The future is now for the St. Louis Cardinals
Not making the playoffs in 2017 didn’t sit well with the St. Louis Cardinals and they went out and got a big bat to change the 2018 outcome.
One of the premier franchises in Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals are primed to get back into the postseason after a disappointing finish in 2017. they finished third in the N.L. Central behind the division winning Cubs and upstart Brewers. Outfielder Tommy Pham broke out in a major way but the rest of the lineup never seemed to settle in. Between injuries and under performance, manager Mike Matheny juggled through a lot of different lineups. Perhaps that changes a little bit this year.
The outfield is set on a daily basis with Pham, Dexter Fowler and new Cardinal Marcell Ozuna. St. Louis plucked Ozuna out of Miami and he’s coming off a career season. The Cardinals clearly wanted to upgrade the offense as they were also linked to Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson at different points during the winter. The infield looks pretty solid with Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong, Paul DeJong and Jedd Gyorko around the diamond. Jose Martinez is coming off a mini-breakout of his own and should rotate through some different spots through the season. Veteran Yadier Molina will once again do the bulk of the catching for the Red Birds.
The rotation seems like a pretty safe bet to look vastly different in September than it does now. Carlos Martinez is the best on the staff and the Cardinals will enter the year with mainstays Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright involved. However, a bevy of young pitchers are close to being major league contributors. Luke Weaver might start the season in the big leagues and he could be joined by Alex Reyes and Jack Flaherty in short order. The bullpen doesn’t look like the strongest unit on paper, but the Cards are one of those teams that always seems to find arms to scrape together and make it work. Luke Gregerson and Brett Cecil are the most known commodities.
Central. St. Louis Cardinals. 3. player. 32. <ul><li><strong>2017 Record:</strong> 83-79, 3rd in the Central</li><li><strong>Projected 2018 Finish:</strong> 3rd in the Central</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><strong>Key Additions:</strong> Marcell Ozuna, Luke Gregerson</li><li><strong>Key Losses:</strong> Lance Lynn, Seung-hwan Oh, Trevor Rosenthal, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty</li></ul>. National League
Best Case Scenario
Ozuna repeating what he did last year would provide the Cards with the big bat in the middle of the order they have been lacking. Fowler, Pham, Carpenter, and Ozuna would make for a difficult top of the lineup for opposing teams and the bottom half would still be quite good with DeJong, Gyorko, Wong, and Molina. That offense has plenty of potential to be among the top 10 in the league in runs, average and on base. That makes up for the fact that they’re not exactly overflowing with power.
The trio of Reyes, Weaver, and Flaherty could really make this rotation formidable if they hit their potential. There aren’t a lot of teams in the position of having three young and promising arms that are just about major league ready. Combine that with Martinez sitting at the top of the rotation and suddenly it’s pretty hard to poke too many holes in St. Louis. Sure, the bullpen might be a step behind but the rest of the team can cover that wart without much issue.
Worst Case Scenario
Relying on a trio of starting pitchers that has 163 and two/thirds of professional experience isn’t exactly the safest proposition. Reyes is coming back from Tommy John surgery and is a relative unknown at this point, especially. Make no mistake, the Cardinals are going to need pitching help at some point. Wainwright is far over the hill and Mike Mikolas hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors since 2014. The rotation could crumble in an instant. The bullpen could also be as bad as it appears on paper, blowing any late lead the Cardinals might have.
The lineup could downturn in a hurry as well. Pham, DeJong, and Jose Martinez all have limited success. Carpenter hasn’t been healthy the past couple of seasons and isn’t getting any younger. he’s also already having back issues. Ozuna could be a fairly big flop as well. There seems to be a perception that he’s going to a much better offense but that’s not entirely true. The Marlins scored more runs last year and it’s important to remember Ozuna benefitted from batting next to Stanton. There’s no such protection in the Cardinals lineup. The offense around him is a push, at best if not slightly worse.
Team MVP
Carlos Martinez – SP
Martinez saw his ERA climb little bit in 2017 but saw progress in many other areas. He also crossed the 200 innings pitched mark for the first time in his career and another 200 innings would be a major boost for the Cardinals this year. On a team full of questions about whether 2017 was real or a fluke, Martinez is going to be a rock in St.Louis every fifth day and ease the pressure on the young guns as they break into the majors. The Cardinals ace should make another All-Star game and could be in the N.L. Cy Young conversation if everything goes right.
Prediction
The Cardinals are a tough team to figure out. The level of variance is likely higher than most are realizing at this point but they should be in contention for a Wild Card spot throughout the season. The offense should improve with Ozuna but the fate of the Cardinals could be tied to three arms and how they fare this season. St. Louis is one of the teams that always seem to figure out a way to field a competitive team. 2018 should be no different and the fight for the postseason should go deep into September.