For the 2nd straight year, the Texas Rangers have made it to the World Series. Unlike last year, where unusually strong starting pitching and Cliff Lee’s dominating performance spurred the Rangers to postseason success, this year, the Rangers’ shut-down bullpen and monstrous bats, especially the bat of Nelson Cruz, have led them to another World Series. Their opponent this year, the St. Louis Cardinals, is one of the most storied franchises in MLB history and may have the most loyal fan base in all of baseball. However, neither of those will help them against this deadly Texas squad. What will help the Cards is their come-from-behind mentality and a big boy named Albert Pujols. It should be a very entertaining series between these 2 great teams; below I’ve written my prediction for how the series will play out.
1) Neither Albert Pujols nor Nelson Cruz will lead their teams in homeruns. Pujols only has 2 homers so far throughout the postseason. Even though he has 10 RBIs I expect the dry spell to continue in the home run department. Cruz, on the other hand, was a monster in the ALCS, hitting 6 homeruns, including a Game 2 walk-off grand slam. Cruz was so hot in that series it will be nearly impossible for him (or any mere mortal) to duplicate the performance. Even if he jumps out to a hot start as he did during the ALCS, the Cardinals would be quick to pitch around him, keeping him from as many at bats as possible.
2) Colby Lewis and Derek Holland will switch places in the rotation. This seems like a pretty easy decision to make for Ron Washington, especially if the Rangers lose Game 1, since Colby has been the Rangers’ best starter in the post season and the Dutch Oven has played about as ugly as the caterpillar living on his upper lip. OK, maybe he hasn’t been that ugly, but he sure hasn’t been as consistent as he was in the regular season. It would make sense for Washington to let him start at home for Game 3 and let Colby take on the tough St. Louis atmosphere in Game 2.
3) C.J. Wilson will go 6 plus innings in Game 1. Wilson has pitched 15.2 innings this postseason and allowed 14 earned runs. That’s pretty lousy for a World Series contender’s number one pitcher. The longest he has gone so far is 6 innings in Game 5 of the ALCS, giving up 6 earned runs in that game. It’s time Wilson gets his act together and pitches like he’s capable of, whether it be to support his team or for the free agent money he will be searching for this offseason.
4) Ian Kinsler will be the series MVP. Kinsler has been pretty consistent in the postseason thus far and has already matched his RBI total from last year, with 9. Although he hasn’t really broken out yet, I predict he will, as he has proven throughout the regular season to be the Rangers’ most versatile player. His ability to switch from leadoff man to power hitter and then turn beautiful double plays on defense makes him the perfect candidate for the MVP.
5) The Rangers will win in seven games. Everyone watching this series will need to buckle up and get ready for a wild one. These teams are so equally matched and prepared that it’s hard to see this not going to a Game 7. I give the edge to the Rangers because of their deep offense. When you have monster slugger Nelson Cruz batting 7th and .391 postseason hitter David Murphy batting 8th, it’s hard to imagine that the Rangers offense can’t produce enough runs to get them their first rings.
