Yesterday, we took at look at why each of the American League teams will fail to win the World Series. Today, let’s turn our attention to the miserable bunch in the National League. From curses to lucky streaks to injuries, each of these teams can be swept away in an instant.
San Francisco Giants
Because they are not a douche California Prius, so being low on gas is a bad thing.
The Giants only win in even years, including 2010 and 2012 and this is 2014 so they are destined to win this year, right? Grow up. Baseball doesn’t work like that, son.
The Giants have massive holes in the back of the rotation. There is no one there I would want to start an important game, including Tim Hudson. In case you only remember his first five months, take a look at his September ERA. It is eight point seven two. That is so bad it has to be written out.
The Giants were 56-35 with Angel Pagan and 29-37 without. And Pagan is out.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Because maturity matters in the playoffs.
The Dodgers’ downfall will be their bullpen. It is overworked and over tired. Beyond Kasey Jensen, the rest of the bullpen is shaky at the best of times. The Cardinals can roster five lefties and the Dodgers don’t have a decent response. Actually, “decent” would be an improvement over Paco Rodriguez.
On the offensive side of the ball, the risk of Yasiel Puig biting on any brawl bait and getting himself in trouble is high. There is also the gap of offensive threat from their bottom of the order. Sure, Dee Gordon is fast, but so are the arms of Buster Posey, Wilson Ramos and Russell Martin — all are not easy to steal on.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Because scrappy isn’t the same as champion caliber.
MVP? McCheck. Supporting cast of great role players? Starling Marte, Russell Martin, Neil Walker, say check. A great closer? Melancon brings the check. Quality 1-2 punch? Ummm… sure, okay, I will allow a check. Back-end starters? Uh oh… [insert game over noise].
Beyond Lirano and Cole, the Pirates really lack a reliable arm they can feel good about. Of course, even though they don the black, they won’t own the Wall that is Madison Bumgarner. In other words, if the Bucs can get to a longer series they would have a decent chance with a great deal of luck. On the other hand, the Nats, Dodgers, and Cardinals won’t need luck to beat Pittsburgh.
St. Louis Cardinals
Because no team can get every break come October.
Also, Wacha Wacha Wacha is less clever this year and more of a sad joke. Also, Shelby Miller has been quite bad. Trevor Rosenthal and Pat Neshek stopped flying high. Even Waino looked pedestrian this year. The Nats and Dodgers will tee off this staff. Pitching is supposedly the Cards strength.
Allen Craig is gone. Matt Holiday is having a down year. Matt Carpenter’s luck is down, as evidenced by his lowered BABIP and hits with RISP. Maybe, just maybe, the Cards get lucky with another playoff run fueled by timely hitting, a rookie arm coming out of nowhere and the other team choking. Yeah… this is not the year the St. Louis folks go crazy.
Washington Nationals
Because streaks should be respected and curses matter.
The Nationals have a little tradition called the Presidents’ Race where mascoted versions of famous US Presidents race around the field. Since the beginning, the team never let Teddy Roosevelt win… until the end of the 2012 season. A title contender team fell apart in the ensuing playoffs and then they fell flat last year. Are we witnessing the beginning of a curse? Maybe…. No one should mess with Teddy.
High expectations have been placed on the Nats as the favorites to win it all. So what could go wrong? From Strasburg to Soriano, their pitchers have been inconsistent at times. If two bad starts occur early on, will the Nats struggle having to come from behind? Probably.
My pick for the team least likely to fail? The Nationals have very few blemishes.
Brian Reddoch is a CraveOnline reporter and rabid fan of all teams Seattle. You can follow him on Twitter @ReddReddoch or “like” CraveOnline Sportson Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
