Starting Pitching Has Cardinals Flying High Again

Lance Lynn and his rotation mates leading Cardinals comeback

The Saint Louis Cardinals are the most historically successful franchise in the history of the National League. 

That success is not just ancient history. The Cards have dominated the NL Central Division for more than a decade.

The Cardinals have won more World Series titles (11), and more National League pennants (19) than any other NL team.

In this century alone, the Cards have tacked on nine division crowns, four pennants, and a pair of World Series titles to those totals.

But the 2017 season did not begin in typical fashion for Saint Louis. The team struggled out to a 3-9 start over the season’s first two weeks.

However, if opponents were hoping to take advantage of some down period for the Cardinals, that was the time to catch them. It has all turned around, and the Cardinals are now winning with consistency once again.

Saint Louis has now won 10 of their last 14 games. Following their most recent win on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cards are back to the .500 mark at 13-13. They sit just 1.5 games behind the division-leading and arch-rival Chicago Cubs.

Too Soon to Count Out Slow-Starting Cardinals

The Saint Louis Cardinals, perennial National League contenders, are off to an uncharacteristically slow start this season. 

The team is currently sitting at the bottom of the overall National League standings with a 4-9 record.

Saint Louis has won an NL-record 11 World Series championships. In addition, the franchise has won 19 National League pennants. 

The club has captured 13 division crowns, including 10 in the NL Central, and has been an NL Wildcard playoff team on three occasions.

In recent years, Saint Louis has finished in either first or second place in the NL Central for eight straight seasons. They won the division four times in that span, reached the Fall Classic twice, and won the 2011 World Series.

While the longtime arch-rival Chicago Cubs ran away with the division a year ago, finishing 17.5 games in front of the Cards, that was more a reflection on the Cubbies dominant year.

The Cardinals went a solid 86-76 in the 2016 season, and fell just one game shy of both the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants in the race for another postseason berth.

Cardinals Pitching Pipeline Set to Deliver Again

The St. Louis Cardinals have always produced strong homegrown talent, and a trio of pitchers are coming to continue that tradition.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most successful teams in Major League Baseball history, arguably the National League's most consistently successful. The Cards have reached the MLB postseason a dozen times already in this new century. They have been World Series champions 11 times in the modern era, including in both 2006 and 2011.

One of the hallmarks of the organization has been the ability to develop and bring to the big leagues some great starting pitchers. From Dizzy Dean in the 1930s to Bob Gibson in the 1960s to Adam Wainwright in recent years, outstanding homegrown starting pitching has helped lead the way to World Series glory.

The Cardinals missed out on the postseason in a 2016 season that saw the club finish 86-76. After winning the NL Central Division crown in three straight seasons, the Cards finished in second place this year, a distant 17.5 games behind the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

The team wasn't far off from a return to the MLB playoffs, however. They finished just one game behind both the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants for an NL Wild Card berth.

One of the problems keeping the Cardinals from regular season success this year was the pitching.

MLB 2016 Prediction: National League Cy Young Award

Our staff has just released our predictions for the winners of each division, as well as our postseason predictions, including the 2016 World Series winner. 

I released my own predictions for the Phillies in the coming season. Now we begin the process of releasing our predictions for some of MLB’s major award winners.

The Cy Young Award is given annually to the top pitchers in Major League Baseball. Instituted for the 1956 season, the award was originally given to just one pitcher as the best in all of baseball from 1956 through the 1966 season.

Beginning in 1967, MLB began to award one pitcher in each league. Roger Clemens won the award a record seven times during his career. 

Newly elected Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson won the honors five times, including four in a row from 1999-2002. Greg Maddux also won four straight years, from 1992-95.

The only other 4x winner of the Cy Young Award was Phillies Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Lefty took home the honors in the National League in 1972, 1977, 1980, and again in 1982.

NLCS: Cardinals over Giants

Managers Bruce Bochy & Mike Matheny meet again in NLCS

For the last four years, either the Saint Louis Cardinals (2011, 2013) or the San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012) have won the National League pennant.

The Giants in both their winning years, and the Cards in 2011, would ultimately also win the World series.

