According to the Post Dispatch it is unlikely that either edmonds or encarnacion will be ready for opening day. i know this means schumaker and probably jrod will be on the opening day roster, but what does this do to our batting lineup? normally duncan would bat second but while those two are out should the cardinals move duncan down in the order batting fifth or sixth?

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/0D7AAA49684950938625729E0065CDDC ?OpenDocument

One of my favorite posts from the last year was the one discussing the difference between power pitching and pitching to contact in the postseason. I was curious to how many strikeouts Cardinal pitchers received in this postseason, compared to the 04 and 05 postseasons. Heres what I found

2004 Playoffs
NLDS    K          
Game 1  5
Game 2  5
Game 3  5
Game 4  5
Total   20  
Average k's per game 5

NLCS    K
Game 1  8
Game 2  6
Game 3  5
Game 4  5
Game 5  5
Game 6  5
Game 7  7
Total   41
Average k's per game 5.85

WS      K
Game 1  3
Game 2  5
Game 3  5
Game 4  7
Total   20
Average k's per game 5

2005 Playoffs
NLDS    K
Game 1  6
Game 2  4
Game 3  7
Total   17
Average k's per game 5.66

NLCS    K
Game 1  4
Game 2  8
Game 3  4
Game 4  6
Game 5  6
Game 6  5
Total   33
Average k's per game 5.5

2006 Playoffs
NLDS    K
Game 1  11
Game 2  9
Game 3  6
Game 4  8
Total   34
Average k's per game 8.5

NLCS    K
Game 1  3
Game 2  4
Game 3  4
Game 4  9
Game 5  6
Game 6  4
Game 7  6
Total   36
Average k's per game 5.14

WS      K
Game 1  5
Game 2  8
Game 3  6
Game 4  8
Game 5  10
Total   37
Average k's per game 7.4

As you can see in the 04 and 05 playoffs the Cardinals only averaged around 5 strikeouts per game. In  the 06 NLDS and WS they greatly increased their average, from the previous years. Its interesting to note that the one series in 06 (the NLCS) that went the full 7 games is the same series where they averaged only 5.14 strikeouts. So even in the year the Cardinals won the World Series, strikeouts played a huge role in their victory.