The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals are used to competing in the National League Championship Series, but the team that advances from here is the one that gets the biggest contributions from key players.
Whichever squad advances to the World Series, it will be the fifth year in a row the NL representative will be one of these two teams. This has led to plenty of postseason experience and a lot of confidence from each side of the field.
Still, important players on both teams have struggled in the early going of the playoffs. These stars will need to turn things around in a hurry if they want to keep playing in October.
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals
After he had a disappointing opening start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, there were serious concerns about Adam Wainwright’s elbow. The All-Star only pitched 4.2 innings and allowed 11 hits and six runs, equal to the amount of runs he allowed in the entire month of September.
Despite the struggles, manager Mike Matheny feels his top pitcher can adjust to his problems. He explained in a recent press conference:
Waino was struggling to find a good feel that Game 1 and that’s why it looked very a-typical of Adam Wainwright. But that’s happened at different times throughout our season and he’s been able to bounce back and figure it out and make it work–not just make it work, be an elite pitcher. He’s fine.
The Cardinals will need him to be an elite pitcher because despite a deep rotation, he is by far the best on the roster. Wainwright finished the year with 20 wins and a 2.38 ERA, with only Johnny Cueto and Clayton Kershaw posting better numbers in the National League.
When he is at his best, Wainwright is a true stopper who can get St. Louis a much-needed win in any situation. However, a bad start could change the entire outlook of the rest of the series. The Cardinals do not want this to happen.
Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals
Thanks to injuries and various departures, Jhonny Peralta was thrust into an important role in his first year with the Cardinals. He responded with 21 home runs and 75 RBI while playing solid defense throughout the season.
After being elevated to the No. 4 spot in the batting order, though, Peralta has started to struggle. In four games against the Dodgers, the shortstop managed just a .214 batting average with one extra-base hit and zero RBI.
While Peralta did have a few key hits in the series, it was not quite what the team has come to expect from him over the course of the year. With Yadier Molina struggling behind him in the order as well, there is more pressure on the shortstop to come through.
The good news is the talent is there and the matchups could lead to plenty of success. Madison Bumgarner is a tough lefty, but Peralta did well against lefties this season, totaling an OPS 128 points higher than against righties. If he gets his team off to a good start, he could have a very good series.
Hunter Pence, Giants
In the field, Hunter Pence showed the ability to come through in the clutch with a great against-the-wall catch in Game 4 against the Washington Nationals, as described by Jayson Stark of ESPN:
However, he did not display his clutch ability at the plate despite getting at least one hit in every game. The outfielder went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and was a poster boy for the entire team’s struggles in this area. The Giants have had the most opportunities with runners in scoring position in the postseason but hit just .176 in that situation.
The only teams in the last round that performed worse, the Nationals and Los Angeles Angels, are watching the rest of the playoffs from home.
This is a bit of a concern for San Francisco since timely hitting was a key to its success throughout the year. The team led the majors with a .259 batting average with two outs and runners in scoring position—led by Pence who had an incredible .404 mark in this situation.
The Giants were lucky Washington could not come through in big moments, but the Cardinals will not give away opportunities. They have to make sure to bring home runners when they can in order to succeed in this series.
Hunter Strickland, Giants
Hunter Strickland earned a spot on the postseason roster thanks to an incredible performance throughout September, pitching seven scoreless innings without a single walk. He continued his lights-out pitching with his playoff debut in Game 1, as Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan stated:
Unfortunately, this was followed up with solo home runs allowed to Bryce Harper and Asdrubal Cabrera. When Strickland faced Harper again in Game 4, the result was the same with a long shot into McCovey Cove.
As a result, Strickland goes into the NLCS with a 9.00 ERA. Jean Machi (4.50) is the only other player on the Giants staff with a postseason ERA above 2.00.
While you can blame a small sample size for these numbers, the important thing for Strickland is to not lose confidence after giving up a few long shots in the last round. He has to remain aggressive against the talented Cardinals hitters and remain a key player in the San Francisco bullpen. Otherwise, his mistakes could start leading to losses.
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