Well, the Cardinals, much to everyone’s surprise, won the Fall Classic last year, topping the Tigers in five games. No one whose opinion is worth anything on the subject is going to argue that the Cardinals were baseball’s best team last year. So, have they improved or gotten worse, and most importantly, how are the Phillies going to fare against Pujols and the rest of the gang? The Phillies tied their series with St. Louis last year as each team took three games a piece. Can more of the same be expected? Let’s take a look. As always, check out this or this to take a look at the Phillies.
Cardinals’ Offseason:
Signed Adam Kennedy for three years, $10 million
Signed Kip Wells for one year, $4 million
Signed Chris Carpenter to five-year extension, $63.5 million
Agreed to terms with Mark Mulder for two-years, $13 million
Cardinals Starting Rotation:
Chris Carpenter
Kip Wells
Anthony Reyes
Adam Wainwright
Braden Looper
Closer: Jason Isringhausen
Question Marks: Mark Mulder
Cardinals Lineup:
1B Albert Pujols
2B Adam Kennedy
SS David Eckstein
3B Scott Rolen
LF Chris Duncan
CF Jim Edmonds
RF Juan Encarnacion
C Yadier Molina/Gary Bennett
Starting Rotation:
Chris Carpenter has been quite the stud these past few years, but he’s the only stalwart here. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on some of these guys to perform. Wainwright was successful as the Cardinals’ closer in the postseason, but how will his transition to the starting rotation go? Same thing with Braden Looper, although I’d put more faith in Wainwright. Not only that, but what’s going to happen with former All-Star Mark Mulder, who performed horribly last year? I really don’t like the look of this rotation with the exception of Carpenter. Kip Wells is maybe a number four starter, and he’s the second most reliable man the team is going to trot out every five days.
Edge: Phillies
Bullpen:
Isringhausen is a champion closer, one of the best in the game. Russ Springer also had plenty of success last year with Houston, so he may be able to provide a solid late-inning option. I think Looper should be sent back to the bullpen in favor of a healthy Mulder, and then the team has a shot with their pen. Wainwright also proved he can close games by doing it when it mattered most (October baseball), but as I mentioned, the team seems committed to using him as a starting pitcher.
Edge: Tie
Batting Lineup:
The Cardinals’ lineup obviously focuses on Albert Pujols. He is perhaps the only batter more frightening to go up against than Ryan Howard (since he hardly ever strikes out) and a significant game-changer. But he’s not the only batting threat the Cardinals have. Little David Eckstein won the World Series MVP, and Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds can’t be discounted given their prior accomplishments. St. Louis as a team batted .269 last year (good for fourth in the NL), and batted a solid .271 with RISP, certainly better than the Phillies (5th in the NL vs. 13th). The Cardinals’ offseason was much more focused on reworking their pitching staff, so most of the stalwarts from last year will be back. It will be interesting to see how Adam Kennedy fits into the lineup. However, with Eckstein, Pujols, and at least one of the aging/injured Rolen or Edmonds, this team has some solid bats. This is not the collection of big hitters that faced the Red Sox in the 2004 world series (which included a younger Renteria and Larry Walker), but the Cardinals can still get it done with the lumber.
Edge: Phillies, barely
Defense:
The Cardinals had a very strong defensive infield, but the unfortunate defense of Encarnacion in the outfield didn’t help much. Should Edmonds last all year, defense at Center should be solid, but right field could be an issue. The team committed 98 errors last year (12th fewest in the NL) and had a fielding percentage of .984 (5th in the NL), so they were a solid group defensively, moreso than our Phillies. The Phillies will need to rebound on defense this year, but the Cardinals can pretty much continue what they’ve been doing, as it’s been working. They don’t have a lot of young blood in the field, so I would expect more of the same from them.
Edge: Cardinals
Final Verdict: The Cardinals winning the World Series was a complete and total surprise. They were outclassed by Detroit in just about every department, and after failing to win the NLCS the year previous or the World Series in 2004, St. Louis took their weakest team (on paper) of the three and went on to win the big one. Weird stuff. Don’t expect a repeat, though, and look no further than their starting pitching and the improved Astros and Cubs to give them a hard time.
Bottom Line: Phillies 4, Cardinals 2. I think we have this. Of course, we don’t play the Cardinals till June, so who knows where either team will be by then. Next time we’ll see how the Phillies might fare against the Colorado Rockies. As always, feel free to check out my evaluations of other NL central foes down below. Baseball is coming. Phillies open one week from today.
NL East:
Atlanta
Florida
NY Mets
Washington
NL Central:
Cincinnati
Houston
Milwaukee
Chicago Cubs
NL West:
ArizonaSan FranciscoSan Diego
