Cardinals Wild Card series starters raise serious questions

As capable as the St. Louis Cardinals are, do they have the pitching necessary to make a deep playoff run?

The Cards announced their first two starters of the postseason for their series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Philly, a power-heavy lineup, could make any opposing pitcher’s life a living hell come playoff time.

St. Louis will start Jose Quintana in Game 1, and Miles Mikolas in Game 2. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, two of the Phillies best hitters, are 1-of-12 career against Quintana, thus prompting this decision.

Quintana was a trade-deadline acquisition from Pittsburgh. While he as expected to be a solid addition, by no means did St. Louis see him as a possible Game 1 starter in the playoffs, or a postseason ace. Yet, Quintana finished with a 3-2 record and 2.01 ERA in 12 Cardinals starts. In his career, Quintana has made four postseason appearances, pitching to a 5.40 ERA.

Cardinals face pitching questions come playoff time

Quintana has performed admirably thus far, and this is by no means a shot at him or Miles Mikolas, who will take the bump Game 2. However, Mikolas has a complicated injury history himself. In his brief playoff history, Mikolas has posted a 1.50 ERA in three appearances, so at the very least he’s consistent in that department.

Nonetheless, these kinds of questions shouldn’t be asked in regards to a Cardinals pitching staff that has Adam Wainwright and Jack Flaherty at their disposal. Even Jordan Montgomery has pitched well!

Yet, Wainwright has what he’s referred to as a “dead arm” which takes him out of the running for a top-2 playoff rotation spot. Flaherty has ace potential, but hasn’t been consistently healthy in quite some time.

St. Louis has a rotation full of decent-to-pretty-good talent. It’s enough to keep them in games, but is it enough to defeat the Dodgers, Braves and Mets?