Cardinals: Our Achilles heel that could cost us a trip to the playoffs
By Scott Rogust
The St. Louis Cardinals have one flaw that could prevent them from reaching the postseason.
MLB Opening Day takes place this Thursday and the St. Louis Cardinals just unveiled their final roster for their regular-season opener against the Cincinnati Reds. After months of sitting idle, the Cardinals decided to make a splash trade with the Colorado Rockies for third baseman Nolan Arenado. Now, St. Louis is the home to the best corner infield duo in the league.
It is quite obvious the Cardinals are looking to contend for the relatively wide-open NL Central title, but there is one aspect of their team that could prevent them from making a trip to October baseball. That reason is starting rotation depth.
Cardinals: St. Louis already dealing with injuries in starting rotation
The Cardinals starting rotation is headlined by Jack Flaherty, the undisputed ace of the team. Then there is Adam Wainwright, whom the team re-signed to a one-year, $8 million contract. While those two names are set in stone, the team is already dealing with injuries prior to the start of the season.
Miles Mikolas missed the entirety of the 2020 truncated season after undergoing surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his pitching arm. When reporting to spring training, Mikolas was dealing with what manager Mike Shildt described as a “creaky shoulder,” via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A scheduled bullpen session was called off, Mikolas was shut down and was placed on the injured list this Sunday to start the season.
Your #Cardinals updates:
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 7, 2021
Mikolas has had difficulty recovering due to a 'creaky' shoulder, Shildt says. Still on target to throw a bullpen session this morning.
Bader has a 'barking' right arm. Has been doing lower-body work.
Hicks will see a sim or B-game soon.
Kim starts Mon.
Kwang-Hyun Kim is coming off an impressive 2020 campaign where he posted a 1.62 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in eight games (seven starts). Kim pitched in two exhibition games this spring before being shut down due to back tightness. While he did take the mound for a game against the Miami Marlins this past Saturday, Kim joined Mikolas on the injured list.
The depth was already hurting after Dakota Hudson underwent Tommy John surgery this past September, who is not expected to pitch until next season. If the starting rotation continues to pick up injuries, they will have a difficult time making the postseason.
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