We know what Andy, Rocket and Roy will give us on a typical day. We have come to expect this - so when it happens we are not necessarily suprised or awed by it. Same goes for LOLidge. But playoffs series victories many-a-time have one or two other catalyst that eventually become the difference. Who do you think or norminate to be our ex-factor this year? Who is going to get us over the hump at least in this series....?....and why? For me, I will go with my punching bag Jason Lane. I proffer herein that he will have a great series and his key RBIs and Runs will be huge for us and be the eventual difference maker.
Lane or Lamb... if either of them steps up on any given game, we should be in good shape to win. I expect Morgan and Lance to be "constant producers"... and I even expect Ausmus to come up with more big hits. He is a big-time playoff performer for this team.
Spot on. I am betting on Lane to do a Beltran magic for us this year. Lance and Morgan will get the respect treatment and that will leave the other role players to step up. Ausmus also does will in these spots as well. It is definitely going to be fun.
I think he was going for someone other than the obvious. That said, I think MoBerg is going to have a huge series. Out of this list, I'm going with Lane as well.
I would've voted for Ensberg if he was an option. He might just be a one year wonder who could be over-matched by superior pitching in the playoffs. That being said, we desperately need Jason Lane to consistently drive in runs. If he has a bad series, no way we win.
was thinking the same thing myself the other day even though it wouldn't be a surprising x-factor like taveras going deep 5 times lol my pick's Lane, he's gotta keep up the good 2nd half trend for us to break some 0-0 ties and would be a huge factor in deciding if ensberg and berkman get pitched around at key situations.
I don't know about "1-year wonder"... when he's now put up big numbers (per AB) 2 out of the last 3 years. Last year, its been documented that he had a sore elbow that severely sapped his power. Two years ago, 25 HR's in the fewer amount of AB's he had was quite an achievement. Now, this year he's been mostly healthy, and he's exploded again.
I think Ensberg's production this year came as a shock to almost everyone on this board. And I doubt that anyone went so far as to predict it. I think it's fair to question his reliability.
I voted Willy T. I'm expecting a Hendersonesque type series where he wreaks havoc on the basepaths and distracts the Braves, Cards, and Yankees starters to no end.
I voted Jeff Bagwell because every time he comes to bat it will be in a crutial situation in the game.
It was a suprise... because 1.) We could have all assumed that year 1 was a fluke, and 2.) Nobody knew about his "sore elbow" at all last year... that story only broke in Spring Training. But, after he went on his tear before the all-star break, it was pretty clear that he wasn't just some "flash-in-the-pan", and that the injury last year must have been legit. If Ensberg is healthy, I do now expect this sort of production from him. Two healthy years, he hits HR's and drives in runs. The one year he doesn't hit them, he's not healthy... I like those odds to rely on him.
what kind of an excuse is a sore elbow though? lol at any rate, ensberg certainly is producing now and right on que :]
I'm going w/ Bags. To have a former all-star, future Hall of Famer as a DH... that is huge. And while the power might not be there, he's proven he can still hit the ball, is a veteran and hence patient player at the plate that can draw the walk, and is smart on the basepaths. What he can bring in the DH role is exactly what he did today... get the clutch, timely hit to drive in a run or two. If Bagwell can continue to do that, he'll force managers to rethink their strategy of pitching around certain players (later in the game) to get to say Everret or Taveras or the pitcher.
Yea... I definitely thought it was weird how they kept it quiet all of last year. I guess they wanted to keep the "percieved" threat out there... but when Morgan didn't have a HR by the all-star break, I thought most teams should have known by then that he either was a fluke, or something was wrong.
I think Baggy is, with his PH. That and he is telling our players stats on the pitchers etc. I heard burke talking about this on tv. They come up to him asking about the pitcher...what to look for etc. He is a walking dictionary.
Bagwell doesnt have a big enough role to be an X-Factor...at least not until the world series. Until then, I gotta go with Lane. Getting production from him would be huge.
Well, Berkmans stats would have been up there with Ensberg if he played the entire season and didn't come back from a major injury. He did hit 11 homers in the last month. So him and Ensberg have to split the power slugger duties for us. You can't leave Ensberg off the list and put Berkman on there. That said, Biggio has to be the man. He's the offensive spark plug. When he gets on base, we're always in a great position to score because you know Willy can bunt him over and then Lance or Morgan can drive him home. One more game like today's by Ensberg, and Lance is gonna start seeing more pitches to hit.
I'm going with Baggy on this one . He seemed very comfortable at the dish today and could provide that experienced bat that we need coming in in critical situations . He seems to be trying to just get hits and put the ball in play instead of trying to crush it in his pinch hits he has had since returning and looks confident in doing so .
