The St. Louis Cardinals took the field June 10, 2012 against the Cleveland Indians with seven of their projected starters on the disabled list and Matt Holliday on the bench with a minor injury. Not surprisingly, the team was mired in an 11-19 slump. But the Cardinals might be better prepared to handle a similar rash of injuries in 2013.

Ty Wigginton will add depth to the Cardinals bench.

The 2012 Cardinals fought through much of May and June without the likes of Jon Jay, Skip Schumaker, Lance Berkman and Matt Carpenter. That stretch tested the team’s depth as players such as Shane Robinson, Daniel Descalso and Matt Adams did their best to fill the holes left in the lineup and on the field.

The Cardinals were far from a great team at that point in the season, and their record during that portion of the season is a large reason why they finished nine games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.

Sure, the Cardinals likely wouldn’t have caught the Reds regardless, but they would’ve been five games out if they went 15-15 in the 30-game stretch in May and June, and they would’ve been in a final-week battle with the Reds had they played above .500 in that stretch.

Looking ahead to 2013, the Cardinals still have a fairly veteran lineup that will probably feature at least four players 30 years old or older. Age and health were concerns for the Cardinals heading into last season, and many of those same concerns will remain this year. Lance Berkman is the only player age 30 or older who is no longer with the team.

That means the Cardinals will need to have players ready to fill in and contribute at a high level when injuries hit.

The only free agent hitter they signed in the offseason was 35-year-old Ty Wigginton, so they didn’t bolster their bench, especially after trading Schumaker to the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, the team still has more depth on its roster and in the minor leagues.

If shortstop Rafael Furcal gets hurt, the Cardinals can call on last year’s late-season hero Pete Kozma, who showed last year he can be productive. If Carlos Beltran or Matt Holliday get hurt, Allen Craig could move from first base or Matt Carpenter could fill those spots. Plus, minor leaguers such as outfielder Oscar Taveras and second baseman Kolten Wong are nearly ready to play in the big leagues, anyway.

Realistically, the Cardinals would have to have more than five starters hurt at the same time before they would start running out of decent replacement options. But even in that case, Adams is still an option to fill in at first base from time to time, so long as he shows some improvement from his 27-game stint in the big leagues that yielded a .244 batting average with two homeruns and 13 RBIs.

In addition to depth in the field, the Cardinals found last year that they have quite a stockpile of young pitchers who now have postseason experience and can certainly fill any gaps if someone in the rotation or bullpen gets hurt. Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal are all more-than-decent options should Adam Wainwright or Chris Carpenter get hurt again, or if Jaime Garcia continues to have shoulder problems.

The Cardinals haven’t done much during the offseason to fortify their bench, but they already have enough interchangeable parts on their roster to keep the team competitive should they face another year when the regular lineup struggles to stay healthy.

And with a veteran team, those replacement parts are most likely going to be vital to the team’s success in 2013.

The St. Louis Cardinals knew they had an old team heading into the 2012 season, and injuries or players wearing down in the course of the regular season were the team’s most likely downfall. The Cardinals have sustained injuries throughout the season, but now fatigue is doing its best to take down the team

Shortstop Rafeal Furcal tore a ligament in his right elbow Aug. 30 in Washington after dealing with back problems for weeks, outfielder Matt Holliday was sidelined much of the last week with a sore back and outfielder Carlos Beltran has flat out stopped hitting.

Beltran had been among the league leaders in homeruns and RBIs for much of the season, but he has hit .165 in the last month with two homeruns and eight RBIs. He is now fifth in the National League with 28 homeruns, 10 behind leader Ryan Braun, and eighth in RBIs with 86.

Maybe Beltran’s knee is causing him more serious issues than he lets on, but either way the Cardinals have lost a very important bat in the middle of their lineup. With Beltran’s slump, Holliday’s back problems and Berkman trying to come back from a stay on the disabled list, the Cardinals no longer have a scary heart of the order.

Unfortunately, these issues couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Cardinals were able to survive early season injuries to Berkman, Allen Craig, Skip Schumaker and Matt Carpenter without losing too much ground in the standings.

That likely won’t be possible now. The Cincinnati Reds are running away with the National League Central Division and could be headed to 100 wins. The Cardinals still hold the second wild-card spot, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates remain well within striking distance. Both teams were 1.5 games behind the Cardinals heading into play Saturday.

