St Louis Cardinals

The 20-inning pitchers duel that the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets endured on Saturday was one of the craziest games I have ever seen in my life. And that is no exaggeration.

While I was disappointed, and even mad about the loss directly afterwards—as a fan, I had to appreciate what I had just witnessed.

Thoughts were flying through my mind at a million miles per second. Some entering and exiting my head before I could even try to rationalize them.

Ubaldo Jimenez's no-hitter against Braves was magical. The 20-inning affair between the Cardinals and Mets was just plum-crazy.

At the early stages of the fantasy baseball season, the owner must not just notice when a player is struggling, which can easily be achieved by looking at box scores, hit less at-bats (for hitters) and inflated run totals (for pitchers).

It was a great night for St. Louis on Friday as the Cardinals defeated the Brewers 5-4 with a little help from an unlikely source.

Nick Stavinoha.

Being placed in a high pressured situation with two outs in the ninth inning, the Texas native blasted a two-run, pinch-hit home run that gave the Cardinals the lead.

It was his first plate appearance of the season.

Everybody dreams about it when they are a kid. In the ninth inning down by a certain amount of runs and one swing of the bat can win the game.

It was a dream that Stavinoha cherished.

It was a pitchers duel in Cincinnati on Thursday as Bronson Arroyo and Brad Penny squared off against one another.

However, St. Louis' bullpen imploded in the late innings as the Reds defeated the Cardinals 2-1.

Jason Motte surrendered the death nail as Johnny Gomes blasted a walk off home run to stem the tide of the series and prevent a sweep.

Newly-acquired pitcher Brad Penny spoke of how tough the loss was and acknowledged the toughness of his adversary on the mound.

Adam Wainwright is coming off a season where he posted career bests in wins, earned run average, strikeouts, games started, and innings pitched.

The scary thing for opponents is that Wainwright didn’t just beat his career bests last season—he shattered them.

His previous best in wins, 14, was replaced with a National League leading 19; his best ERA, 3.12, was replaced by a 2.60 ERA; his career best strikeout total of 136 was upped to 212, and his previous career high of 202 innings pitched was increased to 233, which was also tops in the NL.

Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.

St. Louis Cardinals fans know these players well as the heart of the order for the Redbirds, and for good reason. They've consistently produced year in and year out with offensive numbers and defensive prowess.

Baseball fans might want to start looking for Colby Rasmus in that role as well.

The young outfielder crushed his first home run of the 2010 season yesterday, and looks poised to become part of something special for St. Louis.

With the first game of the MLB season tonight and the full slate kicking off tomorrow, it's time for everyone to make their picks for the season.

NL East: Phillies

The Phillies are the consensus choice to win the National League East for the fourth year in a row. Roy Halladay could win 25 games with that offense backing him up. Their lineup is still one of the best in baseball, and their rotation is good enough to get them back on top of the division.

The Major League Baseball season officially begins when the Boston Red Sox renew yet another round of hostilities with the New York Yankees this Sunday.

To kill some time before the 162-game euphoria begins—and as a primer for my remaining fantasy baseball drafts—I figured I'd take a crack at each of the Show's six divisions.

After a middling 2008 season (86-76, fourth place), the Cardinals rebounded nicely in 2009 to win the NL Central with a 91-71 record, thanks in large part to the mid-season acquisition of LF Matt Holliday. While the Redbirds managed to re-sign Holliday this off-season, the club lost several other of its key contributors this winter.

Whether the team will be able to compete with the Philliles for the pennant will be largely dependent upon how well the replacements perform.

Key Additions: P Rich Hill and P Brad Penny