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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Oh, and that was a HELL of a series by the Cardinals. The Braves were really on a roll and running down the Mets. And the Cardinals have played a fair number of lousy teams of late.
So going out there and getting themselves up to speed for a quality opponent while winning the series after losing the first game is REALLY impressive. And the way they won game 3 was doubly so - Helsley is their bullpen hammer and a lot of teams will slump their shoulders if he gives it up like that. Especially after they get two runners on with Goldy and Arenado up and Minter carved up both of them.
O'Neill coming up huge there is massive. He could be the pivot point that can make this a genuinely dangerous team. If he can play at that 5 WAR level he played at last season and provide a genuinely dangerous 3rd bad in the order, the Cardinals are a tough out. Especially if Noot is a legit leadoff hitter.
Still not much top end in the rotation (gonna be hard to slip past the Mets, for instance) and maybe a dynamic bullpen arm away from being playoff ready. But if Flaherty can come back healthy and maybe someone like Hudson can play up in relief, that will help cover those holes.
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Pitching just scares me. Especially against the teams they're gonna have to beat.
I hate relying on Flaherty so much, especially the way that's gone, but they need him to come on quick here.