Major Additions: Dexter Fowler, Brett Cecil, John Gant
Major Losses: Jaime Garcia, Matt Holliday, Brandon Moss
Strengths: Rotation, Infield Depth
Weaknesses: Outfield depth
Potential Breakout Stars: Luke Weaver, Austin Gomber, Harrison Bader, Carson Kelly
The Cardinals had a relatively quiet offseason, losing two aging power bats to free agency and signing a pair of new players to long deals. They also swung one trade, which for the purposes of this season, effectively replaces one starter with a younger, slightly worse one. Starting with the offense, Matt Holliday and Brandon Moss are gone, but in their place stands Dexter Fowler, the new leadoff man who set a career high with a .393 on-base percentage last season. Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk will be the other two outfielders. Both had solid debut seasons in 2015, but while Piscotty played well in his sophomore 2016 (.273/.343/.457, 22 HR, 115 wRC+), Grichuk struggled a bit (.240/.289/.480, 24 HR, 102 wRC+). Piscotty is 26 and Grichuk is just 25, so this youthful outfield is one that will be fun to watch. Outside of the starting three, though, there isn't much. Jose Martinez got into a few games last year, and he'll try to get into a few more this year. After that, unless they play guys out of position, they'll have to reach into the minor leagues, where Harrison Bader could be an option. The 22 year old has done nothing but rake since he was drafted in the third round in 2015, reaching AAA in 2016 and likely to be ready this season. The infield, however, is the exact opposite story. Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong, Aledmys Diaz, and Jhonny Peralta make up the starting four for now, but there is plenty behind them. Matt Adams holds a career .455 slugging percentage, and he could force his way into playing time at first base, which would move Carpenter to third and Peralta to the bench. However, Peralta could also take over at shortstop if Diaz can't repeat his excellent rookie season (.300/.369/.510, 17 HR, 132 wRC+), but Peralta is also about to turn 35 and he is not a guarantee for production. No worries, because aside from Adams, there is also Jedd Gyorko, who set a career high by bashing 30 home runs in just 128 games last season. Greg Garcia is among the most patient players in the league, as he walked in an excellent 14.8% of his plate appearances last season to help put up an interesting .276/.393/.369 slash line (111 wRC+). If that's not enough, infield prospect Paul DeJong just hit 22 home runs for AA Springfield last season and could be knocking on the door soon. Of course, behind the plate, we have the great Yadier Molina, one of the top catchers of our era. On the mound, injuries have already bitten the St. Louis pitching staff, but this team is far from down and out. Top prospect Alex Reyes (1.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) will miss the entire season with Tommy John surgery, while reliever Zach Duke (2.36 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) is out until at least September for the same reason. Another reliever, Tyler Lyons (3.38 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) will start the season on the disabled list after knee surgery. Still, the Cardinals have a plethora of arms. Carlos Martinez (3.04 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) has blossomed into a true ace, while Adam Wainwright (4.62 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) and Michael Wacha (5.09 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) will try to bounce back from down seasons. Both are absolutely talented enough to do so, given that Wainwright has ranked in the top five in the NL in ERA three times (2009, 2010, 2014) and that Wacha is just 25 years old with a pair of really good seasons under his belt (2014 and 2015). After missing all of 2016 to Tommy John surgery, Lance Lynn will be back, complete with a career 3.37 ERA. Veteran Mike Leake rounds out the rotation, but in the case of injuries/ineffectiveness, we could see one of the Cardinals' young arms, such as Luke Weaver, Austin Gomber, Marco Gonzales (also returning from TJ surgery), the newly acquired pair of John Gant and Chris Ellis, or even Jack Flaherty, who is farther off but is as talented as any prospect listed above, save for maybe Weaver. Manager Mike Matheny has also toyed with the idea of having former closer Trevor Rosenthal start a few games. Seung-Hwan Oh will be the relief ace, coming off a very successful transition to the MLB from Japan (1.92 ERA, 0.92 WHIP). The lefty duo of Kevin Siegrist (2.77 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Brett Cecil (3.93 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) will certainly come in handy. Matt Bowman transitioned from the rotation to the bullpen last season, and the results were spectacular given what was expected. After struggling as a starter in AAA in 2015 (5.53 ERA, 1.68 WHIP), he went straight to the majors as a reliever in 2016 and more than held his own (3.46 ERA, 1.17 WHIP). Overall, this team isn't the Cubs, but they can absolutely compete in the NL Central.
No comments:
Post a Comment