Thursday, April 10, 2008

What's With the Cardinals' Starters?

Everyone thought going into the season the Cardinals' starting rotation would be a disaster. Well in the first week and a half of the season it has been the exact opposite. As of 4/10 they have the best rotation in baseball. The highest ERA among the starters is Braden Looper's 3.09. I'm stunned. We all know that Adam Wainwright is a good pitcher and most of us thought that was all they had. However, the rest of the guys are shutting opposing offenses down. Kyle Lohse is tied for the league lead with a 0.00 ERA after two starts. He also has 5 K and 4 BB in 12 IP. Todd Wellemeyer has been outstanding with a 2.25 ERA in 2 starts with 13 K and 4 BB. Brad Thompson has surprised a lot of people with a 2.53 ERA in 10.2 innings with 11 K and 4 BB. The previously mentioned Looper has 2 W, 7 K, 2 BB in 11.2 IP to go along with his 3.09 ERA. Wainwright has only one start due to a rainout but he looked very good going 8 strong and striking out 4 and walking only one batter. The combined ERA for the Cardinals' starting rotation = 2.02. Now how long can they keep this up? My guess is not long. Lohse can be straight up nasty at times. One game he can throw a CG shutout and the next day give up 8 ER in 2 IP. Wellemeyer has been a relief pitcher most of his career and not a very good one at that. Thompson is the youngest of the bunch and has some upside but how much is yet to be determined. Looper may be a serviceable fantasy option in deep leagues. He's shown he can keep his ERA down but he has injury concerns. Wainwright still remains the only worthy fantasy player out of the five in mixed leagues. If you're in an NL only league and have an open spot on your squad it might be worth picking up one or even two of these guys and ride them while they're hot. Basically what I'm saying is, good job so far Cards pitchers but it won't be long until you fail. I'm trying to be objective as possible here, lol. That's enough Cardinals talk for a while.

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