St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 86-76 (Second place in NL Central, five games behind Cincinnati)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (.312)
Home Runs: Albert Pujols (42)
RBIs: Albert Pujols (118)
On-base Percentage: Albert Pujols (.414)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: Adam Wainwright (20)
Strikeouts: Adam Wainwright (213)
Innings Pitched: Chris Carpenter (235)
ERA: Adam Wainwright (2.42). Bullpen- Jason Motte (2.24)
WHIP: Adam Wainwright (1.05). Bullpen- Ryan Franklin (1.03)
Saves: Ryan Franklin (27)
Highlight of the Year: The Redbirds were flying high after defeating the Reds 6-1 on August 11, completing a three-game sweep of their division rivals. The sweep would also see the Cards vault to first place in the division, as they left Cincinnati with a one game lead. The series was also marked by a bench-clearing brawl during the second game, which was ignited by the comments of second baseman Brandon Phillips regarding the Cardinals team.
Lowlight of the Year: The euphoria the sweep brought to the team would be short-lived, as the Cardinals would go just 22-27 the rest of the way, falling out of first and eventually, out of contention.
The Lowdown:
The Cardinals entered 2010 as the overwhelming favorite to win the NL Central, as they featured a bevy of stars on their ballclub, including Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. They managed to win the division rather easily over the Cubs last year, and there was no reason to think why they would not be able to do the same this year, especially with the Cubs appearing more vulnerable than usual. However, the Redbirds were dealt an unexpected surprise when the Cincinnati Reds vaulted into contention and proved to be a worthy foe throughout the course of the season. The Cardinals were able to get the best of the Reds head-to-head this year (finishing with a 12-6 record), but the thing that did them in was their inability to beat the sub-.500 teams in the NL, as the Reds largely decimated those same cellar-dwellers. Against the Cubs, Pirates, Brewers and Astros, St. Louis finished with a less than impressive 27-33 mark, while the Reds finished 43-18 against those same four teams. Even though the Cards took care of business against teams with winning records, they failed to beat the teams they were supposed to, and that is what unfortunately doomed this team.
Offense:
The Cardinals had an effective lineup this year, finishing 14th in runs (736), ninth in batting average (.263), 13th in on-base percentage (.332) and 16th in home runs (150). The leader of the offense as always is Albert Pujols, putting together a typical season for a baseball giant. He tied for the team-lead in batting average at .312, while hitting a NL-best 42 home runs and driving in a NL-best 118. Had the Cardinals managed to reach the postseason this year, he would have likely won the NL MVP for an incredible fourth time.
Behind him was Matt Holliday, an outstanding complimentary piece to Pujols. Holliday put together a great season himself, hitting .312 with 28 home runs and 103 RBIs. Despite the standout performances of these two, the lineup dropped off considerably after them. Center fielder Colby Rasmus was decent, hitting 23 home runs while driving in 66, but outside of him, nobody else really contributed much offensively. Ryan Ludwick was another decent complimentary piece to Pujols and Holliday, and he was hitting .281 with 11 home runs in 77 games for St. Louis. Nonetheless, the Cardinals decided that they would rather have a fourth starter at the expense of their lineup, trading Ludwick to San Diego in a three-team deal at the deadline that saw the Redbirds receive Jake Westbrook from the Indians. The trade unfortunately left their lineup even weaker, and the disparity between Pujols, Holliday and the rest of the lineup grew exponentially.
The lineup as a whole was okay, but they don’t really scare a lot of people once you get past Pujols and Holliday.
Final Grade: C+
Pitching:
The Cardinals featured some of the best pitching in baseball this year, finishing fifth in ERA (3.57), sixth in quality starts (94), 29th in home runs surrendered (133), and 10th in WHIP (1.30). They were also anchored by two of the best pitchers in the National League, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, who both did not disappoint this year. Wainwright was just one of two pitchers to win 20 games in the NL this year, finishing 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA, 213 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.05. If not for the Cardinals’ unspectacular finish, he could have presented more of a challenge for the voters to decide who should have won the NL Cy Young Award.
Carpenter was also magnificent behind him, leading the team in innings pitched (235), along with recording a 16-9 record with a 3.22 ERA. You could not expect anything less from these two, but the biggest surprise in this rotation came from lefty Jaime Garcia. The 24-year-old in his first full big-league season came up huge for St. Louis, going 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA, good for fourth in the National League. His emergence as a quality arm in their rotation will definitely go a long way, especially since the Brewers and Phillies have stocked up their rotations considerably.
The rotation behind those two was a bit of a toss-up, as Kyle Lohse, Jake Westbrook, Jeff Suppan and Brad Penny each received at least nine starts or more. Lohse’s performance was pretty forgettable, but Suppan, Westbrook and Penny were each respectable whenever they took the hill, as they all recorded ERAs under four.
The Cards also featured a pretty decent bullpen, finishing in a tie for 10th in ERA with the White Sox at 3.73. Kyle McClellan was one of the crucial performers in this bullpen, finishing with a 2.27 ERA in a team-high 68 appearances. Jason Motte was just as good as well, finishing with a 2.24 ERA in 56 appearances this year. Closer Ryan Franklin was fair for the most part, recording a 3.46 ERA while notching 27 saves.
There’s not much else to say about this pitching staff, as they met and exceeded people’s expectations this year.
Final Grade: A
Wild Card: GM John Mozeliak
Even though this is an organization that usually makes the right moves, they made a questionable one when they traded outfielder Ryan Ludwick to the San Diego Padres in order to get more help in starting pitching. The Cardinals featured three of the best pitchers in the National League this year in Wainwright, Carpenter and Garcia, so why would they trade one of their offensive centerpieces to get more help in something they really did not need? Even though their staff was strengthened, their lineup weakened considerably. It appears they are attempting to make amends for this by signing Lance Berkman, but it remains to be seen what he will contribute next year.
Final Grade: D
Overall:
The Cardinals, as they are assembled right now, are definitely a playoff team. They underachieved this year, plain and simple. If everybody plays to the level they are capable of, and if they can avoid losing too many games to sub-.500 teams, they’ll have a great chance of returning to the postseason next year.
Final Grade: C+
Check back soon for the report card on the Chicago White Sox!
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