Dodgers News: Cardinals Keep NLCS Roster The Same, Announce Pitchers
Preparation for the NLCS is already underway as the Cardinals held their first workout at Busch Stadium and manager Mike Matheny announced his starting pitchers and NLCS roster.
The Cardinals hoped that Allen Craig would be available for the NLCS after missing the Pirates series, but the ligaments in his ankle aren’t healing quick enough. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright was used in last night’s Game 5 of the NLDS and Matheny announced his first three starters for the NLCS according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Joe Kelly, Michael Wacha and Adam Waimwright will start 1st 3 games for #stlcards
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 10, 2013
Without Craig in the lineup, the Cardinals will rely on first baseman Matt Adams, who hit .316 with a home run and two RBI in the five-game NLDS series against the Pirates.
Matheny also said that the Cardinals will have the same roster as they did in the previous series. Here’s how the NL Central champions stack up:
PITCHERS (12)
Adam Wainwright
Michael Wacha
Joe Kelly
Shelby Miller
Lance Lynn
John Axford
Randy Choate
Seth Maness
Carlos Martinez
Edward Mujica
Trevor Rosenthal
Kevin Siegrist
CATCHERS (2)
Tony Cruz
Yadier Molina
INFIELDERS (6)
Matt Adams
Matt Carpenter
Daniel Descalso
David Freese
Pete Kozma
Kolten Wong
OUTFIELDERS (5)
Carlos Beltran
Matt Holliday
Jon Jay
Shane Robinson
Adron Chambers
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are slated to workout at Busch Stadium sometime today as they still make up their minds about what their NLCS roster will look like. A lot of that will depend on Andre Ethier’s ankle and if Don Mattingly and the coaching staff can trust him to do more then just pinch-hit.
It’ll also be interesting to see if the Dodgers add another pitcher as Hyun-Jin Ryu didn’t look too good in his first postseason start while Ricky Nolasco hasn’t started since late September.
Regardless, the Dodgers roster should look very similar to that in the NLDS as the Cardinals and Dodgers will start the series Friday at 5:37 PST.
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In case you missed it, here’s the home run that sent the Dodgers to the NLCS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJgp8vkSa3k
The empty uniform non manager don mattingly should have had Kershaw ready to start the series. He will likely take another misstep by starting Chris Capuano over Ricky Nolasco in game four, to get another lefty starter in the rotation against the Cardinals who only hit .238 against lefties during the regular season. The team needs Ethier in the lineup against St. Louis’ rightly-only rotation. http://thehounddawgsportsblog.com/