MLB World Series 2011: Cardinals' Righty-Heavy Lineup Key to Beating Rangers

When the St. Louis Cardinals host the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the 2011 World Series on Wednesday night, they will have one distinct advantage, and it isn't of the home-field variety.

While playing at home will only serve to help the Cardinals, their true advantage will lie in the fact that their lineup is laden with right-handed hitters. Diversity is usually preferable in a lineup, but the righty overload could give Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson, a southpaw, major problems.

The Rangers employ quite a few right-handed hitters in their own right, but that plays into the hands of Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. Although Wilson is certainly capable of navigating past righties as evidenced by their .223 average against him in the regular season, the Cards can bring waves of high-quality right handers to the plate.

First and foremost in that group is first baseman and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. So far this postseason, Pujols has been dominant in hitting over .400, and he is a major threat every time he steps into the batter's box.

St. Louis also has outfielder Matt Holliday, who has been red hot since returning from a hand injury; switch-hitting outfielder Lance Berkman, who had a renaissance season; and third baseman David Freese, who was named MVP of the NLCS and is hitting over .400 with four home runs and 14 RBI during the 2011 playoffs.

Even if Wilson is able to get past one or two of those players, another one is always going to be on deck, seemingly more dangerous than the batter who was up before him.

Unfortunately for Texas, this is an issue that could persist throughout the series as both Derek Holland and Matt Harrison are slated to get starts as well; both of them being lefties.

Simply saying that Wilson will fail because the Cards are stacked with righties isn't an exact science, but baseball is all about matchups, and in this case, St. Louis has the matchup advantage with several star-caliber right-handed hitters.

The Rangers have an extremely powerful and well-rounded lineup as well, so it will have to come through against Carpenter if Texas is going to stand any chance in Game 1. The Rangers will certainly have their hands full, though as Carpenter has won two consecutive pivotal games for the Cards.

Not only do the Cardinals seem to be a team of destiny after reaching the playoffs on the season's final day, but they also seem to have all the "right" tools to win the World Series.