The Price is Wainwright

After spending the entire 2011 season on the disabled list Adam Wainwright seems to be back in his all star form. In 2009 and 2010 Wainwright sported back to back seasons with a sub 3 ERA to show he is an elite starter in the MLB. In the spring training of 2011 Wainwright had to have Tommy John surgery which seems to be a regular injury among pitchers.

Last night Wainwright pitched against the San Diego Padres which ended up being his best start of the season. A complete game shutout victory with 9 strikeouts. Wainwright only allowed 1 walk and 4 hits, he was absolutely dominant. His velocity is back, but it was more about the movement on Tuesday night. His slider had enormous break and averaged about 90 MPH.

Wainwrights success will be important with the loss of Berkman for 6-8 weeks due to a torn meniscus. Additionally Chris Carpenter's injuries. Wainwright has to be the Wainwright of old and be the ace of the Cardinals.

The St Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals won the National League wildcard by making the playoffs on the last day of the season. They went on to prove everyone wrong and win The World Series.

A major reason why everyone underrated The Cardinals was the loss of Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was injured in spring training and missed the entire year. In 2010 Wainwright had a 2.42 ERA and 230 innings. In 2009 Wainwright had a 2.63 ERA over 233 innings. As you can see Wainwright has established a name for himself. Another pitcher on The Cardinals is Chris Carpenter. Carpenter showed us that he can pitch at the age of 36 by getting a 3.45 ERA over 237 innings. On the Opposite side of the age spectrum is Jamie Garcia. Garcia had a 3.54 ERA over 194 innings for The Cardinals in 2011. He is only 25.

Now everyone is saying the Cardinals suck without Pujols. They don't suck, but they aren't as good. Pujols played 11 seasons with The Cardinals picking up 455 home runs, a .420 on base percentage, and 1329 RBI's. He is considered one of the greatest hitters of all time and he just signed a 10  year contract with The Angels.

The Cardinals still have some pop in their lineup with Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman. Their stats are the following:

Lance Berkman: 145 games, 31 HR, 94 RBI, .412 OBP
Matt Holliday: 124 games, 22 HR, 75 RBI, .388 OBP
Carlos Beltran: 142 games, 22 HR, 84 RBI, .385 OBP

The Cardinals have other guys who can hit too. Yadiar Molina, David Freeze, and Rafael Furcal can get on base as well.

The Cardinals will have a chance for the division title, but they will have to patch up their only weakness: The bullpen. I don't know how they managed to win a world series without a decent bullpen. If the bullpen can preform like last year The Cardinals have a good shot at at least a wildcard.