Marlins or Cardinals?

It has really been an epic battle so far between the NL South rivals. With both teams on pace for 110+ wins, I thought it'd be fun to put them head to head and see where the advantages really lie. Feel free to comment.

C

Cardinals - Jack Sutton

Marlins - Ryan Brumbaugh

Advantage - Cardinals

Brumbaugh has a small edge defensively, although Sutton calls a game better. The major difference is Sutton's offensive prowess. He is arguably the MVP of the St. Louis squad, especially when he plays such an important position. Brumbaugh is decent offensively, but obviously no match for Sutton.

1B

Cardinals - Jeremy Costello

Marlins - Pedro Rijo

Advantage - Marlins

Florida castoff Costello is a solid all-around 1B, although a bit of a slug on defense, but he is definitely no match for defending NL MVP Rijo. Although Rijo has struggled a little in the last week, he is still hitting .332 with a .434 OBP and a 1.000 OPS.

2B

Cardinals - David Williams

Marlins - Chris Sheets

Advantage - Push

The Marlins have the long-term advantage here, as Sheets will be hitting .330 with 130 runs scored for 10 more seasons, but right now, he and Williams are pretty much even. Williams has the power advantage, but Sheets leads in speed and average. Both are superstars, with Williams a legit MVP candidate and Sheets a shoo-in as a ROY finalist.

3B

Cardinals - Joe Jenkins

Marlins - Alex Segui

Advantage - Cardinals

Segui is growing older, but still producing as much as ever, while Jenkins is just entering his prime. Their stats are eerily similar this year, although Segui has missed some time due to injury. Jenkins is more likely to produce at the same level for the rest of the season however.

SS

Cardinals - Guillermo Pena

Marlins - Al Pineda

Advantage - Marlins

This one isn't even close. While Pena is the superior fielder by quite a bit, Pineda has an OPS 300 points higher, definitely worth the 10 extra errors.

LF

Cardinals - Eli Villa

Marlins - Miguel Dominguez

Advantage - Marlins

Villa has been a very good for the Cards, but Dominguez has been great. Taking advantage of the OBP machines in front of him, Dominguez is on pace to hit .312 with 34 HRs and 132 RBI.

CF

Cardinals - Ruben Ramirez

Marlins - Fernando Montero

Advantage - Marlins

Florida management was planning to use Montero as a super-utility man this season, but he performed so well in spot starts early on that he go his CF spot back for good. The 29 yr old is having a career season, hitting .313 with a nearly .400 OBP and 80 runs scored. Ramirez has been a bit of a disappointment, hitting only .260 with a less than stellar .329 OBP.

RF

Cardinals - Tripp Andrews

Marlins - Diego Pineda

Advantage - Marlins

In any given season, this one would be a push, but Pineda is having a career year, and Andrews hasn't quite lived up to his outstanding billing. Pineda is on pace to score over 170 runs and drive in 135 runs. This should be a very interesting matchup in future years, as neither player has hit his projections. Both will be team cornerstones for a long time.

Bench

Cardinals - Dan Frederick, Justin Hubbard, Jeff Harper, Sammy White

Marlins - Daryl McKnight, Brian Lee, Miguel Mercado, Bryant Grissom, Heinie Gilbert

Advantage - Marlins

By a long ways. All those guys on the Marlins bench will be starting within a couple seasons. McKnight is a future MVP.


As the lineups go, that's 6-2-1 Marlins. It's really not by that big of a margin though, as many of the positions are very close, with some players simply enjoying career seasons.

That's it for tonight, I'll go over pitching staffs in the next day or two.