I am enjoying this thread immensely. I love that Rico Brogna and Mike Lieberthal have entered into it. This kind of conversation would never happen in any other sport. I hope we all can appreciate the glory of it.
Going into the 2006 postseason, Scott Rolen was struggling at the plate. I believe he aggregated the shoulder injury from the previous year and he was struggling to get around on the fastball, especially inside. In the postseason, you could see that opposing teams were well aware of this and were happy to work inside and get the out. But, as the postseason progressed, you could see Rolen getting closer and closer to getting around on it. He started by making poor contact for outs, then decent contact for outs, and toward the end of the NLCS you could tell he was almost there. But could he find his way in time to make a difference on the series. He did find it in time, just in time for the NLCS. And he probably should have won the WS MVP for what he was able to do against the Tigers. It was (for Cardinals fans rooting for Rolen, not for Mets fans) a very cool experience of seeing a batter’s journey to overcome a challenge being exploited by his opponents through the progression of at-bats. Conversely, Paul Goldschmidt was being exploited in a similar way this past postseason, and he didn’t show any progression. I am anxious about Spring Training. Will Goldy still be in a funk? Is it fixable, or is this the beginning of the end for the MVP?
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