Better get your popcorn ready.
The Cardinals have 5 starting pitching spots open. The Cardinals have 8 players that are building strong cases for those 5 spots.
Adam Wainwright will make his first spring training start on Saturday. So the staff ace seems to be progressing to the point where he’ll miss only a start or two at the beginning of the season. Hell, he might be good to go to April 5th. Point being, he’s in the #1 spot and won’t require much, if any, backfill support.
John Lackey has started his limited spring and is set for the rotation. He went three strong innings Monday (against David Price) and is pretty much good to go.
Here’s where it starts to get interesting.
It’s looking like Mike Wacha is checking all the boxes when it comes to securing a rotation spot. When he’s right, he might be the most talented pitcher that the Cardinals have on their staff. Meanwhile Lance Lynn will be pitching a simulated game on Wednesday. If this trajectory continues, Lynn will not miss any regular season starts.
Leaving 3 guys for 1 spot:
- Marco Gonzales
- Jaime Garcia
- Carlos Martinez
The praise for Gonzales has been starting to snowball. And if this was a blind taste test, Marco would be the clear-cut favorite for the job.
Based on stats and efficiency, rookie Marco Gonzales setting pace in No. 5 race #Cardinals #stlcards http://t.co/WPLpHX7YS4
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 17, 2015
Problem is that if the Cardinals had their way, Gonzales would be on his way to AAA while Martinez and Garcia dueled it out for the 5th spot.
You can’t option Martinez and Garcia. But you also don’t have room for 2 guys in the bullpen just kind of biding time for spot starts or (ugh) an injury. Carrying basically 2 long relievers early isn’t ideal. Someone will have to get ‘un-stretched’.
Martinez has spent the past couple of seasons trying to leave the bullpen, only to get pulled back in. THIS was supposed to be the spring when the starter tag stuck. Oh, and Garcia? Don’t look now, but he’s actually doing well.
I know. #GoodTeamProblems.
Still, in a spring that was supposed to be devoid of a ton of drama (outside of seeing Jason Heyward wearing the Birds on Bat for the first time), somehow the Cardinals have developed a starting rotation problem of the good kind.
2.5 weeks to figure it all out for Coach Mike. Things are getting good down in Jupiter.
Photo: MLB.com
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