What the experts are saying about the Cardinals

mlb.com reporter

The Cardinals are built to be anchored by pitching once again, though it will be tough to repeat what the club did in leading the majors in ERA last season. With Adam Wainwright back as ace and Carlos Martinez rounding out the rotation as a No. 5 starter, there may not be a deeper rotation in the National League. The Cardinals’ bullpen, particularly with the addition of Seung Hwan Oh and the return of Jordan Walden, could be top-tier, too. Questions, however, remain on the offensive end. The Cardinals must have sufficient production from their two young outfielders and would be boosted by a big bounceback year from Matt Holliday. The shortstop position could be an issue until Jhonny Peralta returns, and it remains to be seen whether Yadier Molina’s multiple thumb surgeries affect his strength in a negative way. With this team having won three straight division titles and coming off a 100-win season in 2015, the National League Central still runs through St. Louis. But the Cubs may just be a bit too much to handle this year, leaving the Cardinals to vie for Wild Card berth.

Jenifer Langosch on Twitter

St. Louis Cardinals magazine writer

If the Cardinals can get career-average seasons from most of the roster, they possess enough talent and depth to make the postseason for the sixth straight year. The rotation will be without John Lackey and Lance Lynn, but returns ace Adam Wainwright and added the steady Mike Leake. Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez should benefit from their first full seasons in the rotation and Jaime Garcia remains healthy. Wainwright says the relief corps is shaping up to be the best since he arrived in St. Louis in 2005. Trevor Rosenthal has emerged as one of the National League’s top closers and he has plenty of help in front of him, including four relievers with closing experience – Kevin Siegrist, Jonathan Broxton, Jordan Walden and Seung Hwan Oh, the all-time saves leader in Korea. Losing shortstop Jhonny Peralta to thumb surgery for at least two months will hurt, but there’s potential for damage from top to bottom. Matt Carpenter is coming off a career-best 28 homer season, Matt Holliday, Matt Adams and Brandon Moss are healthy, newcomer Jedd Gyorko brings power, Kolten Wong should benefit with the security of a contract extension and young outfielders Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham are poised for breakout years. If it all comes together – or just most of it – the Cardinals will give St. Louis another contending October.

Stan McNeal on Twitter

Fox Sports Midwest broadcaster

There’s a lot of talk about the Cubs being improved, and you can’t deny that. But the Cardinals have all kinds of reasons to expect to be at the top again this year. I think the outlook is good. A year ago, they won 100 games, and you replace (John) Lackey and (Lance) Lynn, big losses in the rotation, with Adam Wainwright and Mike Leake. I would say that’s a pretty good trade. So why wouldn’t the starting staff be good again? And I think think they’ve got an improved bullpen with (Seung Hwan) Oh. You’re not really sure what kind of level he can get to, but certainly he’s a quality arm. And (Jordan) Walden is back. There’s a lot of reason for optimism as far as the pitching is concerned, and pitching and defense win games. On the offensive side, the key will be the continued offensive development of (Randal) Grichuk and (Stephen) Piscotty. You would like to have more big numbers on the board. They have to have more first to third. They have to have more guys moved over. They have to have more guys driven in from third base. You don’t want to need three hits to score a run. That happened too often last year.

Rick Horton on Twitter

STLSportsPage.com beat writer

The Cardinals might not win 100 games again in 2016, but could be a better team than the 2015 club. The return of Adam Wainwright and addition of Mike Leake more than offsets the losses of John Lackey and Lance Lynn. It will be interesting to see how Stephen Piscotty’s offensive numbers for a full year compare to those put up by Jason Heyward in Chicago, at a fraction of the cost. The loss of Jhonny Peralta for the first two months will hurt, but might help him be fresher and not worn down by the end of the year. Randal Grichuk had a good spring, but now has to prove that he can stay healthy enough to remain in the lineup. The player to watch as a key to the team’s offensive success is Matt Holliday. He needs a bounceback year, and he knows that better than anybody.

Rob Rains on Twitter

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 6:30 AM with the headline "What the experts are saying about the Cardinals."