GDT 9/8/15-Cubs (Hammel) @ Cardinals (Wacha) 7:15 CDT

[Vidor]

Holy God, that 2006 team was worse that I remembered. We had five different guys start at least thirteen games for us that season and post ERAs higher than five. Even Weaver, who pitched his butt off in the postseason. Wow.

[Vidor]

Our new scouting director, Randy Flores. 1.704 WHIP!

[Cronos]

That [2006] team was so much better than this one.

Statistics wise the 2006 team was better except for the records.. Better batting avg. 15 pts better.. Scored on avg 1 more run per game and they put the ball in play striking out much less of the time- basically 2 times less per game!! Doesn't seem like much of a difference but it is!!

Comparing almost any statistic from 2006 to 2015 is pointless since that was a completely different run-scoring environment. Even taking that into account, though: calling the 2006 team better than the 2015 team is, well, ridiculous.

The pitching of that team was atrocious and the position players a complete hodge-podge scrapped together from nothing.

[haltz]

Better batting avg. 15 pts better.. Scored on avg 1 more run per game and they put the ball in play striking out much less of the time

The 2006 National League scored on average .72 more runs per game and hit 10 pts higher in BA. Strikeouts have risen every year since 1993 and are at an all time high. '

The 2015 offense is slightly worse by wRC+ 95 to 98.

The run prevention is staggeringly different. Again, you're at about league average in 2006 with an ERA+ of 98. This year it's the best of any team in the history of baseball at 142. That's the same ERA+ as an average Roger Clemens year - highest WAR among any pitcher to ever play. 15 pts higher than any Braves or O's staff ever managed. Jeff Suppan's 2006 ERA+ would rank 18th on this roster.

This team has outscored its opponents by 124 runs and it's Sep 9. During the full slate of 2006, St Louis scored just 18 more runs than it allowed. It's not even close.

[MinorLeagueGuy]

I know our pitching had been off the chain this year. The '06 roster had quite a core of players. As previously stated, a different scoring environment. At a glance the roster looks skewed in favor of '06. But this has been a season to remember as well. Nevertheless a bad Sept would crush any hopes we had of cashing in on this ride.

[haltz]

The core was an aging MV3 and the version of Yadi that couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag. Take a second glance.

[fanforever]

[jagtrader]

Holy God, that 2006 team was worse that I remembered. We had five different guys start at least thirteen games for us that season and post ERAs higher than five. Even Weaver, who pitched his butt off in the postseason. Wow.

It also had the reigning Cy Young winner and MVP. Depth matters less in the postseason.

[Vidor]

Holy God, that 2006 team was worse that I remembered. We had five different guys start at least thirteen games for us that season and post ERAs higher than five. Even Weaver, who pitched his butt off in the postseason. Wow.

It also had the reigning Cy Young winner and MVP. Depth matters less in the postseason.

I am aware that Carp and Pujols were on the team, yes. The point is that the starting rotation had a #1, a #4 (Suppan), and a lot of garbage.

Still amazed that Jason Marquis actually got nine starts for the Reds this year.

[pioneer98]

You really should look at how they compare to the rest of the league since the game has changed a lot since 2006.

2015 Cards team stats:
OPS+ = 94 (it's 100 for non-pitchers) - 8th in NL
ERA+ = 141 - 1st in NL

2006 Cards team stats:
OPS+ = 97 (it was 101 for non-pitchers) - 8th in NL
ERA+ = 98 - 12th in NL