How will lefty surplus affect the Cardinals’ offense and pitching?

Eight left-handed hitting position players. Seven southpaws. It’s not an ideal situation on any 40-man roster, but the Cardinals will undoubtedly have their fair share of lefties to choose from in 2015.

Other than last season, the Cardinals have not been notorious for carrying a surplus of lefties in recent years. But this trend may represent the development of the team, as 11 of these lefties on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster were originally drafted by St. Louis in the last decade.

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This surplus gives the Cardinals more players with left-handed capabilities than any other team in the NL Central, other than the Cincinnati Reds who also have 15. While there’s no exact limit as to how many of these specialists can make the 25-player Opening Day cut, St. Louis must be creative and find a balance with this surplus to be successful in 2015.

From an offensive standpoint, the Cardinals are projected to have five left-handed hitters in their lineup on a regular basis. Jason Heyward is the only newcoming starter, followed by the likes of Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams, Kolten Wong and Jon Jay. There’s even a slight possibility that sinistral infielders Dean Anna and Greg Garcia could compete for an infield bench spot, while left-handed hitting catcher Cody Stanley could debut later in 2015.

These left-handed hitters could benefit the Cardinals because many know to grind out at bats in uncomfortable situations. For instance, Jon Jay was able to reclaim his starting role in centerfield in 2014 because he improved his on-base percentage over twenty points from the previous season. This surplus also played in the Cardinals favor in the playoffs last year, as the lefty hitters drove in nine runs against Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw and combined for five home runs in the NLDS.

However, this excess may cause for some problems given that other teams are preaching more flexibility for their pitching specialists. This could prompt other teams to stick with their southpaw against a lefty-heavy lineup, even if the Cardinals alternate sides in their batting order. Pittsburgh’s Tony Watson is a good example of this strategy, as the NL Central foe has held lefties (.207 BAA) to about the same success as righties (.218 BAA) in his four-year career. 

While there’s no exact limit as to how many of these specialists can make the Opening Day cut, St. Louis must be creative and find a balance with this surplus to be successful in 2015.

On the rubber, the Cardinals don’t have any clear-cut southpaw starters. This makes for a (lefty)-overpowered bullpen that could feature the likes of Marco Gonzales, Randy Choate, Kevin Siegrist, Sam Freeman, Tyler Lyons or possibly even Nick Greenwood. Not to mention, Jaime Garcia recovering from left shoulder surgery last summer.

It’s essential that the Cardinals find a balance with all of these arms, especially since many of them posses different pitching styles. The Cardinals could use different southpaws in various circumstances, depending on what weaknesses exist for the opposing lefty hitter. Perhaps Siegrist could challenge hitters with high heat if he brushes up last year’s control issues, while Choate could use sinking pitches to induce more double plays.

On the contrary, having more than a few lefty relief pitchers takes away from the natural setup of the bullpen. The Cardinals carried four southpaws during a brief stretch in June last year, in which they lost three of five games between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. So if a right-handed reliever such as Seth Maness were to hypothetically come in for a few quick outs, and the set-up man and closer were unavailable, it could cause opponents to stack a right-handed heavy lineup to their own advantage and steal a victory in later innings.

Most teams can get away with carrying just a few sinistral hitters and a few southpaws, but the Cardinals’ current situation is far from ideal. Although the lefty surplus isn’t a direct problem for St. Louis yet, certain measures need to be taken in Spring Training to ensure that it doesn’t harm the Cardinals in the upcoming season.