Three Questions Heading Into NLCS for St. Louis Cardinals

Another year, another postseason for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Birds on the Bat take the field for the NLCS Saturday against the San Francisco Giants. While there are plenty of questions surrounding the team and the series, sit back because I’m going to talk about three!

1. Is Adam Wainwright healthy? No really. Since July, Adam has really struggled. He calls it a dead arm and makes it seem like no big deal. He rests and comes back to have a Pitcher of the Month performance in September. See? No big deal. Here’s the thing… He’s Adam Wainwright. The staff ace. It is a big deal. I know that he’s going to want this game Saturday. He’s going to be on. But really. Is he OK long term? I want him to be great during Saturday’s NLCS game. I want him to be great in the start after that and after that and so on.

2. Who will we see in the outfield? Matt Holliday is a definite as long as he is healthy. Randal Grichuk had a pretty good NLDS. Jon Jay did as well. But there is Peter Bourjos who can be a huge asset in that massive center field at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. And? It would be nice to have Oscar Tavares play some. But do you really want him playing right field at AT&T. … I think not. You may see Oscar play some at Busch to give Grichuk some rest. Jay or Bourjos in center. But. Definitely count on seeing Bourjos in center and Jay or Grichuk in right in SF.

3. Which Pat Neshek will we see in the NLCS? Take a look at his numbers in the NLDS:

Game 3 and 4 were great efforts from Pat. I hope that Pat is back! Let’s hope that whatever was going on in September and early in the series are over. Let’s hope that effective relief pitcher who could really throw a hitter off his game … let’s hope that Pat is there for the Cardinals.

Tune in Saturday at 7 p.m. Central on Fox.