What to Expect of the 2015 St. Louis Cardinals

 Over the past two seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals have been the team to beat in the National League Central division. The 2013 Cardinals' offense was quite unforgettable if you're a fan of the team. RISP, also known as Runners In Scoring Position, is a statistic that's always thrown up when regarding that team. It seemed like every time a runner was on second or third base you could just mark a tally in the ol' run column. The 2014 offense wasn't as stellar, unfortunately. Though they made it back to the NLCS for the fourth straight year, it's easy to say their offense wasn't the biggest factor. Some games ended with pretty bare scorecards, as only three or four hits were mustered out. But this year, the amount of offensive production looks to shoot up from last year's totals. 

 After the astonishing death of young, highly praised outfielder Oscar Taveras, something had to be done to fill the void left out in right field. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak went right to work, acquiring outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden in exchange for starter Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins. Adding Jason Heyward to a lineup that already has guys such as Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina to name a few, gives the Cardinals' lineup a very deep feeling. Just think about it.. Matt Carpenter leading off, Heyward batting second, Matt Holliday batting third, Matt Adams batting clean up, Jhonny Peralta batting fifth, Yadi batting sixth, Jon Jay seventh, and Kolten Wong batting eighth. When your eighth place hitter had twelve homeruns and twenty stolen bases last year, you must be doing something right. When the seventh place hitter hit over .300 last season, something must be good about the lineup. If all of these guys can have seasons like they're capable of having, there's no reason why we shouldn't see the Cardinals back in the Postseason. Hitting is only a part of the game, so let's talk about the other half; the pitching staff. 
 Without question, the Ace of the Cardinals' rotation is Adam Wainwright. He did have the slight abdominal injury earlier this spring, but he has since recovered and made a couple of starts. It has yet to be confirmed, but without any problems Waino should take the bump to face the Cubs on Opening Night. The second spot in the rotation belongs to Lance Lynn, a very deserving candidate. Last season, the only pitcher in the Cardinals rotation who didn't miss time due to injury was, you guessed it, Lance Lynn. His overall command has greatly increased over the past few seasons, as he has cut back greatly on the walks he allows.  He's a beast, no doubt, and definitely a key factor on the team. The middle spot in the rotation belongs to John Lackey. He is quite the bargain too, as he is only making league minimum (roughly $500,000) this season. He is considered to be an innings eater, which is a very nice quality to have in a starting pitcher, as it assists the bullpen tremendously over the rocky course of a 162 game season. The fourth spot in the starting rotation belongs to the right handed  young gun Michael Wacha. After an injury plagued 2014, I'm sure nothing sounds better than to have a bounceback season. If Spring Training means anything, Michael looks like he is good to go. He says he's alright, and we the fans have no reason not to believe him. All we can do is sit back and check the box scores, and that has been a pretty fun thing to do so far. The fifth spot in the rotation is still yet to be determined. A battle that looks to go right down to the wire between Jaime Garcia, Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales is what will determine who takes the spot. At this point, I really can't pick who I want to take the spot more. I'm on the Carlos Martinez fan bus, but the springs put together by Marco and Jaime are nothing to look over. I love the idea of seeing Carlos or Marco starting every fifth day, but I'm also thinking about Jaime getting the call since he's healthy. 

So, who's going to make it? Well, it may go down right to the final out they record. Welcome to Cardinals baseball. 



Thank you for reading! 
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Twitter: @Curtis_Josey