Tomorrow is a holiday in the city of the St. Louis as the Cardinals begin their 162-game season. Here is a preview of the team this year.
Offense: The lineup will be a powerful force for the Redbirds this season. This team is dangerous up and down the order and can beat a team in many different ways. The lineup starts with the electrifying Matt Carpenter. The former second basement has made the transition to third but do not look for his bat to slow down after hitting .318 last season with an NL leading 199 hits. In the middle of the lineup, the Birds will be led by All Stars: Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, and Allen Craig. Molina led the team with a .319 batting average, Holliday had 22 dingers and 94 RBIs, and Craig led the club with 99 RBIs and he would have had many more if not for an injury that made him miss all of September. Matt Adams provided a spark last season with the injury to Craig as he hit 8 HRs in September to lead the club. Now that he has the 1st base position permanently, look for him to pulverize pitching all season long. Newcomers Jhonny Peralta and Kolton Wong look to stabilize the middle infield in an area that the Cardinals have had many different players play over the last 10 years. Lastly, newly acquired Peter Bourjos should add speed to a lineup that has been lacking in the stolen department. If everything goes according to plan, the offense could be scary good.
Starting Pitching: The starting rotation is also very solid. The Birds are led by Cy Young candidate Adam Wainwright who is one of the most consistent pitchers in all of baseball. In his last four healthy seasons, Wainwright has pitched 200 innings and has won at least 19 games in 3 of those seasons. Look for him to continue this success. The number 2 and 3 pitchers are the young guns Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha. In his first full season, Miller won 15 games with a 3.01 ERA. He also had a game where he retired 27 straight batters. Wacha made a name for himself in the 2013 postseason when he won the NLCS MVP after winning 2 crucial ballgames against the Dodgers. The young pitchers should continue to develop and look for them to make an All Star team this year. The number 4 spot is held by Lance Lynn. Lynn has won 33 games over the last two years. Not bad for the 4th starter. Rounding out the rotation is Joe Kelly. The man famous for his rec specks and sense of humor isn't too bad on the mound either. During the Cardinal's midseason slump last season, Kelly helped the Cardinals ride the ship with 5 straight victory. The rotation should be ready to take off this season.
Bullpen: The biggest question mark will be the bullpen. The closer will be Trevor Rosenthal who can hit 100 MPH on his fastball and his changeup tops out in the low 90s. Carlos Martinez will be the setup man as he waits to get his shot at the rotation. His slider is his best pitch and his fastball reaches into the upper 90s. The middle of rotation will consist of Kevin Siegrist and Randy Choate from the left and Keith Butler, Seth Maness, and Pat Neshek. The bullpen struggled in spring training and they are very young so it will interesting to see how they do this season.
Overall: This team is ready to make another deep playoff run. This team should win the NL Central and the rotation is strong enough to go to the World Series again. Anything less than that will be a disappointment.
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