Manager Mike Matheny could be an easy target for a team that is wearing out near the end of the season, but there isn’t much he could do about these issues. He made sure starters got days off often at the beginning of the season, and he actually received criticism for not playing his best lineup often enough. The problem is the team just wasn’t built with much room for injuries and fatigue.

The Cardinals Opening Day lineup featured six players who are now 30 years or older. A team that old has to receive a fair amount of luck to make it through an entire season without dealing with many injury problems.

The Cardinals certainly haven’t received much luck in that department, but it also shouldn’t surprise everyone when the offense struggles. Sure, a team that leads the league in hitting shouldn’t go four straight games without scoring an earned run, as the Cardinals did Aug. 28-31 against the Pirates and Nationals, but it would also be unrealistic to think the offense would continue to churn out five or more runs a game nearly every night.

Despite the recent struggles, life is still pretty good for the Cardinals. They entered play Saturday in the second wild-card spot and 4.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top wild-card position.

Plus, the upcoming schedule is favorable. The Cardinals have just four of their next 18 games against teams with a winning record, although all but five of those games are on the road. Still, this upcoming stretch might give the Cardinals a chance to get well for a final push toward the playoffs. They are going to need it.

The six-hour, 19-inning marathon that took place on Sunday was just another kink in the chain that is the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals’ season. The Cardinals’ heart of the order, the one so dominant when they are all hitting well, was a combined 2 for 22.Matt Holliday was 0 for 7, Carlos Beltran 2 for 7 and David Freese 0 for 8.   A game that saw Jaime Garcia dominate in his return from an arm injury, looking like the Garcia of 2010, was marred by poor offense and some strange decision-making.

St. Louis had chance after chance to end the game with a W. The biggest opportunity came in the 17th. Skip Schumaker‘s single to center, the one that Andrew McCutchen bobbled, turned out to be the deciding moment of the game. Had Schumaker seen McCutchen fumble the ball and advanced to 2nd as Cutch threw to 3rd, Jon Jay”s base hit likely would’ve been the game-winning hit.

But, instead of a wild and entertaining 17-inning win, Cardinal fans find themselves talking about a heartbreaking 19-inning loss. Instead of being tied for the second Wild Card spot, St. Louis remains two games back of Pittsburgh.

Manager Mike Matheny is right when he said earlier this week that the team is struggling to get the one timely hit that can get the Cardinals a victory. The Cardinals’ offense may be the best in the league statistically, but it also one of the streakiest in baseball. Take the 8-2 win over San Francisco on August 6th, for example. Two days later, the Cardinals were embarrassed by the Giants in a 15-0 loss.

The Cards have had a string of rough losses as of late. The blown save by closer Jason Motte on Thursday and struggling offense on Friday led to two very frustrating one-run losses. St. Louis is 13-21 in one-run games in 2012. By comparison, Cincinnati is 20-17, while Pittsburgh is 25-20. With Sunday’s extra inning loss, the Cardinals’ record in such games fell to 3-9. The Pirates are now 4-0 in extras, while the Reds are 4-5.

Starting with tonight’s game against the Astros, the Redbirds will play 16 straight games before their next off day. Ten of them will be on the road – against the division-leading Reds, Pirates, and NL East-leading Nationals respectively. This stretch – particularly the games on the road – will likely determine whether the team will have what it takes to make the playoffs, or roll over and be watching from home once the regular season ends.

In order for the Cards to prove themselves, they must get everything clicking at once. That means that the heart of the order must get out of their respective slumps, the bullpen must right the ship, the offense must be consistent, and Motte needs to return to his old self. In addition, the team must win more one-run ballgames and win more in extras. It might be too much to ask at this point in the season. The Cards were able to find their way late last year, however, and have to do that if they want to play baseball in October.

Last year, St. Louis pulled off an improbable feat. The circumstances in 2012 are not near what they were a season ago, but some of that magic needs to rub off on this team. It’s not necessarily time to panic just yet, but time is running out. The good news is, the Cards have all the tools. All we can do now is just watch and wait.

With Albert Pujols in California with the Angels and Lance Berkman on the disabled list with more knee problems, the St. Louis Cardinals have to get consistent production from Allen Craig during the final six weeks of the season if they want a shot at a postseason berth.

Craig has played remarkably when he’s been in the lineup. He’s hitting .294 with 17 homeruns and 59 RBIs. Unfortunately, he’s played in just 71 of the Cardinals’ 113 games heading into play Saturday.

