Winners of 88 games, the Cardinals were on the cusp of the playoffs before my beloved Brewers swept them in St. Louis (in front of my eyes) down the stretch. Under Mike Shildt, the Cardinals played 13 games over .500 and surged into the playoff picture after a rough 47-46 start. Young arms and an MVP push from the leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter propelled them, but ultimately they just fell short. I'm personally very concerned about this team next year, as the additions of Andrew Miller and Paul Goldschmidt (who'll definitely get Pennant Run cards around spring training) are going to be deadly weapons. If Schildt can ever figure out that Molina should hit 8th and Bader should move up in the order, watch out!!! Without further ado, the 2018 Cardinals!
Lineup:
The Cardinals lineup definitely regressed from 2017, with on-base numbers dropping overall. However, Matt Carpenter put up monster numbers on his way to an awesome 460 point card. It's a shame that he almost has to bat leadoff, as his card is a prototypical 3 hitter who'll knock in a ton of runs. I love Bader as a 2 hitter in real life, with blazing speed and large double potential, but his OB was too low as a rookie to draft for that purpose in Showdown. Jose Martinez is probably on the move to clear room for Goldy, but I love his bat and in Showdown his mediocre defense can't come back to bite! This is the lineup I saw most for the Cardinals last year, although I swear I saw Yadi occasionally hitting second.
On to the bench, where Munoz is the clear cut guy to enter the above lineup (or DH). He's a stud who'll get drafted in Showdown leagues as an OB 8. Adams may find his way onto a team of a power-loving manager, whereas Fowler sadly disappointed after a really good 2017 card (OB 9, speed A player!). I love Dexter Fowler, so I'm wishing him all the best in 2019
Rotation:
The Cardinals rotation was led by a true ace in Miles Mikolas, one of the terrific surprises of 2018. With his old-school 'stache and proclivity for attacking the zone (only 1.3 BB/9 inn), Mikolas became an ace and All Star in 2018! Rookie Jack Flaherty provided a solid #2 card, and he finished fifth in the ROY voting. From there, the Cardinals rotation didn't have a lot of high volume pitchers. Gant was a solid starter and provides a useable back-of-the-rotation card in this set. The main differentiating factor between him and Flaherty was Gant's inflated WHIP (nearly a 1.3), which pushed him down a tier. Luke Weaver had a drastic regression and a near 5 ERA, and I'm hoping the move to Arizona can do him some good. Next year, I'm hoping to see decent cards from Gomber, Hudson, and Ponce de Leon -- three young arms that sparked the Cardinals midseason surge but didn't pitch close to enough innings to earn cards this season. Maybe they'll get worked into Pennant Run based on projections for next year ;)
Bullpen:
The bullpen was a major weakness for St. Louis, and it shows. The Greg Holland signing proved to be a disaster (with his near !8! ERA), and Brett Cecil kept getting innings despite his awful stats. However, Bud Norris proved to be a serviceable closer substitute and Jordan Hicks brought absolutely ELECTRIC stuff every night. Unfortunately for their Showdown cards, both pitchers seemed to successfully navigate jams for their ERAs in the 3.00s, as their WHIPs were high (1.249 and 1.339 respectively). Hicks will be a fun, cheap card with his large walk range to keep people (largely) at bay off his own chart. Mayers had a rough season and produces a bad card. A fun "reliever" for the set is Carlos Martinez. Yes, he's been an ace for the Cardinals in the past and produced some really good Showdown Starter cards, but he moved to the bullpen at the end of last year and actually earned 5 saves. He had a really poor WHIP overall, depressing his card's value, but thanks to his 18 starts he actually gets an IP 4! I hope he gets to be the closer in 2019 and can get the elite, tier 2 or better closer card that he's got the arm talent for!
Overall, it's easy to see why the Cardinals were a playoff contender! Unfortunately, the lack of super lineup depth and weak bullpen shows the flaws that ate away at them in the regular season, and they'll clearly just a step behind the 2018 Cubs and Brewers teams.
They look beautiful
ReplyDeleteCan we get a name correction on Miles Mikolas?
ReplyDeleteWhy are there only 19 cardinals cards
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