What to expect from the 2016 Cardinals

Spring Training has finally started and the Baseball season is officially here. We are 13 days away from the first Cardinal Spring Training game, and 45 days away from the first Regular season game of 2016. To say that this offseason hasn’t been interesting would be a lie. This offseason has been filled with very interesting moments, for example: The Cardinals rumors with David Price, the Cubs signing Jason Heyward, the Cardinals signing Mike Leake, etc… Most people would tell you that the Cardinals have gotten worse this offseason. I am here to tell you that they have improved in many ways. Lets dive deeper into what the Cardinals really look like heading into the 2016 season.

Rotation: In 2015 the Cardinals rotation was the backbone of the 100 win season. Not only was the rotation really good, but they were historical. Not to mention that they did it all without the staff ace, Adam Wainwright. No one realizes how big of a loss Adam Wainwright was to the team in 2015, unless you ask them how their favorite team would be without their staff ace. For example, how would the Cubs have been in 2015 without Jake Arrieta?

Heading into 2016 the Cardinals rotation looks really good in my opinion. I think that they are one of the only teams in the MLB that has a solid rotation 1-5. The Cardinals have lost John Lackey to the Cubs and Lance Lynn to Tommy John Surgery, but they receive Adam Wainwright from injury and Mike Leake from Free Agency. I would take Wainwright over Lackey any day, and more than likely Leake over Lynn. Below is my 2016 projected rotation for the Cardinals.

RHP Adam Wainwright

RHP Michael Wacha

LHP Jaime Garcia

RHP Carlos Martinez

RHP Mike Leake

If you ask me, that rotation looks pretty darn good. Even if it isn’t in that order, you have multiple guys who could be aces on other staffs.

Bullpen: The Cardinals also had one of the best bullpens in the 2015 as well. There was only one bad thing about them, to big of a work load. If you watched the NLDS against the Cubs, you realized that the Cardinals bullpen was done. If the workload of the bullpen can be lowered a few innings, I feel like everything will be fine.

The 2016 bullpen looks pretty similar to the one in 2015. Obviously, the Cardinals are receiving Jordan Walden from injury, signed Korean Reliever, Seung-Hwan Oh, haven’t re-signed Randy Choate, and just lost Matt Belisle, but other than that it looks the same. I think the signing of Oh will effect the bullpen tremendously in a good way. Below is my projected 2016 Cardinals bullpen.

LHP Tyler Lyons

LHP Marco Gonzalez

LHP Kevin Siegrist

RHP Jonathan Broxton

RHP Seth Maness

RHP Jordan Walden

RHP Seung-Hwan Oh

RHP Trevor Rosenthal (closer)

Middle Infield: The 2016 middle infield for the Cardinals will look the same for most games with Peralta at short and Wong at second. But for some games, we will see a new face in Jedd Gyroko, who the Cardinals traded for. Gyroko will be able to backup Peralta and Wong whenever need, which will be very good for veteran Johnny Peralta. The Cardinals also have Greg Garcia to backup as a middle infielder as well. The face you won’t be seeing in a Cardinals uniform is Pete Kozma. I am almost positive that no Cardinals fans have a problem with the loss of Pete.

Corner Infield: In 2015, the Cardinals third baseman, Matt Carpenter, was the most productive offensive player. While the Cardinals first basemen, Matt Adams and Brandon Moss, didn’t produce near as much. In 2016, Moss and Adams, will get to compete for the starting position, while Piscotty will be the right handed hitting option. I expect a breakout year from Brandon Moss after a poor year in 2015. If Adams can stay healthy and get his production back up, I see him being a very good option as well.

Outfield: The Cardinals outfield will look a little different in 2016, with the departures of Jason Heyward to the Cubs, Jon Jay to the Padres, and Peter Bourjos to the Phillies. But, I still expect the outfield to be really good and productive with, Holliday, Grichuk, and Piscotty. The key factor for the Cardinals outfield in 2016 will be injuries, and if they can stay healthy. The Cardinals also have Tommy Pham and Brandon Moss who can both play the outfield when needed.

Catching: This whole offseason, people have talked about how bad Yaider Molina is going to be in 2016, coming off of his hand injury. I personally, still think that Yadi will be the best defensive catcher in the game of baseball in 2016. The good thing about the catching position in 2016, is that when Yadi needs a day or two off, the Cardinals have one of the best backup catchers that you can ask for. The Cardinals added Brayan Pena to the club this offseason, which I think is a big improvement over Tony Cruz, who they traded to the Royals. I don’t think Yadi will have very productive offensive numbers in 2016, but I still expect him to be very productive on the defensive side.

The 2016 season is going to be an interesting year for the St.Louis Cardinals. I think they will have very good pitching again this year, but I am still not sure if they will improve on the offensive side.

Thanks for reading.

Let me know what you think of the Cardinals heading into the 2016 season.

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