He started the year on the disabled list while recovering from knee surgery, but he also missed the second half of May with more leg problems and he missed Wednesday’s 15-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants with chest problems.

The Cardinals have survived while Craig was absent with Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams sharing time at first base early in the season, but the Cardinals cannot afford for Craig to be out of the lineup the rest of the season.

Berkman’s return is unlikely at best, Carpenter is a good bench player but nothing more and Adams still needs some time in the minors to develop into a major league player. The Cardinals have long had a stable force at first base with Pujols, and they desperately need stability at that position the rest of the season.

The Cardinals sat six games behind the Cincinnati Reds and 2.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates heading into play Saturday.

This year’s Cardinals likely won’t need a repeat of the 2011 team that finished the season on a 23-9 record to reach the playoffs, but they can no longer split series with the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

It will take just one two-week stretch of fantastic baseball and the Cardinals will be in a playoff spot, but they will need production from the right side of the infield to get on a roll.

The combination of Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso at second base isn’t going to produce any spectacular numbers the rest of the season, but that doesn’t mean Craig has to be Superman either.

Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran and David Freese will have to do the heavy lifting, but Craig will have to hit consistently at the plate. Sure, Craig good hit .500 for a week and go 0-for the next week. His numbers would look fine, but the Cardinals need him to hit well consistently, not have awesome and horrible stretches.

Craig had hit 8-28 in August before a recent 1-7 performance since his return from the chest injury, and the Cardinals will need more than a .264 batting average the rest of the season.

Hopefully, the time Craig missed early in the season will allow him to be fresh during the stretch run. The regular season has reached the point when managers need to limit the days off and forget decisions made to keep guys fresh throughout the year. This is the payoff time for those early season decisions.

The Cardinals are still well within striking distance for a playoff spot, and even a chance to run down the Reds for the division title. But they will need players such as Craig to be in the lineup every day for this to be a fun race to the playoffs.

This week, the St. Louis Cardinals began to show what they are capable of again, at least from a pitching standpoint. But they are still a long way from right.

The rotation of Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, Lance Lynn, Jake Westbrook, and Joe Kelly collectively had an ERA just a shade over 2.00 this week, allowing nine earned runs over 40 innings. Lynn had the best start of his young career against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, allowing no runs while striking out 12. But the rest of the starters looked good, too. Even Jake Westbrook—who has struggled mightily over the past four to six weeks—turned in a six-inning outing Thursday night where he allowed three runs and five hits and kept the Cardinals in the game before they pulled out the win. It may not be a Bob Gibson line, but it is pretty good for Westbrook considering what he has given the Cards recently.

The bullpen flashed a few bright spots this week as well. Jason Motte was three for three in save opportunities; he had a few earned runs tacked to his total but the saves are important there. Victor Marte, Sam Freeman, Fernado Salas and Eduardo Sanchez threw a total of 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run and only two batters managed to even get a hit off the quartet.

Now, of course, the trick is sustaining it and adding some consistency to the mix.

On the other side of the ball, the Cards’ offense continues to sputter. Since hanging 14 runs on the Houston Astros June 7, the Cardinals have managed to score more than two runs in a game only once: Thursday’s 5-3 win over the White Sox. That is abysmal output. And yes, guys are missing and the guys that are in the dugout are hurting too. But that excuse only carries so far. Everyone is hurting right now; every team is dealing with some injury or another.

And speaking of injuries, some of the forgotten brethren on the disabled list appear ready to re-join the big club soon. Matt Carpenter and Skip Schumaker are already on rehab assignments, and Chris Carpenter threw a couple of pitches off a mound. That’s huge news for the Cards, especially Schumaker’s and Carpenter’s.

The Cincinnati Reds have a four game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals as of Saturday morning. So nothing is out of reach for the Cards. The competition in the NL Central does figure to remain stiff for the remainder of the season, but at this point all the Cards really need is a healthy team and a shot at the postseason. And they will most definitely need the former to achieve the latter.

At this point, it does look like the Cardinals will end up getting some of their key guys back in the not-too-distant future. If the rest of the team has put themselves in a position to win more often than not, the return of the walking wounded is just that much sweeter. So it is big to see the rotation settling in and the bullpen settling down. Now if the lineup could only start scoring runs again…

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter at @birdbrained.

Coming into May the Cardinals had a three-game lead in the NL Central at the end of April. At the end of their May grind they’re 27-24, in second place, chasing the Reds, and trying to fend off third-place Pittsburgh.