During these last four years in which the two franchise' have dominated the NL postseason, they met just once. The Giants edged out the Cardinals in 7 games in the 2012 NLCS, rallying after falling behind 3-1 in games.

The two clubs took different paths to this 2014 rematch. The Cards again won the NL Central Division crown for the 2nd straight season, and for the 8th time in the last 15 years. The Giants got in as an NL Wildcard team after finishing 6 games behind the LA Dodgers in the NL West race.

Despite their different methods of reaching the NLCS, both are here again, and that can likely be attributed to their previous recent playoff experience. Both of these teams, their managers, and many of the individual players are used to competing in the increased glare and under the added pressure of October baseball.

The teams met twice during the regular season. Back at the end of May, the Giants took 3 of 4 at Busch Stadium. Then at the very beginning of July, the Cards travelled to AT&T Park and took 2 of 3. So the GMen owned a 4-3 edge in the regular season series. It's my pick here that this series will be decided by that same margin, just as their 2012 NLCS. But this time, Saint Louis comes out on top.

The Cardinals finished as the 3rd best team in the National League, and at #9 overall, in the final Power Ranking back at the beginning of October. The Giants meanwhile finished just 17th overall in MLB. The belief here is that the holes causing San Fran to finish that low will ultimately prove the difference between these battled-tested squads.

Cards' ace Adam Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in baseball today

The difference makers between the teams are team pitching and defense. While the Cards were the 5th-ranked team in all of baseball in the Fangraphs WAR team defensive rankings, the GMen finished just 16th. Now especially missing injured outfielder Angel Pagan, the Giants lineup is even more challenged.

On the mound, the Cards staff rated out at #18, not an impressive finish at all. However, the Giants at #28 had some of MLB's worst-performing overall pitching. Saint Louis should be able to parlay those pitching and defensive edges to a victory in the series.

As for the offense, the Giants 6th-rated offense gives them the old "puncher's chance" against a Cardinals offensive group that finished as MLB's 11th-rated WAR group. But again, injuries have weakened San Fran on offense as well. Not just the loss of Pagan, but an oblique strain has made slugger Mike Morse' ability to contribute questionable at best, sapping the Giants of some clout.

Historically, these are two of the most storied, successful teams in all of Major League Baseball, and in the National League in particular. The Cardinals have won 19 NL Pennants and 11 World Series crowns, most in NL history and 2nd only to the Yankees overall. The Giants have won 22 NL Pennants, a league record, and 7 World Series crowns.

There is star power to be had here, with the Giants led by the hitting trio of Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Hunter Pence, and the Cardinals hitters by Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, and Matt Carpenter.

"The Big Panda", Pablo Sandoval, is a proven postseason clutch performer

On the mound, the Giants rotation has a true young ace in lefty Madison Bumgarner, and they also rely on unflappable veterans Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson. Yusmeiro Petit has developed into a reliable option as well. For the Cards, it's righty Adam Wainwright as the ace, with Lance Lynn a solid #2, Carlos Martinez emerging as a strong 3rd option, and either John Lackey or Shelby Miller also likely to see work.

The bullpens of both clubs can be schizophrenic, with the Giants having changed from Sergio Romo to Santiago Casilla in the closer role, and with Cards closer Trevor Rosenthal alternating between dominant and erratic. The Cards have a tremendous arm in Pat Neshek in reserve. He may be the best reliever on either team. Both clubs have an assortment of options that run hot and cold.

The best chance for the Giants would be for Bumgarner, Peavy, and Hudson to all be at their best through the series, giving their veteran bats a chance to win it with clutch hits. For the Cards, it should be simply about playing to their full potential as an overall team.

Posey (L) and Molina (R) may be two best catchers in baseball today

Perhaps the biggest highlight of this series will be the showdown between two of the best all-around catchers in the game. Posey led the Giants to titles when he was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010 and the NL MVP in 2012. Molina, widely considered the best defensive catcher in the game, is a 6-time Gold Glover and All-Star.

The Cardinals will have the home field advantage here. While I don't think that is necessarily a very big factor in the playoffs, I do think that in the end it will be those Saint Louis fans at Busch Stadium who are witnessing their team in a victorious pileup after a win in that ultimate Game 7 next weekend.