St. Louis Cardinals: Three Reasons John Lackey is Easy to Hate

3. John Lackey is pretty damn good

If John Lackey wasn’t a good pitcher, then there be no reason to write this list. Lackey was a workhorse for the Cardinals last year, pitching the most innings of any starter on the team (218 IP).

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A more key element to that stat is that even though he pitched the most innings, he finished with a 2.77 ERA, which was good enough for second on the team behind Jaime Garcia, who only started 20 games. At 37-years-old, John Lackey is still a dominant force on the mound.

To build the case even further, in Lackey’s only start against the Cardinals since he left the club, he shut down the Redbirds. Lackey pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball while striking out 11 batters on the way to a 5-0 win. So far this season, Lackey is 4-2 in eight starts, with an ERA of 3.31.

Next: Time to Capitalize against Chicago

So, as the Cardinals approach Monday night’s game against Lackey and the Cubs, Cardinals’ fans hope to see less of what happened last time out. With Adam Wainwright on the mound, and beginning to look like his usual self, Cardinals fans should be a little more optimistic about facing Lackey this time around.

Do you have another reason to hate John Lackey? Let me hear it! You can find me on Twitter @NChill17 or hit me up in the comment section below.