The St. Louis Cardinals have been a staple of success in the Major Leagues for many years. They have been the example of consistency in both MLB success and producing valuable MLB players from their farm system year after year. This year, the question marks about the Cardinals lie in top of the line pitchers who need to prove they are healthy, clearly a situation the Cards haven’t been able to find a solution to in the past. Plus, they may have made their defense and lineup better overall this offseason due to a few great moves. St. Louis looks the way they always do going into each season, a team bound for success who knows how to win.
Notable Additions and Subtractions this off-season
Additions
Jason Heyward
Mark Reynolds
Jordan Walden
Matt Belisle
Dean Anna
Ty Kelly
Carlos Villanueva
Michael Ohlman
Alberto Rosario
Miguel Socolovich
Marcus Hatley
Tyler Waldron
Subtractions
Shelby Miller
Pat Neshek
Jason Motte
Justin Masterson
Daniel Descalso
Mark Ellis
AJ Pierzynski
Tyrell Jenkins
Sam Gaviglio
Jorge Rondon
Eric Fornataro
Biggest Strength – Winning Culture, Habit of consistency
St. Louis has posted 85 or more wins in the regular season in each season since 2000 except for one. They have topped 100 wins twice and have also won two world championships during that period of time. Not only does the organization know what they need to do to win, they have also experienced it many times over. This level of performance assures that nobody expects anything other than winning on or off the field. They get respect from everyone on a national baseball level, and winning on the Cards feels like habit at this point.
Biggest Weakness – Possible Injuries at the front of the rotation
On a team so well rounded, it was tough to find a weakness, but there has been some concern about starting pitchers Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha, both of whom are ace-worthy pitchers when healthy. Wainwright was apparently pitching through a lot of shoulder pain through the second half of 2014 and has some sort of abdomen injury, which is causing some stir here in March. If anything stands in the way of his returning to the rotation at any point this year, it could hurt the team's long-term chances of success a bit. The same holds for Wacha, who missed much of last season anyway. There is, however, as always with this franchise, a wealth of young talent ready to go when called upon.
Something to keep an eye on – Carlos Martinez
When is Carlos Martinez going to pan out? Maybe now. It looks as though the Cards might be willing to give Martinez a chance at the job of fifth starter right out of the gates this year. After a couple of seasons throwing mostly out of the bullpen, Martinz has shown moments of brilliance while also showing tendencies of giving up chunks of runs at times. Nonetheless, he is still seen as having the tools that he has always had when he was considered one of the top prospects in the entire organization. If he does not win this job in the rotation, expect him to start the season in the bullpen. Other young pitchers worth keeping an eye on for rotations spots out of the gate and throughout the season include Marco Gonzales and Tim Cooney.
Potential Lineup - * = Lefty, ^ = Switch hitter
Matt Carpenter – 3B*
Matt Holliday - LF
Matt Adams – 1B*
Yadier Molina – C
Jason Heyward – RF*
Jhonny Peralta – SS
Jon Jay – CF*
Kolten Wong – 2B*
Potential Bench
Tony Cruz
Mark Reynolds
Pete Kozma
Peter Bourjos
Randal Grichuk
Potential Rotation - * = Lefty
Adam Wainwright
Michael Wacha
Lance Lynn
John Lackey
Carlos Martinez
Potential Bullpen
Trevor Rosenthal – Closer
Jordan Walden
Matt Belisle
Kevin Siegrist*
Seth Maness
Randy Choate*
Sam Freeman
Injured to start season
Jaime Garcia
Fantasy Bargain – Matt Holliday
Like the Cardinals as a franchise, Matt Holliday has been an example of consistency at a high level on the offensive side of the baseball. There aren’t a lot of fantasy options out there who will hit for both average and power guaranteed. On top of that, he will likely be the all-time three-hole hitter for the Cards all season long. Last year was the worst in his career, and that is the reason he is falling a little too far in fantasy drafts. With that said, Holliday still had a very productive season and showed glimpses of awesomeness demonstrated in past seasons. He is a lock to stay healthy and give a quality at bat every single time at the plate. This man has hit at least 20 home runs in each of his last nine seasons, so do not be afraid to pick him up this year.
Overvalued Fantasy Player – Kolten Wong
While Wong appears to be the present and future of the second base position in St. Louis, his offensive skills are not impressive enough to warrant how high he has gone in drafts. Younger players who have been recently talked about as upcoming prospects usually get taken higher, and that may be happening with Wong. This season is the last real year Wong even gets drafted in most leagues. With all this said, he does have the ability to steal bases on occasion, so it is not like he is worthless. It is just that steals are all he offers. When drafting him, understand that he is probably picking the fantasy team up in the steals category but injuring percentage numbers as well as power numbers.
Conclusion/Prediction
The Cardinals will have their work cut out for them in 2015 with an improved N.L. Central, but no other team appears as the team to beat here. It is still yet to be seen, but it does look like the rival Cubs have learned how to put a baseball team together, and they may soon be a contender for this division along with the Pirates and Brewers, who each made a run last season for the title. Even with all the competition, the Cards should win 90 games and take the division.
Listen to Tyler's interview with avid Cardinals fan Andrew Kemper.
Read Tyler's other team previews.