NLCS Preview: St. Louis Cardinals VS Milwaukee Brewers

I picked the Phillies in four over the Cardinals, and the Cards won it in five. With perhaps the best pitching rotation ever, Philadelphia was the easy favorite for the World Series if not the World Series title. You have to give crazy respect not just to the St. Louis pitchers for keeping them in that series, but to the team as a whole for scoring just enough to win.

Milwaukee I picked to win in four, but just like the Tigers I'm just glad I got the winning team right. The Brewers have a great offense and solid pitching, even if it's not as stellar as that Philly rotation. I'm picking the Brew Crew in six.

Ultimately I think the Cardinals will be able to go toe-to-toe with the Brewers in terms of pitching. The difference to me is simply the offensive powerhouse that Milwaukee brings to the table. The Cards have Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and the pleasant surprise of Jon Jay. But Milwaukee, up and down the lineup, is tough. Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Rickey Weeks...and we all know that Nyjer Morgan is coming up big in the playoffs.

For St. Louis to win this series, they're going to need to find a hero or two from their secondary players. Whether that's a veteran like Rafael Furcal or Nick Punto, or if it's one of their younger complimentary pieces like David Freese or Allan Craig. Likewise, if the Brewers can get big games from Craig Counsell, Casey McGehee, Mark Kotsay, Yuniesky Betancourt or Carlos Gomez, they'll have the opportunity to really load up on run support for their pitching.

But hey...I've been wrong before.