St. Louis Cardinals 2009 Season Preview

Logan on 03 25, 2009

St. Louis Cardinals 2008 Review:

The 2008 Cardinals club truly failed to take advantage of their talented roster. Injuries and inexperience haunted the Cardinals throughout the year and are the sole reasons that they weren’t playing baseball come October. 2008 saw Albert Pujols simply abuse opposing pitchers, continuing to cement his place amongst this generation’s greatest sluggers. Albert hit a gaudy .357 to go along with his 37 long balls, 100 runs scored and 116 RBI. He also walked over 100 times, clearly putting up MVP numbers. Another strength for St. Louis in 2008 was the emergence of one of the best outfields in all of baseball. Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker and Rick Ankiel really had tremendous seasons offensively, helping to take some of the burden off of Pujols’ shoulders. You can certainly attribute some of Albert’s success in 2008 to these three guys. However, injuries to an already questionable pitching staff really hampered the Cardinals’ chances of reaching the postseason. Aside from Kyle Lohse, Braden Looper and Todd Wellemeyer, St. Louis failed to feature a starting pitcher who started more than 30 games. Pitching out of the bull-pen really hurt the Cardinals in 2008 as they blew 31 save chances and lost 31 games. The Cardinals need to get better output from their bull-pen as well as more consistent and healthy starting pitching if they hope to reach the postseason in 2009’s upcoming season.

St. Louis Cardinals 2009 Preview:

The Cardinals lose Braden Looper, Jason Isringhausen, Cesar Izturis, Felipe Lopez and Aaron Miles during the off-season, and picked up SS Khalil Greene. Neither the additions or subtractions seem to be important enough to really hurt this team, or help them for that matter. The key to this team’s success in 2009 is health. Starting pitching, if healthy, can be a key for this club in 2008. If Chris Carpenter can avoid injuries that limited him to only four games in the last two seasons, he should be able to help provide a lift to the team. Lohse, Wellemeyer and Adam Wainright were extremely effective in their time with St. Louis last year, and they’ll need to do the same this year to make up for a lack of depth in that area. Chris Perez will most likely be handed the closing role after the departure of Isringhausen. Perez was 7/10 in save chances last year with a 3.46 ERA. He, along with Ryan Franklin will look to anchor what is potentially a very shaky bull-pen. Ultimately the pitching, whether it be starting or out of the pen, will control the fate of this club’s chances of a postseason birth in 2009. But aside from the Cubs, who look like a sure thing to win the NL Central, there isn’t much competition for second place in a division that features a lot of young teams. Look for the Cardinals to contend for the Wild Card throughout the 2009 season, but eventually fall short.

St. Louis Cardinals Surprise Player of 2009:

Colby Rasmus is the definition of a five tool player. The 22 year old had his 2008 season cut short due to injuries to his groin and knee, but he should make an appearance in the MLB in 2009. As a centerfielder, Rasmus features exceptional speed and a great glove. At the plate, he is disciplined and has an element of power to go along with his 6’2” 195 pound frame. With game that reminds some of Grady Sizemore, Rasmus is efficient when on the base paths, and is always a threat to steal. The Cardinals already feature a steady outfield and Rasmus is a perennial slow-starter, so look for him to start the season at AAA Memphis. However, if Rasmus can get hot quickly for the Pacific Coast League Redbirds, look for him to start making his name known at the major league level in the upcoming season.

St. Louis Cardinals Projected 2009 Record:

2nd place in the NL Central with a record of 87-75.