After falling again in Atlanta, and sending three more players to the disabled list in all likelihood, the Cardinals will be pleased to put the month of May behind them.

But two questions remain. Can they put the losing behind them? Will June be any better?

Skip Schumaker doesn’t enjoy watching the St. Louis Cardinals add to their injury woes, particularly when he’s the newest name on the list.

Schumaker suffered a hamstring injury he fears will send him to the disabled list during the Cardinals’ 10-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals kept third baseman David Freese and outfielder Carlos Beltran out of the starting lineup due to injuries, while starting pitcher Jaime Garcia was back in St. Louis for an MRI on his sore right elbow.

Outfielders Jon Jay and Allen Craig, first basemen Lance Berkman and Matt Carpenter, and starting pitcher Chris Carpenter are the most prominent names already are on the DL.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Schumaker said. “I was hoping I wouldn’t be part of it. We have a very good team on the DL right now.”

Schumaker will return to St. Louis for an MRI on Thursday.

“It’s not good,” said Schumaker, who started in right field. “If I had to guess, it’s probably a DL thing.”

The Cardinals went 13-16 during a troubling May, getting thrown for losses in several areas, including the standings. They struggled through four losing streaks of at least three games and in mounting frustration they endured the madness of four one-run losses.

Fernando Salas, a valuable bullpen component in 2011, couldn’t reverse a terrible decline and was demoted to the minors. Salas became the symbol of a Cardinals’ bullpen that was rocked throughout the month. After another meltdown in Wednesday’s 10-7 loss to the Braves, the bullpen finished May with a 5.44 ERA and a whopping 138 base runners allowed in 82 2/3 innings.

Not to be outdone the starting rotation played their role as well in the May swoon.  Fading mightily after cranking out a strong 2.57 ERA in April. That was unsustainable. The inevitable regression led to a 4.50 starting-pitching ERA in May

Notes:

–CF Skip Schumaker, who was getting more time with OFs Jon Jay and Allen Craig disabled, singled in the fifth inning on Tuesday, extending his hitting streak to seven games, during which he is 9-for-26 (.346).

–C Yadier Molina raised his average to .337 with his third four-hit game of the season. “I feel good at the plate, but I would take my 1-for-5 last night and a win and not take 4-for-4 and a loss,” he said.

BY THE NUMBERS: 3-9 — The Cardinals’ record in one-run games after Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Braves.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I just need to do a better job. I haven’t been very good the last four or five starts.” — RHP Jake Westbrook, who has given up 31 hits and 19 runs (17 earned) in his past 20 innings, covering four starts. None has been a win either for Westbrook or the team.

–3B David Freese (mildly sprained right wrist) did not play May 28-29. He is unlikely to return before June 1.

–OF/1B Allen Craig (left hamstring strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 17. He might be ready to return as soon as he is eligible.

–CF Jon Jay (sprained right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list May 15. He might be able to return during the week of May 28-June 3.

–INF Matt Carpenter (strained right oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list May 23.

–1B Lance Berkman (torn meniscus in right knee) went on the 15-day disabled list May 20. He had arthroscopic surgery May 25, and no ACL damage was found. He might return in mid- to late July.

I had the opportunity to take in my first 2012 St. Louis Cardinal game at Busch Stadium this past Sunday, as they defeated the punch-less Cubs behind a very solid pitching performance from Jake Westbrook and tremendous days at the plate from Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenter. That win pushed the Cardinals to 7-3 on the young season.

One of the worst mistakes any blogger/journalist can make is take a small sample size (like 10 games) and make a lot of assumptions or unreasonable projections, but soaking in the beautiful day at Busch Stadium during a blowout of the Cubbies….I just could not help myself.

I began to ask a lot of “what if” questions.

-What if this team under new leadership, starts another great era of Cardinal baseball without a reloading period following the key off-season losses?

Mike Matheny has been preaching respect. He has preached playing the Cardinal Way. He has reminded the team what it means to wear the Birds on the Bat. They are playing hard and playing with confidence. The Cardinals could not have asked for a better start to the season. If you had told me that the first two weeks would be played without Allen Craig, Skip Schumaker, and Chris Carpenter, see Lance Berkman, David Freese, Jon Jay, and Carlos Beltran miss time with aches and pains, AND yet to have the “real” Adam Wainwright make an appearance; I would have predicted 3-8 not 8-3. Many experts in the industry warned of a mediocre season for St. Louis following the loss of Pujols, Duncan, and LaRussa. There are 25 solid players in the clubhouse and a coaching staff that does not believe a “reload” is necessary. They play hard for each other and want to win now.

