Bleacher Report - St Louis Cardinals

First Quarter Grades for the St. Louis Cardinals

Corey Noles — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:54:05 -0400

The St. Louis Cardinals entered the quarter-season mark of 2013 with the best record in baseball.

To say that exceeds the expectations of some is quite the understatement. Many, arguably most, baseball writers had the Cincinnati Reds picked as clear favorites to win the National League Central Division.

With the Cardinals estimated to end the season in the 85-win range, the fact that the team has amassed 25 wins by May 15 puts them well above expectations.

While it is extremely early to be thinking about the end of the season, the Cardinals are currently on pace to win 100 games.

Will they keep up this pace? That remains to be seen.

Every team has its slumps and streaks—the 2013 Cardinals will be no exception. Remember, even a team with an amazing 102-win record still loses 60 games a year.

With that said, the Cardinals have a lot of things on their side in 2013—most notably, their depth.

That depth has made all of the difference in where the Cardinals find themselves in the standings in mid-May.

Following is a breakdown grading the Cardinals on each aspect of their game.

All stats gathered from MLB.com.

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Adam Wainwright Leading St. Louis Cardinals Youth by Example

Corey Noles — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:13:38 -0400

ST. LOUIS, Mo.–St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright has seen a lot of role changes over the years.

He arrived in the big leagues as the rookie closer. The famed curveball he blew past future teammate Carlos Beltran to clinch the 2006 World Series berth will forever be remembered as one of the most memorable single pitches in Cardinals history.

But Adam Wainwright wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

He made quite the name as a closer in the short term before making the transition to the starting rotation.

There was promise in him as a starter from day one. Thrust into a rotation considered then to be veteran-heavy, Wainwright was mentored by the likes of Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder.

After several successful years and recovering from Tommy John surgery, he finds himself given a new task. Now the tables have turned, and instead of being the exciting young arm, he has become the veteran presence in a pitching staff that seems to be getting younger by the week.

After the loss of Chris Carpenter prior to spring training and the temporary loss of Jake Westbrook, Wainwright is the lone man left.

“Each year I keep getting older and they seem to just keep getting younger,” he said after Thursday’s loss to the Mets.

While technically, he is taking on a “new” role, Wainwright says it’s just business as usual for him. Just like any other season, he shows up early and puts in his time.

He’s not trying to lead through lessons, but instead by example.

“I come in here and I work my tail off,” Wainwright said. “I do like I always do, and these guys are watching.”

A humble player with a colorful sense of humor, there’s no doubt the Cardinals' young pitchers are learning from one of the best arms in baseball today.

Wainwright is a career 85-50 pitcher with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. His postseason numbers are even better: (2-0, 2.48 ERA, 1.01 WHIP).

Despite having had his own success over the years, Wainwright does remember what it was like to be the new kid on the block. Because of that, he’s made it clear to all of the young guys that he’s there for them if they need anything.

“If they want to know anything, they know they can come to me anytime,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who know how to prepare and know how to work their tail off, too.”

Despite their age, Wainwright feels this crop of youngsters—Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal—are quite mature as pitchers. Of course, amidst all of the rookies, it’s easy to forget that Lance Lynn is still relatively new as well.

These are talented players who have what it takes learn the ropes quickly—and Wainwright believes his young teammates are no exception.

“It’s not a rotation that needs to be policed or anything like that,” he said.

Learning to make the adjustments to life in the big leagues—being away from family, handling their money and even dealing with the media—isn’t always easy. While there are amazing highs, the lows are hard to prepare for.

Walking into the clubhouse after a rough start with reporters ready to analyze your mechanics and emotional state isn’t easy for those guys, but they know it’s just part of the game.

Watching how Wainwright handled himself after Thursday’s start is a prime example.

After throwing six innings and giving up three runs on six hits, he clearly wasn’t pleased with his outing. It wasn’t a terrible outing by any means, but he knows he’s capable of better.

