RedVerbs

I don't know why you Cub fans are even so concerned about the Brewers? It would take a miracle of epic proportions for them to not make the post season. Just worry about how they do when they get there. I know it's the Cubs and they always suck and yada, but you clearly are making the playoffs.

You sound surprised. He has excellent stuff. I know you guys just follow the Cubs, but you should know that Chris Perez is one of the top 2-3 closing prospects in all of baseball.

Cubs are up there. Though I'd rather face Zambrano, Harden and Dempster, then face Webb, Haren and Randy Johnson.

he was a good prospect, not a guy who profiled as one of the top ten hitters in baseball. and pitchers were really exploiting holes in his swing when he was up with oakland and texas. That pretty irrelevant. A lot of players turn out to be a lot better or a lot worse than they were projected to be. What matters isn't projections but actual performance and possibility of maintaining said performance. Nothing about Ludwick's stats suggest this to be a one year fluke. Even with Duncan, his stats showed a lot of holes and potential decline. Ludwick's lack of history of performing well is not like Duncan. Duncan never was a good minor league player, Ludwick was excellent in the triple A at age 23. Ludwick would've been a known entity had it not been for all the injuries he sustained over the years. I'm not saying Ludwick now will turn into a perennial all-star, but he seems like he can maintain this level performance over the next couple of seasons. There's really no luck involved with his results.

As others pointed out, he made a start in double A, and one in Triple A Double A he went 4 inn, 1 hit, 0 runs, 4 walks, 4 ks In Triple A he went 5.2, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 5 Ks

ERA isn't a great stat either, but far better than W-L

Who said they weren't? Both can easily be pitched to, imo. Neither team is full of world class hitters. One team has the best hitter in baseball though, the other has 3 really good hitters, career wise, when healthy (Ramirez, Lee, Soriano), the other has the best hitter (Pujols), and another good one (Glaus). The Cardinals clearly have more power in the middle of the order, the Cubs are much better top to bottom. Neither team is world beaters. Cubs are better overall lineup. Cardinals bullpen is awful, the Cubs is all right, but it's not like you have anything that stable yourself. Agree to disagree. I don't see the margin in talent being significant. Cubs are better, but nothing dramatic. Who has had a problem admitting this? The Cubs have the best team overall, in a weak league. Congrats. Last year they won 86 games, and got bumped in 3 games. The team added Fukodome who has fallen off the planet, and added a few good pieces, so they are a 92+ win team on paper and probably on the field. Still nothing that's not impossible to surpass is all I'm saying. The Cubs have a good team. Better than anyone in the NL and most of the AL as well. But the parity in the game is at it's peak. The difference between the best team and the 15th best team isn't even that huge. It's not even August yet.

Zambrano and ? Dempster or Harden.....either way neither is a "huge drop off". Zambrano and harden. I do not respect one year wonders like Dempster. He was nowhere near this good ever, nor did he ever show signs. A complete fluke. Same reason I have no respect for how well Lohse pitches. No matter how well either pitch, I will have no fear of them shutting down a team in a post-season game. Can it happen? Of course. But they are not world beaters. They are both mediocre talents having exceptional half-seasons. The problem is alot of fans feel their team is better than it really is. I mean, the Cubs roster is not that talented. There are some very good players, and there are some really awful players, and some overachievers like any other team. The way Cub fans act, you'd swear they have a world-beater at every position, with 5 aces, and a Rivera closing out games. I understand good Cub teams is a rarity so you have to overcompensate when they finally are good, but some posters take it overboard. They act as if the Cubs are some unbeatable powerhouse, when sorry, they are far from it.

The Cubs are not exactly the 1998 Yankees. The Cubs are far from a team the Cardinals can't surpass. Nothing about the Cubs is scary. Your lineup can easily be pitched to, your rotation has two good pitchers then a huge drop off, and your bullpen is very suspect. The Cubs are a upper-echelon team in a league where no team stands out. The difference between talent levels of all three teams are very minimal.

The Cardinals have an excellent lineup, if anything, their pitching will not be as good and their bullpen will be their ultimate downfall. The Cubs have a slightly better team, but you're fooling yourself if you think the gap is huge. Ludwick, Ankiel, Pujols and Glaus is much better than any 4 the Cubs have to offer. Not even an issue. They are far outperforming the Cubs top 4. And it's not dust or none of that other nonsense, it's because they are just better hitters. Lee is all right, nowhere near Pujols Ramirez and Glaus are equals Soto and Ankiel are equals Ludwick is far better than any 4th batter the Cubs have

Hate is the most powerful emotion.

The Cardinals have a shot at the wild card, especially being in the lead currently. However, when you look down the roster, they don't compare to their competitors. Carpenter and Wainwright are both currently injured, Carpenter is questionable to even pitch in 2008, and if he does there's a strong likelihood he won't be at his best. Latest news is that Wainwright will be out until August. The Dodgers(Billingsley, Kuroda, Lowe, Kershaw) and Braves(Hudson, Jurrjens, Campillo, Reyes/Glavine) have a better rotation, and the Mets(Santana, Maine) and Brewers(Sheets, Suppan) are better at the top of the rotation. Pujols is the best player in the game, but Ludwick and Ankiel are not much after him. Ankiel has a flawed approach and has about a .740 OPS since April. Ludwick outhit anything he's ever done, and has fallen off to a .737 OPS in June. Glaus is a quality player, but not spectacular. The Brewers with Fielder, Braun, Hart, and Cameron are more formidable, as are the Braves(Jones, Teixeira, McCann, Johnson), and the Mets(Wright, Beltran, Reyes, Church) and Marlins(Ramirez, Uggla, Cantu, Hermida) are similar. The Cards could still make the playoffs, but it won't be because their talent is the class of the wild card contenders. Yes, but I was just speaking for if they are at full strength, I would fear the Cardinals more then the Mets/Brewers/Braves. I mean, of course Ludwick and Ankiel have flaws, but so does Reyes, and Church has never been this good either (and never has he ever been projected to be, which makes him much more likely a fluke, unlike Ludwick and Ankiel who have legit power). The Brewers out of all the teams you listed have the more formidable lineup, but Carpenter, Wainwright, Wellemeyer and Pinerio is far better then Ben Sheets, Suppan, Parra, Dave Bush. To me, anyway. The Dodgers have a talented rotation but the lineup is the pits. And you'd really have more confidence in facing Atlanta then the Cardinals? The Braves have always been pushovers.

Ha. I didn't even notice that. Apologies.

??? The Cardinals run differential is +28

None of the other potential wild card teams are better then the Cardinals. None. I know it hurts to see that, but it's the truth. When they are healthy, they have a 1-2 of Wainwright and Carpenter, they have Pujols, Ankiel (not great, but a lot of power), Ludwick (maybe fluky, but he always had a lot of potential for power. Look at his 90% mark on PECOTA), Glaus (Heating up, not great, has power), and probably Rasmus before September. That's better then the Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Marlins, Braves, etc...

The only two players playing really over projections on the Cardinals are Ludwick and Wellemeyer. And even those aren't crazy. While nothing in his past would allow you to think Ludwick would be this good, I feel his projections were lowered do to injuries he's had and lack of playing time, but he always had a lot of power. Wellemeyer does have talent, and Dave Duncan is a tremendous pitching coach. If this was someone who throw slop up at the plate, it would be different, but he has good stuff.