Could this mix of veterans and deep farm system usher in a new era of being perennial playoff contenders, just like 2000-06, when the Cardinals made the playoffs six out of seven consecutive seasons? What if…..

-What if Matheny does not listen to the doubters who say he can not manage a winning ballclub without any experience…and the team keeps on winning ?

-What if Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook continue pitching this well in their contract years?

-What if Pujols did not afford the other batters in the lineup as much protection as we thought he did? These guys can hit the baseball. It is a solid, deep, and balanced lineup.

-What if the bullpen is actually better this year than it was last year? Matheny lets relievers who are pitching well stay in the game, as opposed to playing the matchups constantly like LaRussa did. He looks more at the quality of the pitches that night, and less at the spreadsheet of past performance. This just might create an added level of confidence in the bullpen that the better they perform, the more they get to pitch.

-What if the team makes great selections with five of the first 59 draft picks?…and keeps stocking its deep farm system with future impact players. The model of surrounding four or five key veterans with young talent seems to be the Cardinals best chance for sustained excellence. They have a tremendous opportunity during this year’s draft to get a bunch of great young talent that they can keep for at least  six years at a very reasonable price.

-What if Carpenter returns to form by summer and Wainwright returns to his former dominant self? The rotation would be just plain scary.

-What if this team is tired of the talk they can’t repeat without Pujols and LaRussa? Touched on this one above, but this is a highly talented group of professionals with a very competitive edge. This was most evidence by several players showing up to camp after a short off-season in the best shape of their lives. They are motivated to win this year.

Look, I know everything seems like rainbows and lollipops after such a fast start. The trials will come. Matheny will cost them a game with a bad decision at some point. But as I sat in the bleachers Sunday afternoon, I had a realization of just how many things are going right in Cardinal Nation right now.

For years, the talk was how losing Pujols would derail the organization into mediocrity. I am simply proposing that may not be the case. In fact, this organization may be the brink of a new standard of sustained excellence. That is a very big leap to make after 11 games, I know. This could be the start of another spell of playoff runs like the team had at the start of the century.

With a solid rotation, deep lineup, a manager they love to play for, and motivation to silence the doubters, they have as good a chance as any to make quite a run for seasons to come.

The St. Louis Cardinals start their regular season in less than a week in Miami against the Marlins.

Just has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

The 25-man roster is set as of Friday. Sure, a few wrinkles have to be ironed out…no one is really sure who will hit leadoff, the second slot also may be up in the air, Rafael Furcal is not himself so far this spring, who is going to play the majority of games at second base, and how will a bench full of youth rise to the occasion when called upon to get a hit when the team is in a tight spot?

All of those lingering decisions come to a head Wednesday evening when the Cards open their season with a semi-ridiculous single game at the Marlins’ new stadium. Then it’s off to Milwaukee, where the Cardinals will kick off a stretch of 27 games in a row vs. the NL Central.

It is really hard to focus in on only positives or only negatives at a time like this. The Cardinals saw significant turnover—in terms of who left, not how many—this past offseason. They will open the 2012 campaign without Chris Carpenter, Skip Schumaker, or Allen Craig. But they also have Carlos Beltran set to make his Cardinals debut. The pitchers who are still with the club have looked pretty good so far. And they have three players (Erik Komatsu, Shane Robinson, Matt Carpenter) who will be on a Major League roster on Opening Day for the first time in their careers, which confirms the Cards’ system continues to churn out talent.

The biggest key to the 2012 campaign for the Cardinals will be health and durability. They already have three solid contributors on the disabled list to start the season; consequently the organizational depth is once again tested from the get-go. But the list of Cardinal players who have extensive, recent injury issues and the 25-man roster look strikingly similar. Is this a team that will be proven to be made of glass? It’s easy to lean on the idea of “Hey, the 2011 season started out pretty rough but look how that turned out!” but that only gets a team so far. If half the active roster appears to be made of glass, no amount of personnel shifts will ever be enough.

Ah, but that’s why they play the games (and so many of them). The MLB season truly is a marathon, not a sprint. The Cards could end up with a healthy and complete lineup by the All Star Break and be in good shape for the second half of the season. Why not?

