St. Louis Cardinals: Five New Year Resolutions for 2018

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The St. Louis Cardinals have missed the postseason the last two seasons. Here are five New Year’s Resolutions that can return them to the playoff picture in 2018.

Baseball pundits have thoroughly documented the regression of the St. Louis Cardinals since their most recent World Series triumph in 2011. It’s all too easy to identify: World Series win in 2011, NLCS loss in 2012, World Series loss in 2013, NLCS loss in 2014, NLDS loss in 2015, 2nd place and no postseason in 2016, and, most recently, 3rd place and no postseason in 2017.

October baseball defines the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s the lowest barometer the city sets for the home team. Although the Cardinals’ playoff drought has reached a meager two seasons, the longer, downward trend of the team during the current decade should create more reason for concern.

Mounted frustration among fans and Cardinals’ brass has prompted a commitment to improve this offseason, and they have added impact players to their roster.

“It’s a familiar thing now if it’s back-to-back years. It’s not unfamiliar anymore because it’s back-to-back seasons.” Tommy Pham on missing the postseason

Marcell Ozuna instantly becomes the Redbirds’ best weapon in the lineup. Miles Mikolas should fit in nicely in the starting rotation. Luke Gregerson is now one of Mike Mathney’s better late-inning options out of the bullpen.

Nevertheless, adding players can only do so much for a team. The Cardinals must consider what has gone awry in previous seasons, especially the last two where they failed to qualify for the postseason.

In 2016 the issues were evident. Poor baserunning, a lack of fundamentals on defense, too much reliance on home runs, and, perhaps most alarming, the team couldn’t win at Busch Stadium.

In 2017, many of the same issues plagued the Redbirds. The baserunning left much to be desired, the defense was better, but still not great, the bullpen often faltered, and instead of boasting an excess of power on offense, the lineup lacked a true impact bat in the middle of the order.

A combination of analyzing the past and building for the future could vault the Cardinals from a downward trend to the middle of the playoff hunt in 2018. If all goes as planned, St. Louis could even compete with the Chicago Cubs to reclaim Central Division superiority.

With that in mind, here are five New Year’s resolutions that can help the Cardinals get there:

The St. Louis Cardinals must commit to having the best bullpen in the National League.

One of the St. Louis Cardinals’ pitfalls in 2017 was an unstable bullpen. It’s not that the complimentary relievers weren’t solid; they usually were. It was the lack of a pair or trio of shut-down relievers to preserve late-inning leads.

John Brebbia, Tyler Lyons, Sam Tuivailala, and Matthew Bowman all pitched admirably last season, but the Cardinals didn’t count on any of them to be true stopgaps in the late innings.

Brebbia came out of nowhere to post a 2.44 earned run average and 0.929 WHIP in 51 2/3 innings. He has late-inning stuff, but he never quite settled in to a late inning role.

Lyons emerged as Matheny’s best left-handed option out of the bullpen. In 54 innings, the lanky lefty posted a 2.83 ERA and racked up 68 strikeouts. The Cardinals will lean on Lyons heavily again in 2018 to get big outs in relief.

Tuivailala earned an increased role in 2017, and delivered with a 2.55 ERA in 37 appearances. He cut down on the walks (11), and displayed better control and a variety of pitches in a breakout year. Still with limited major league exposure, his role in the Cardinals’ 2018 bullpen remains unclear.

Last season, Matheny preferred to mix and match late inning relievers rather than hand the role to a certain individual. One can hardly blame him. With Trevor Rosenthal and Seung-Hwan Oh‘s struggles in the ninth inning, Matheny might as well have played roulette with his bullpen selections. Without a dominant closer, building up to the ninth inning was a challenge.

Signing Gregerson early in the offseason signaled the beginning of rebuilding the bullpen. Gregerson should be a capable set-up reliever, but the Cardinals still need a closer and a second set-up man to move from an average bullpen to a dominant one.

Greg Holland and Addison Reed are the best free agent closers that remain on the market. Holland would cost the Cardinals a draft pick thanks to the Colorado Rockies’ qualifying offer, and would also likely cost more money than Reed. Either way, signing a closer will not be cheap.

The Cardinals also have an option in Alex Colome. They would need to execute a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays to land the All-Star closer, but the Cardinals and Rays have already engaged in trade talks this offseason.

If the Cardinals could trade for Colome and sign either Holland or Reed to be an eighth-inning specialist, they would be in good shape. Otherwise, acquiring one of the three aforementioned while leaning on Gregerson, Brebbia, and Lyons to hold leads until the ninth inning would be an improvement from 2017.

A dominant bullpen is all the more important for the Cardinals in 2018 considering the state of their starting rotation. The starters have plenty of upside, but also plenty of question marks.

How many innings can the Cardinals expect from Luke Weaver in his first season in a major league rotation? Can Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha provide enough innings to be workhorses in the rotation? Will Mikolas be an innings-eater?

A strong bullpen can ease some of the concerns surrounding the rotation. Furthermore, given Matheny’s propensity for questionable bullpen management, a greater variety of quality relief options is always better than fewer. Should one set-up man falter, insurance in the late innings is an easy remedy.

As the old baseball quip goes, the two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen. Relief pitchers finish off games, but a complete roster often starts with the bullpen.

The St. Louis Cardinals must trust their young starting pitchers to deliver big in 2018.

