The St. Louis Cardinals have made some magical runs the last two baseball seasons. One ending with a World Series Championship and the other, a disappointing National League Championship Series loss to the eventual World Series Champions, San Francisco Giants.The Cardinals are poised to make another run in 2013, but there are some questions in their starting rotation.
The news came out of Cardinals camp early that Chris Carpenter was not going to be able to pitch in 2013 or beyond. This is not only a loss for the pitching staff, but the team has also sufferred the loss of leader of the entire clubhouse. That is a huge loss.
The one guy that can fill that role, from a pitchers standpoint, is Adam Wainwright. He is a guy who can fill the role on the mound and in the clubhouse. Waino seems to be a little more relaxed than Carpenter ever was, but he can also be the voice of this team.
Another hole in this staff is the loss of Kyle Lohse. This guy had 211 innings pitched, with a 16-3 record and a 2.86 ERA. Replacing the innings and wins will be tough, but the Cardinals proved last year that they have the young arms capable and ready to fill in any spots available in the rotation.
Which comes to the last point, how many spots will the young arms need to replace? Jaime Garcia has to show that his shoulder can hold up. He also needs to prove that he can handle the mental pressures that come with being a pitcher in the big leagues.
The St. Louis Cardinals have had a fantastic run into the playoffs the last couple of years. To continue the trend, multiple players, particularly on the pitching staff, need to step up and fill some big holes.
Anthony Wiber is a columnist for StlSportsMinute.com and is a main contributor on The Cruddy Show (@CruddyShow), a St. Louis sports talk show that airs on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9:30 pm CT. You can follow Wiber on Twitter as well (@AWibes).
