St. Louis Cardinals
- Record: 15-13 (.536)
- Projected Win Total: 69.5
- Win pace: 90
Over the past two years, the Cardinals have moved on from notable names such as Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Brendan Donovan, making the organization’s direction clear. For the first time since the turn of the century, St. Louis was facing its first true rebuild.
Instead of bringing in proven veterans to fill out the roster, the Cardinals left the door open to younger players and provided a runway to see which would stick into the future. Of their regular nine, only two – Alec Burleson and Pedro Pages – are over 26 years old, both 27. The message to allow competition amongst their homegrown talent was clear.
Jordan Walker was given another chance and has made the most of it: a .275/.357/.549 slash with a 153 wRC+ and eight home runs, more than he has hit in either of the past two seasons. His swing looks better, and it has resulted in him lifting the ball more, which was needed to unlock his talent.
St. Louis also brought top prospect JJ Wetherholt into the mix, and he has hit the ground running. An advanced hitter with great bat-to-ball skills and enough juice to leave the yard has helped the Cardinals atop their lineup.
The offense always had enough talent to see this type of start as a possibility. They currently rank 12th in wRC+, which is better than most had predicted and the reason they have started off so hot. Pitching, well, that’s a different story.
St. Louis currently ranks 27th in ERA with a 4.77 ERA and has not found many answers. Dustin May was the reclamation project, and so far, he has been underwhelming. Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante are showing you they are exactly what they have always been, back-end level starters.
In the bullpen, the Cardinals have found something with Riley O’Brien. He has always had good stuff, but command held him back. Not this year. A 10.05 K/9 and only 0.63 BB/9 have pushed him into the closer’s role, where he’s excelled.
While I think the Cardinals’ pitching will eventually be more of an anchor, their offense is showing signs of sustainability. Once Michael McGreevy sees a few more of his prospect friends join him in the rotation, you could see some fun arms give the Cardinals a fighting chance each night.
