullpen combined to throw a whopping 28.2 innings, with a 1.92 ERA, and a 0.709 WHIP.
Whatever way you look at it, those numbers are stunning.
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa had a miniscule leash with his pitchers and often used situational pitchers like Arthur Rhodes and Mark Rzepczynski to perfection, while flame-throwing closer Jason Motte waited in the balance. La Russa wonderfully managed the series, but the bullpen providing so many effective innings again is highly unlikely.
Cardinal starters such as Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Edwin Jackson will have to work deeper into games if St. Louis expects to win the World Series.
Texas’ starters were a little more durable (28.2 IP) and slightly less atrocious (6.70 ERA) than the Cardinals’ starters but the Rangers bullpen still logged 28 incredible innings in which they combined to allow just 4 runs. That being said, many of those innings were a product of the game one rain delay, and the two 11-inning contests. Both teams built their strength this trade deadline on their relief pitching. Knowing that starting pitching could be problematic, and not enticed by anyone on the trading block, the Rangers acquired Mike Adams, Mike Gonzalez, and Koji Uehera. All three have helped Texas reach the point they’re at now.
The Cardinals decided to take a huge gamble midway through the season. They traded away potential future star Colby Rasmus, to acquire Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel, and Jackson. The decision has gone swimmingly thus far, as Rzepczynski and Dotel are huge parts of St. Louis’ bullpen, and Jackson is a third starter for the team.
Neither team had a pitcher start the seventh inning in the championship series, and it could also be argued that neither team had a pitcher that threw an effective game during that time. Instead, each manager yanked their starters early, putting more faith in no-name relievers who in turn, performed admirably.
Don’t expect this recipe for success to translate to the next rounds.
Both the Cardinals and the Rangers faced opponents with fundamental flaws in their lineups and were able to expose those flaws with excellent situational pitching. St. Louis and Texas each have strong lineups from top to bottom, and the team that gets a boost from their starting pitching will take this series.
Jackson Alexander can be reached for comment at [email protected].
