St. Louis Cardinals Best/Worst Case: Jaime Garcia

My Prediction: Garcia pitches well, stays one more year in St. Louis

I believe Garcia will pitch well enough in 2016 to get his option picked up by the Cardinals for the 2017 season.

I don’t foresee a fully healthy season from the lefty, though. An injury (even a minor one) is bound to spring up during the season, given his track record. Instead, I see Garcia managing about 25 starts this season with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 177 IP — good enough for 13 wins.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

That kind of season would certainly be deserving enough of the club to pick up his option for the 2017 season. But I’m not so convinced that those numbers (and yet another stint on the DL) would persuade the Cardinals to give Garcia another extension beyond 2017. Again, the Cardinals simply have too many young pitchers in the organization closing the gap to the Majors and ushering in the next batch of starters to lead this team’s rotation for years to come.

I, for one, will be rooting for Garcia. He has gone through his fair share of troubles throughout his seven-year career. I hope he can put the injuries behind him for good and lead this Cardinals rotation to another stellar season and into October for years to come.

Next: Best/Worst Case: Matt Holliday

For now, let’s enjoy watching Garcia take the mound in St. Louis.