Game number one in 2012 is just a couple days away, and all questions will begin to be answered.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

On Friday the St. Louis Cardinals announced Skip Schumaker has an oblique strain and will be on the shelf for a while. If there was ever a time for Tyler Greene to take advantage of a situation in order to make the Cards’ Opening Day roster as their second baseman, this is it.

Earlier this year, the Cards touted Greene as having every opportunity to win the starting job at second. Greene is out of options, and has been a prospect on the verge seemingly forever. But his 2012 Spring Training has been less than stellar offensively (.136 AVG, 0 HR, 7 K in 22 AB), and Greene has proven to be prone to the yips defensively. The talk always used to be “Greene tightens up around Tony LaRussa.” Well, LaRussa’s gone. So every time Greene goes 0-fer or botches a play in the field this year, it becomes more and more glaring.

To make things even worse, the sure-handed Daniel Descalso has been hitting the ball well (.409, 1 HR, 3 K in 22 AB) so far this preseason. His ability to play all over the diamond makes him an important player; an offensive surge makes him tough to keep out of the lineup at all. Spring Training stats are never anything to get too excited over either way, but when the difference is as stark as it is between Greene and Descalso, it’s kind of hard not to notice.

Normally, Schumaker’s injury may have landed him on the DL had it occurred during the regular season, but such a move is not necessary during Spring Training. He will rest for a few days or a few weeks or whatever it takes. But no matter what, he’s making this club. For one, he makes too much money not to. But Schumaker is also a valuable asset both in the clubhouse and on the field. He is a core player on this team, even if he’s only fringy core, and is one of the leaders on the roster. When the Cardinals head back to St. Louis in a few weeks, Schumaker will be a member of the team.

Perhaps the fact that both Schumaker and Descalso are such valuable and versatile pieces helps Greene some. All he really does well is play middle infield, and when he’s on he can look pretty good doing it. Descalso excelled as a late-inning replacement at third base in 2011, and Schumaker may be needed in the outfield more than anywhere else if his injury heals before Allen Craig’s does. But if Greene continues to struggle and Descalso continues to look locked in, Mike Matheny will have no choice but to start the latter at second. Maybe he employs a platoon at the position when Schumaker returns so he can move both guys around their other positons as necessary, who knows. Regardless, in that scenario—which does not sound at all outlandish—where does Greene fit?

This truly could be do or die time for Tyler Greene. He has received a lot of playing time at second base this spring, and that will only increase while Schumaker recovers. Greene has to find a way to settle down, find his stroke at the plate, and play his game in the field to remind the Cards’ powers that be why they drafted him in the first place. Otherwise his time may finally run out for good with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

Our final look around the St. Louis Cardinals stops on the pitching staff. As games in Jupiter begin shortly here is a look at the make-up of said staff before they break camp.

The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals were admittedly built around their offense. The trade of Brendan Ryan coupled with the acquisition of Ryan Theriot meant a defensive sacrifice at one of the toughest spots in the field. Combining this with Skip Schumaker at second and the rather limited range of the outfield, the team surrendered 84 unearned runs, the most in the majors.

The pitching staff, initially, was thought to be somewhat of an asset, if not overly a huge strength. The tandem of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright would be generally considered one of the strongest 1-2 combinations in the majors. As Murphy’s Law quickly pointed out, that wasn’t the case.

Heading into 2012 the Cardinals, with a healthy Wainwright, look to have the best rotation in the NL Central.

Chris Carpenter;  11-9, 3.45 ERA, 191 K, 105 ERA+, 1.256 WHIP

The first half of 2011 was a pretty rough one for Carpenter. As of June 17, he was 1-7 with an ERA of 4.47. After that, though, something clicked in his head, and he became the Chris Carpenter we’re accustomed to seeing, going 10-2 the rest of the way with a 2.73 ERA.

As an unforeseen consequence of the playoff run, however, Carpenter threw a total of 273.1 innings. Back when teams had four-man rotations, this wasn’t generally a big deal. Nowadays, especially for a pitcher who turns 37 in April and has had two surgeries on his throwing arm, it could be pretty significant. The Cardinals have already announced they will abbreviate his pitching schedule in spring training, and possibly beyond, in order to accommodate his arm. Carpenter signed a new two-year deal in the off-season, likely making the Cardinals the final team of his career.

