The Three R’s: Replacements, Rookies, and RISP. That’s the story of this pennant-winning season.
Replacements: Guys go down, other guys step up to take their place, and do it quite well. Guys who needed to be replaced this season at some point: C. Carpenter, Motte, Boggs, Garcia, Westbrook, Mujica, Craig. Guys who stepped in and replaced them: Miller, Mujica, Rosenthal, Kelly, Wacha, Rosenthal, Adams. All in-house guys, too.
Rookies: Ten rookies on this postseason roster. Ten! Adams, Kozma, Chambers, Wong; Miller, Wacha, Maness, Siegrist, Martinez, Rosenthal. And other than Chambers and Wong, these rookies have played major roles in the team getting this far. I have never seen such a collection of great young pitching arrive at the same time on the same team (to go along with the staff ace, the veteran Wainwright).
RISP: Timely hitting with Runners In Scoring Position. Craig, Holliday, M. Carpenter, Beltran, Molina—five of the top six RISP guys in the league are on the Cardinals.
YOU CAN'T TAKE A THIRD STRIKE IN THAT SITUATION