The last of the four division series is set to kick off in Philadelphia a little later on Saturday, and now we've got word on the nine guys Tony La Russa will send up against Roy Halladay:
St. Louis Cardinals NLDS Game 1 Starting Lineup
Rafael Furcal, SS
Allen Craig, RF
Albert Pujols, 1B
Lance Berkman, LF
David Freese, 3B
Yadier Molina, C
Skip Schumaker, 2B
Jon Jay, CF
Kyle Lohse, SP
Here’s a list of the big surprises:
The first thing that does stand out is that Furcal is in there, leading off. Furcal was bothered by a minor hamstring problem earlier in the week, but he seems to have recovered to his normal level of injury-proneness, which is "severe". Nick Punto will be available on the bench should Furcal have something happen, but for the time being all systems are go.
And Allen Craig is starting in right field over Matt Holliday. This was long suspected, but now it's official, as Holliday is sidelined with a finger injury that bothered him for much of September. It's a big blow to the Cardinals' chances:
Holliday: 153 OPS+
Craig: 153 OPS+
Oh, right. So the Cardinals should be okay then. Except for the whole Roy Halladay thing. The Cardinals might not be okay on account of Roy Halladay.
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