Adam Wainwright; DNP

As soon as it was announced Wainwright would undergo Tommy John surgery, the season got a lot darker. There’s little question that even with Carpenter on the team, Wainwright had been the ace of the staff the last couple of seasons. In a two-year span, he’d gone 39-19 with a 2.53 ERA, 1.131 WHIP, and 3.48 K/BB ratio.

By all accounts, he’s throwing hard and able to snap off his curveball as effectively as before the surgery. Here’s hoping for a full season of health from him. The Cardinals picked up his option for 2012 and 2013, after which he’ll become a free agent. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the dominant starting pitchers in the league. This is, unfortunately, the second major injury he’s suffered in the last four years (he suffered a finger injury in 2008 that forced him to miss more than two months), so one has to wonder whether durability will become an issue.

Jaime Garcia; 13-7, 3.56 ERA, 156 K, 102 ERA+, 1.320 WHIP

Most likely the biggest factor was fatigue. After Garcia missed part of 2008 and most of 2009 due to Tommy John surgery, Garcia threw 163.1 innings in 2010 (previously, the most he’d thrown was 155 innings…in 2006). Typically, pitching coaches try to limit the increase in innings on a young arm to no more than 25 over the previous season, but Garcia blew past that in 2011: 194.2 in the regular season and another 25.2 in the playoffs.

Garcia has emerged as a legitimate above-average pitcher, and the return of Adam Wainwright should help alleviate some of the pressure on him. He signed an extension to his contract through 2015, with team options for 2016 and 2017, so he’ll be around a while. When his game is on, he’s on; he just has to improve the consistency of when he’s on.

Kyle Lohse; 14-8, 3.39 ERA, 111 K, 107 ERA+, 1.168 WHIP

Lohse is in the final year of his contract, and he was fully healthy last year and produced, unlike the first two years of his contract. He may not be as effective this year (his Batting Average for Balls in Play was an unusually low .269, a full 33 points below his career average), but if he stays healthy, he’s one of the better number four starters in the league. One interesting note about his career is that his best years tend to come every third year: 2002, 2005, 2008, and 2011 were all notable for being better than the rest of his career. Also, he’s the only member of the Cardinals’ starting rotation who hasn’t undergone Tommy John surgery.

Jake Westbrook; 12-9, 4.66 ERA, 104 K, 78 ERA+, 1.533 WHIP

Westbrook was the odd man out in the rotation during the playoffs, but he still played an important role. Westbrook pitched in two games and threw two scoreless innings, including the crucial 11th inning of Game 6. Facing four batters, two of which included Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli, Westbrook limited the Rangers to a single base hit, setting the stage for David Freese’s heroics.

Other than the season he missed due to Tommy John, Westbrook’s been a generally durable pitcher. He reported to camp this year having lost about 25 lbs. in an effort to increase his endurance and lighten the workload on his legs. I won’t be so bold as to predict a 20 win, sub-3.00 ERA season, but if Furcal can stay healthy and the Greene/Descalso combination can perform adequately at second base, it’s not unreasonable to expect 13-14 wins and a solid 180-200 innings from him. Coming from a fifth starter, you can’t ask for too much more.

Bullpen

At the end of the 2011 regular season, the Cardinals ranked 17th in bullpen ERA. But this was a group that evolved during the course of the season, as young relievers settled in, and by the time the Cardinals got to the World Series, it was a very different bullpen than it was in the frustrating days of early September. Jason Motte was never formally named the closer under Tony La Russa; maybe he’ll get that title from Mike Matheny. Marc Rzepczynski is viewed as an untapped gem, and maybe with a full season working under pitching coach Dave Duncan, he’ll become a dominant setup man.

Injury Contingencies

Now, should one of the starters go down, the two most likely emergency starters would be Lance Lynn or Kyle McClellan. McClellan held his own as a starter last season for most of the first half, but eventually he faltered, perhaps due in part to lack of stamina (formerly a starter in the minors, he pitched the first three years and the last half of 2011 in the bullpen). Lynn is also a career starter in the minors who found his niche in the majors in the bullpen. He started two games last year, and other than his first rough outing, he was pretty lights out: in his final 17 games, he went 1-0 with a 2.15 ERA and allowed a slashline of just .204/.281/.301 while striking out 35 batters in 29.1 innings. During the playoffs, he was pretty solid. In the NLCS and World Series, apart from Game 6 (when he gave up three earned runs in 1.2 innings), he gave up a total of one earned run in 9.1 innings.