St. Louis Cardinals: Why Kyle Lohse Needs to Stay Hot

People might start calling Kyle Lohse "Mr. April", because he is off to a hot start once again. Since 2007, Lohse is 14-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 106 strikeouts in April. His hot start has the Cardinals in first place in the N.L. Central, not to mention the fact that they the only team in their division with a winning record.

Kyle Lohse has assumed the role of the Cardinals ace so far this year with Chris Carpenter out with a shoulder injury and Adam Wainwright struggling to come back from Tommy John surgery. Lohse is tied with Lance Lynn for team wins, and he has the best ERA of any Cardinals starter.

Lohse must keep his hot start going all season for the Cardinals to be successful, because they need production from every part of their rotation.

Jake Westbrook, Lynn, and Jaime Garcia have also been very successful, all posting an E.R.A. lower then 3.06. Wainwright has been the only flaw in the rotation this year, though he was one of the baseball's best pitchers before his surgery. 

I don't think Wainwright will have this much difficulty as he progresses this season because as we all know he hadn't pitched in a big league game for over a year while he recovered, and he is still trying to figure out his command to become a dominant pitcher once again.

Once Carpenter comes back and Wainwright gets back in a groove, Lohse will still hopefully be pitching like he is right now. If he is, the Cardinals will be a major threat in the National League and will have one the the top rotations in the league. They will once again be contenders in the postseason, and will be able to try and win their 12th championship.