St. Louis Cardinals’ Best Fantasy Draft Targets

Oct 10, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning in game two of the NLDS at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning in game two of the NLDS at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
Feb 18, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) throws during warm up drills at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) throws during warm up drills at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Adam Wainwright

Adam Wainwright is back in 2016 and ready to take his mantle as the Cardinals’ ace once again. And you better believe he is the Cardinals best fantasy starting pitcher option.

Wainwright is ranked 83rd overall on Yahoo’s list and 104th overall on ESPN. The ESPN ranking in particular is much too low and probably a product of Wainwright missing pretty much all of last season with his Achilles injury. ESPN even has Wainwright ranked 25th on their Top Starting Pitchers list behind Jon Lester, Danny Salazar, Marcus Stroman and the Cardinals very own Carlos Martinez. Wainwright is better than that.

I’ve already said I believe Wainwright will put up Cy Young worthy numbers this season. All signs point to him being over the Achilles injury. Not to mention, the injury wasn’t arm related and Wainwright saved a ton of innings and mileage on that arm, which is a blessing in disguise. He likely won’t give you 200 plus strikeouts (he’s only done that three times in his career), but what’s not to like about a guy with a career 2.98 ERA, 3.11 FIP and a 1.16 WHIP?

He shouldn’t be the very first pitcher you take in your draft (starting pitching is fairly deep this season in fantasy baseball), but if Wainwright falls far enough, then don’t waste time on scooping him up. You’ll be thankful that you did.

Next: Your next Cardinals' record holder