St.Louis Cardinals - MLB Sports City

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS - MLB SPORTS CITY ALONG THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

St. Louis, Missouri - City by the Great Mississippi - home of the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis joined the NL in 1892; at that time, they were called the Browns and the Perfectos before they were officially renamed as the Cardinals in 1900. (Wikipedia.com)

Busch Stadium, Home of the St. Louis Cardinals, sits quietly, awaiting team and fans come Opening Day, April 11. The Cardinals will host the Milwaukee Brewers for their home opener. This is home to one of the best MLB cities across the nation, with rich history and loved by Cardinals fans.

Spring training for the Cardinals is set to begin, February 17, just 11 days away, with pitchers and catchers reporting to officially kick-off training camp. Soon after all position players will file in and begin workouts on and off the field. The Cardinals will have a total of 62 players in attendance, their 40 man roster along with 22 non-roster invitees, at Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter FL.

The MLB Opening Day, 2016, for two teams in the National League Central Division, commences on April 3. The Cardinals will begin on the road facing the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The game will be highlighted as the first game of the season at high noon on that celebrated Sunday - finally, the beginning of the MLB season long awaited by fans. 

It will be Cardinals "Ace" Adam Wainwright to take the mound, April 3. After being on the DL most of 2015, he will be ready for the upcoming season. The question will be, which will be determined by the end of Spring training, who will be Cardinals #2 starting pitcher. The pitcher who will have the honor on the mound to open April 11. 

In my opinion, it will be LHP Jaime Garcia.

Garcia put together a very good campaign in 2015, A 1.70 ERA at home. He closed his season, 10-6/2.43 ERA/97 SO/1.05 WHIP, only issuing 30 free passes. Even though he only saw 20 starts, 129.1 IP, due to being on the 15 DL with a groin injury, (no arm issues that had plagued him previous seasons), he was an essential part to the Cardinals rotation last season. 

Garcia has (2105 season) taken advantage using five above-average pitches in the strike zone: four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, slider, change, and curve. From Brooks Baseball: (chart based on both right-handed and left-handed hitters) 

Jaime Garcia Pitch Mix in 2015

	Frequency	Whiff	GB/BIP
Four-Seam	24%	4%	63%
Two-Seam	36%	4%	66%
Slider	19%	17%	69%
Change	14%	17%	64%
Curve	7%	11%	67%

Hands down, Garcia is a great pitcher when healthy. I feel he will remain in good health, looking to see a full season in 2016 with 30 game starts and as close to 200 innings as possible. 

However, only speculation on my part, nothing will be in stone until, just prior to/or on, March 31. And, looking to the future, Garcia held a 1.91 ERA against the Brewers in 2015. Just sayin'.