In recent years, baseball has been going through a phase where teams either tank for a high draft pick or make a playoff push, right now, the Cardinal are the latter. Due to this trend, in order to make the playoffs, a team must be good at everything, and great at certain things. With that said, do the Cardinals have what it takes to make the playoffs in 2019?
First, the formula for a playoff team must be defined. Take the 2018 World Series champions, the Boston Red Sox as an example, they had a solid starting pitching staff and a decent bullpen, but they also had one of the most dynamic offenses in recent memory.
Last year, the Cardinals didn’t have a quality offense, while their offense helped them go on a few winning streaks, they also had several slumps as well. In addition to being inconsistent on offense, they had an abysmal bullpen. In almost any situation if their starting pitcher failed to make it relatively deep into the game, they had no chance of coming away with a win. Despite all this, the Cardinals decided they want to contend this year and made many smart acquisitions in the offseason.
“The Cardinals look like they have a really talented roster this year,” said freshman, Noah Sentnor.
Even before the offseason, last year the Cardinals starting rotation stood out as the lone bright spot of the franchise at times.
“It always starts with pitching, and the Cardinals have a lot of good pitchers,” said Parkway North varsity baseball coach, Mark Reeder.
To have a team as successful as the 2018 Red Sox requires some luck too, but it can be manufactured by using analytics and other resources. At this point, nearly every team is the same model as the Red Sox did: form a solid team, spend up for proven players one year, and win it all. The Cardinals just spent a lot on new addition, Paul Goldschmidt possibly having hopes of making a playoff push this year.
“Goldschmidt will be the power bat that the team has been missing since Matt Holliday. He will also help defensively and be able to play nearly every game, ” said KSDK sports producer, Andy Mohler.
Another new member of the Cardinals is relief pitcher Andrew Miller. Miller has been on numerous teams in his long career, but he’s not the typical journeyman that can’t find a home because he’s not talented, rather, his list of former teams is because players like him are so rare and sought after by every team.
“In his time in baseball, Miller has invented the role of a relief pitcher that is not the typical closer, but instead pitches anytime from the sixth to ninth innings. [For the Cardinals] he’ll be able to face a talented left-handed hitter whenever the Cardinals are in a crucial situation,” said Mohler.
In addition to the new members of the team, the Cardinals also have some young stars that will be making their extended debut this year. For the Cardinals, almost every position has a clear starter, besides right field. If he can make improvements, young right fielder, Tyler O’Neil may provide a big power bat to a lineup that has been lacking it.
“Whenever O’Neil comes up to bat, there’s a possibility that he hits the ball 500 feet. His weakness is that he’s always struck out too much. [Lately,] he’s been trying to hit for more contact. I think that if he can figure that out, he could hit 30 home runs.,” said Mohler.
Most casual fans don’t realize what a substantial difference between playing with an injury versus post-surgery is. Last year, the Cardinals had a share of players that were affected by injury, but most notably pitching prospect, Alex Reyes who missed almost all of last season due to Tommy John surgery.
“Any team in baseball would love to have a player like Reyes. Right now he’s struggling with control issues, but hopefully he can get that worked out, and if he can, we’ll have a great find on our hands,” said Mohler.
With all of these improvements, the Cardinals have managed to keep their general core of last year intact. The bats of Matt Carpenter and fan favorite, Yadier Molina will provide consistency in the Cardinals lineup and pitchers Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright will consume innings to allow other, more talented pitchers to rest. Most importantly, these guys will be keys to maintaining a healthy locker room with their veteran presences.
“Anybody that knows anything about sports knows that a good attitude in the locker room can help a team win. It’s often overlooked, but it’s an important part of sports,” said Sentnor.
With all of the ingredients now in place for a great team. The sports community is extremely excited for this Cardinals season.
“With all of the new additions, I’m more excited than I usually am to go to Busch Stadium this year,” said Sentnor.
The countless combination of things going well for the Cardinals could equate to them making the playoffs, and if they get lucky enough, the may have the means needed to win it all.
“Overall, they have a good lineup. I think that if they do some things right, they can win it all,” said Reeder.