If you’ve been following along closely enough you’re probably noticing that the Cardinals are now officially the first division winner on our countdown. Hooray! That being said they’re dealing with their own share of problems especially with the loss of their ace, Adam Wainwright. Even with the Cy Young candidate out for the year the Cards have the talent and the experience to regain control of the NL Central.
No. 11 St. Louis Cardinals
Projected Rotation
- Chris Carpenter-RHP
Chris Carpenter // mlb.com
- Jaime Garcia-LHP
- Jake Westbrook-RHP
- Kyle Lohse-RHP
- Brian Tallet-LHP
Projected Bullpen
- Ryan Franklin-RHP
- Mitchell Boggs-RHP
- Jason Motte-RHP
- Kyle McClellan-RHP
- Miguel Batista-RHP
- Fernando Salas-LHP
- Trevor Miller-LHP
Projected Lineup
- 2B Skip Schumaker
- CF Colby Rasmus
- 1B Albert Pujols
- LF Matt Holiday
- RF Lance Berkman
- C Yadier Molina
- 3B David Freese
- SS Ryan Theriot
Analysis
It’s a scary time for the Cardinals, after hearing Wainwright was going to miss the entire 2011 season Chris Carpenter was injured. Luckily, Carpenter should only miss one start but the team still has no idea who the fifth guy is going to be so the rotation’s depth will be tested early and often.
There is good news and lots of it when it comes to the Cardinal lineup. St. Louis easily has the most firepower on offense with a good supporting cast around Pujols. Speaking of Pujols, there’s been tension between the former MVP and the Cardinal front office as they work on a contract extension, some people think this will effect Pujols’ performance, those people don’t know anything and Albert will be as dominant as ever for the Cards in 2011.
Rasmus and Holliday could both be joining Albert in Phoenix for the all-star game this season, and even though he’s getting old Lance Berkman can still swing it. Those four bats give the Cards a ridiculous advantage against their division and should score a ton of runs at Busch Stadium this year.
In addition to the power hitters, Schumaker and Theriot will most likely trade off at the leadoff spot based on the opposing pitcher. The tandem will make the Cards more dynamic at the top of the order and will setup things nicely for St. Louis’ own murderers row.
As far as the bullpen goes the only concern is the lack of left handed pitching, especially if Tallet becomes the fifth starter. Aside from that the unit hasn’t changed much from last season when it was one of the more solid bullpens in the game.
Now we get back to the rotation, if anything keeps the Cards out of October this year it’ll be the lack of depth in their starting five. Losing Wainwright is one thing, but Carpenter struggling to stay healthy as well is a nightmarish scenario for St. Louis.
After Carpenter they have Garcia, Westbrook, and Lohse. All talented, but all unreliable and can’t carry the rotation on their own. It’s going to take a breakout season from one of these arms for this team to live up to it’s potential.
So there it is world, your first division winner of 2011. If Wainwright was playing this year the Cards would easily be in my top ten, but without him they’re just an above average team in a below average division.
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