Cardinals Preview

If I know one thing about Major League Baseball, it's that I have no idea what a balk really is. If I know 2 things, though, it's that baseball players always play well against their hometown team. Ryan Howard is no exception. As a matter of fact, I would call him the rule.

I don't know how well players on other teams do against their hometown clubs, but I know that the Phillies are awesome at this.

Chase Utley (Pasadena, CA) vs. Dodgers - .311 BA, 15 2B, 7 HR, 23 RBI, .958 OPS in 38 starts
Raul Ibanez (Miami, FL) vs. Marlins - .333 BA, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .931 OPS in 46 starts
Cole Hamels (San Diego, CA) vs. Padres - 5-2, 2.42 ERA, .186 BAA in 10 starts
Roy Halladay (Denver, CO) vs. Rockies - 2-0, 0.77 ERA, .202 BAA in 3 starts

Those numbers are pretty good and all, but not really much to write home about compared with what Ryan Howard does against his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. In 38 games, Howard has a .372 batting average, 15 home runs, 46 runs batted in, a .477 on-base percentage, and a .738 slugging percentage. And when in the actual city of St. Louis they're even better. .388, 8 home runs, 31 RBI, 1.257 OPS. In 21 games. Say whaatttt?!!

So my preview for the Cardinals is only about him really. I don't really care about Cliff Lee's career numbers against them (even though they are awesome) or Roy Oswalt's numbers against a team he used to pitch against all the time (even though they aren't bad either). All that matter in this series is that Ryan Howard is batting for us. Can we please, please, please get on base for him? This is going to be awesome.

On a side note, my love affair with John Mayberry could absolutely take off in this series if he gets playing time. He's from Kansas City. Although that would favor him dominating the Royals, I think this rule can carry over against a team from his home state. And, let's face it, he had to have grown up cheering for the Cardinals. Who gives a hoot about the Royals?

Game 1: Cliff Lee (2-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (2-3, 6.92 ERA)
Although I said I didn't care about anyone but Howard, Lee is 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA against the Cardinals in 2 career starts. Lance Berkman is the only Cardinal with any real success against him, and that's minimal (3 for 8 with 3 RBI). Luckily for Jake Westbrook, he has only faced Ryan Howard twice, and somehow the hit he gave up was not a home run. Expect that to change now that Jakey is in a Cardinals uniform.
Prediction: Phillies 8 Cardinals 3
Keep an eye out for: a Ryan Howard home run hitting your car. From St. Louis.

Game 2: Roy Oswalt (3-1, 3.33 ERA) vs. Jaime Garcia (5-0, 1.89 ERA)
Howard is only 2 for 8 against Garcia, but one of those was a home run. I am guessing Mayberry definitely gets a start here against a solid lefty, so hopefully we can see him break out against his home-state team. Oswalt has plenty of experience against the Cardinals from his days on the Astros, and he has a 3.19 ERA and has held Pujols to a .313 batting average against him (yes, held him to that. Pujols is a career .330 hitter. He's amazing). And none of that matters anyway. Ryan Howard!!!
Prediction: Phillies 3 Cardinals 2
Keep an eye out for: back-to-back home runs from Howard and Mayberry

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I'm going to give everyone until my next post to submit more ideas for the tagline. I have one in mind right now, but it's one that I came up with myself, and I think that is lame. So please give me more ideas or else I'll be depressed.

This also means that you'll get to see the official High Hopes logo in a mere 2 days! I know, you can barely contain yourself!

I also posted yesterday in reaction to the Braves series, so make sure you check that out. Also, remember to let me know if you want to receive a text when I update the blog. Even if you are a person I already do this for, I want you to let me know that you actually want me to continue so as to make sure that I'm not incredibly annoying.