Wainwright could have made plenty of excuses, for instance that he was still feeling the effects of the complete game on Saturday, but he was quick to shrug off that notion and own up to his mistakes.

“I made a couple of mistakes in the middle of the plate that ended up costing us some runs,” he said. “Murphy hit a couple of good pitches off of me…The one that they were supposed to hit, they hit, and the ones that I executed, they didn’t."

“That’s how simple it is,” Wainwright said after the game. “If I make my pitch, most of the time they don’t get hits.”

He accepts favor when it comes his way and accepts his mistakes. While he made clear he was surprised to be pulled after only 87 pitches, Wainwright also explained that it’s not always his decision.

There are a lot of lessons in those few quotes that the team’s younger pitchers are learning. They learn plenty just from spending time together and picking one another’s brains.

“We’re always sitting beside each other on the bench during games,” Wainwright said. “That’s some of the best time you can spend with anybody is just hanging out with them for nine innings talking baseball, talking pitching and learning from each other.”

As time goes on, they’ll all continue to grow, even Wainwright. One could easily argue by looking at his early-season performance that having some of this young firepower around has even re-ignited a spark in him.

He’s going deep into games, chasing strikeouts and seems to be having fun playing baseball again. Gone is the Wainwright of early 2012 who struggled to find his way as he returned to form after surgery.

The Wainwright we’re watching in 2013 is the same one who took on the “head cheerleader” role for the 2011 team. He still dances in the dugout and seems to be genuinely enjoying the game.

That’s a good thing both for him and for the men who are following the examples he’s setting early in 2013.

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All quotes obtained firsthand by the author.

Follow @coreynoles

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5 Things We Learned About the Cardinals Through the 1st Quarter of the Season

Jeff Sucher — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:20:54 -0400

It's hard to believe that the Major League Baseball season is nearly one quarter of the way complete.

While it is still early, 40 games is a decent sample size to see what is working, what is not and what needs to be changed.

As has been the case for the last six beginnings of May, the St. Louis Cardinals have found themselves in first place.

There have been many eye-opening experiences for the Redbirds thus far, and here are five things we have learned about the team during this first quarter.

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Stock Up, Stock Down for Cardinals' Top 10 Prospects for Week of May 6

Tyler Poslosky — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:33:15 -0400

Branch Rickey invented Major League Baseball’s farm system in the early 1930s while serving as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Since then, the Cardinals’ minor league affiliates continue to flourish.

Keith Law, of MLBDailyDish.com, deemed the Cardinals’ farm system as the best in all of baseball. And for good reason. The Cardinals’ ability to develop players is second to none.

(See Albert Pujols, Allen Craig, Matt Adams and Shelby Miller).

Here are the stocks for the Cardinals’ top 10 prospects for the week of May 6.

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St. Louis Cardinals Rotation: Where Does It Rank Among Best in Past 25 Years?

Doug Mead — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:54:51 -0400

On Sunday afternoon, Jaime Garcia and the St. Louis Cardinals will attempt a sweep of their series with the Colorado Rockies, one in which the bullpen hasn't even been called upon.

That's because Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright combined to shut the Rockies' powerful offense down with two consecutive one-hit marvels.

This is a Rockies team that came into the series leading the National League with 169 runs scored. We're not talking about the Cardinals dominating a weak lineup.

The Cardinals' starting rotation is in uncharted territory right now—with Miller and Wainwright's effort, St. Louis tied the major league by setting down 40 opposing hitters in order, first accomplished by the Texas Rangers in 1996.

Garcia hasn't exactly been a slouch, winning his last three games and posting a 1.25 ERA. Considering the Rockies' current woes, Garcia stands a better-than-even chance of at least continuing the Cardinals' dominance.

The current starting five for the Cardinals have certainly put together an amazing first quarter, but where does it rank historically among the great rotations over the past 25 years?

Let's take a look.

Note: Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference.

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