![]() ![]() Louis could potentially end up with a win total in the high-80s. If their defense is strong, and with a little bit of luck, St. ![]() Looking at the rotation writ-large, it’s the lack of strikeout stuff that is behind the projection that the Cardinals will give up a significant amount of runs. He has better swing-and-miss stuff than veteran Wainwright and significantly better strikeout rate than Mikolas or Kwang Hyun Kim. Adam Wainwright is returning, as is Miles Mikolas, who missed all of 2020 with a shoulder injury.Ģ5-year-old righty Jack Flarhety is projected to be among the Cardinals’ top pitchers as well. The Cardinals have mostly gotten by recently with good pitching, and 2021 they bring back mostly the same rotation they’ve had over the last couple years. Carlson was nothing special in the COVID-shortened 2020, but the upside and pedigree is there Carlson was Baseball America’s number ten prospect in all of baseball in 2020. In the outfield, the most exciting player is 22 year old Dylan Carlson. His ~.300 OBP is bottom-of-the-barrel for most catchers, At this point, we know exactly what type of player he is.a strong defensive catcher who can get the most out of a pitching staff, while also posting offensive numbers well-below league average. The everyday catcher since 2004, Yadi is back for another season in a Cardinal’s uniform. There’s certainly upside in the infield.ĭeath, taxes, and Yadier Molina serving as the Cardinals backstop are all as reliable as the sun coming up each morning. Tommy Edman is the weakest infield player, but even he had a good 2019, posting a 123 wRC+. It’s possible Goldschmidt returns to his pre-Cardinals peak-form, but that may be unlikely considering his age and performance the last two season. Louis has a pretty strong infield cast, with Arenado and Paul Dejong making for a well-above-average left side, and Goldschmidt still performing like an above-average player at first base. The Arenado trade sought to help move their offense from league-average to slightly above league-average. Louis yielded one of the worst years of his career. The addition of Paul Goldschmidt did not garner the expected results on the offensive side of the ball, as his first full season (2019) in St. They have not been anywhere near an offensive powerhouse, but have been fairly successful with a pitching/ defense-first mentality. Recently the Cardinals success has relied mostly on good pitching and good defense. The Cardinals’ addition of All Star Nolan Arenado positions them well in the division, as they gave up little current value, and showed they were interested in actually improving their roster (novel concept). Other than the Pirates, each team has a half-decent-chance to win the division with the Brewers and Cubs projecting to be the close contenders with the Cards this year. Here is the video the Cubs ran on the video boards at Wrigley Field last Saturday before the final WGN-TV broadcast from the North Side ballyard.The Cardinals are right in the middle-of-the- pack in a crowded National League Central. I wanted to soak in as much WGN-TV as I could, cling to them being a part of my life as a Cubs fan for just as long as possible. The game lasted four hours, four minutes, pretty long for a nine-inning game even in this era of long games, but for once I didn’t care. A lifetime’s worth of baseball memories came flooding back to me in one evening. ![]() Others I had not seen since they originally aired, decades ago. In addition to their usual first-class game coverage, WGN showed highlights and photos from their 72 seasons of Cubs television. I’ve said almost all I can say about WGN-TV in my five-part series that concluded Friday, but I do want to add a few more words about the station’s last telecast. He’s meant a great deal to this franchise since his arrival on the scene.Īnd so, too, has WGN-TV, televising their final Cubs game after being the team’s TV home since 1948. If he’s 100 percent, perhaps he, too, should be invited back for 2020. That’s the Strop who’s been so effective over the last six-plus years with the Cubs. In September, Strop has a 1.13 ERA and 0.875 WHIP in 10 appearances covering 11 innings, with 11 strikeouts. Perhaps his hamstring is at last 100 percent healthy. Over his last few outings Pedro has finally begun to look like his old self. The Cardinals scored a run off Kyle Ryan in the seventh, charged to him after he left the game, but after Rowan Wick loaded the bases by hitting Matt Carpenter, he ended the frame by getting Paul DeJong to fly to center. I would not be opposed to inviting him back for another year. Zobrist had a nice night, with the single and two walks. Your browser does not support HTML5 video. ![]()
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