Trio of Cardinals Starters: Cy-Lently the Best in Baseball

(Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

With all the focus on the Tim Lincecums and Clayton Kershaws of the world, there is a trio of starting pitchers that get absolutely no respect.

In fact, they're the best one-two-three starting punch in baseball. That's right, I'm talking about the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Pinerio.

All three of them are having fantastic seasons. All three of them are/should be in the Cy Young award race. And all three of them have gotten absolutely no media attention, no respect, and no praise. Let's examine each pitcher.

Chris Carpenter is a virtual lock for the National League Comeback Player of the Year. He only pitched in four games last year. The former Cy Young award winner is having yet another outstanding year.

Carpenter leads all of Major League Baseball in ERA. His WHIP is minuscule for a starting pitcher. In two of his three losses, he hurled quality starts. He also compiled a 2.05 ERA in three starts where he didn't get a decision.

His strikeout number looks low, but he hasn't pitched as much as Tim Lincecum. Also, it's offset by his low walks rate. Carpenter also has two complete games under his belt.

Joel Pineiro might be having the most underrated starting pitching season in baseball. If you look at his last year stats, and compared them to this year, you'd think that he just learned how to throw a baseball.

Pineiro leads baseball in the underrated statistic of groundball-to-flyball ratio. He has also thrown three complete games. Of those three complete games, two of them have been shutouts, which is tied for the most in baseball.

He's not a strikeout pitcher, but he doesn't walk a lot of batters either. In six of his games started, he hurled a quality start while getting a loss or no-decision.

Adam Wainwright was an All-Star snub. Statistically, he's a top-10 pitcher in the National League, and along with Pineiro, he continues to have an extremely underrated season. A trend that continues for Wainwright...being underrated.

Wainwright leads the National League in wins and innings pitched. In five of Wainwright's losses, he only gave up two runs or less! Wainwright also is seventh in the National League with 140 strikeouts, although his walk rate is alarming. He is yet another Cardinal in the top-20 for groundball-to-flyball ratio. He might give up lots of walks and hits, but those runners usually do not score.

So here are the totals for the three pitchers combined:

I dare you to find me a better trio of starting pitchers on the same team in baseball. You can't, because there isn't one. It's time that these pitchers get the respect that they deserve.

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