As mentioned, the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation is one of the more intriguing parts of the roster entering the new year. Most notably, Luke Weaver is slotted for a starting spot after coming on strong in the rotation late last season.

Weaver went 7-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 13 appearances last season, 10 of them starts. The Cardinals appear ready to let go of the reigns and commit to him being a big piece of the rotation. Make no mistake, this is absolutely the right move with Weaver. He was a first round pick for a reason.

Surely there will be growing pains for Weaver, but he has the maturity as a young starter to blossom quickly. He’s performed exceptionally in the Cardinals’ minor league system. He’s at the stage where there’s nothing more he needs to prove. He deserves a spot in the starting rotation.

Weaver isn’t the only young Redbird that will get a look this season in the rotation. Alex Reyes is on the mend, and will likely hear his name called to start some games for the Cardinals this season. The organization will ease him along, since he’s still the team’s top overall prospect and rebounding from major surgery.

At the same time, once he’s ready to go, the Cardinals shouldn’t hesitate to plug him into the rotation should the need arise. Reyes has the size to withstand a large workload, and certainly the stuff to be dominant.

If the Cardinals find themselves in the thick of the playoff race come summer, Reyes could be the guy to put them over the top. The organization must be prudent in considering Reyes’ future, but also opportunistic in using Reyes to accomplish what it desires in 2018.

Aside from Weaver and Reyes, the Cardinals still have some starting pitching depth at the minor league level. After trading Sandy Alcantara to the Miami Marlins as part of the Marcell Ozuna deal, Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson are the top two starting pitching prospects in the Cardinals’ system.

Flaherty and Hudson will be needed in some capacity by the Cardinals at some point this season. Flaherty was a member of the rotation in September 2017, but will likely begin the 2018 season in the AAA Memphis rotation. He, after Reyes, should be at the top of the starting pitching waiting list in Memphis.

Hudson has yet to make his major league debut, but made major strides in the Cardinals’ system in 2017. He’s on track to break into the big leagues at some point in 2018.

With Weaver, Reyes, Flaherty, and Hudson, the Cardinals have four still very young starting pitchers with high ceilings. Should these four tap into their potential at the big league level this season, the Cardinals could be in great shape with their starting pitching.

Given the question marks surrounding the rotation as it stands now, the Cardinals shouldn’t be afraid to turn to one of their young guns to shore up the pitching outlook in 2018.

The St. Louis Cardinals should add another impact bat to compliment Marcell Ozuna.

Marcell Ozuna shouldn’t be alone in the middle of the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup. Certainly, he’s a welcome addition. But the Cardinals need more if they want to return to the postseason.

The Cardinals don’t have to sacrifice their farm system to accomplish this. Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are both free agents, and the Cardinals have the money to outbid another team for either of the two.

St. Louis is searching for a corner infielder as it is, and either Moustakas or Hosmer would instantly become one of the Cardinals’ better options to hit in the middle of the order.

Signing a corner infielder with a big bat would allow the Cardinals more flexibility with their infield. Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, and Paul DeJong could move around as utility infielders and still get plenty of playing time.

A stagnant offense was one of the Cardinals’ biggest issues in 2017. Even in 2016, despite all the home runs, consistency was lacking in the St. Louis lineup.

Ozuna and either Moustakas or Hosmer would certainly bring power to the Cardinals’ order. At the same time, the Cardinals could use more high-average hitters with gap-to-gap power as well. That’s what keeps a lineup churning.

Even with the projected lineup the Cardinals have right now, there’s plenty of potential for it to be one of the better offenses in the National League. But if the Cardinals have learned anything from previous seasons, not every player reaches his potential at the same time.

More quality options for Matheny to write on the lineup card, much like the bullpen, will ensure a better overall offense in 2018.

The St. Louis Cardinals must allow Matt Carpenter to do what he does best: hit leadoff as a utility infielder.

It appears this is already the direction the St. Louis Cardinals are heading. After a breakout season in 2013 as the newfound leadoff hitter and second baseman, Carpenter has displayed flashes of that potential the previous four seasons but has yet to return to the heights of his first All-Star season.

For Carpenter, it all starts with consistency. He must hit leadoff. The numbers don’t lie; that’s where he is at his best. He acknowledges he prefers hitting leadoff. Say what you will about Carpenter, but he’s one of the hardest workers on the team, and if he wants to hit leadoff and produces when he does, then he deserves just that.

Consistency for Carpenter also involves bouncing around on the diamond rather than being entrenched at a certain position. He isn’t a gold glove fielder at any position on the infield, but he can still play a respectable third base, second base, and first base.

Carpenter should be a starter, but that doesn’t mean he has to be the third baseman or the first baseman. His bat is what plays, and his bat is what is most valuable to the team.

Carpenter has the ability to carry the Cardinals’ offense. He’s done it during stretches of seasons past, as well as in the 2013 and 2014 postseasons. He’s best as a tone-setter. With his ability to get on base at the top of the lineup, a strong middle of the order should make Carpenter even better.

Despite a “down” year in 2017, Carpenter still got on base at an excellent rate. He hit into some bad luck with a below-average batting average on balls in play. As long as the Cardinals let Carpenter be himself in 2018, he should soar to his potential.

The St. Louis Cardinals should not view the Cubs as their benchmark in 2018.

Of course the St. Louis Cardinals want to surpass and displace the Chicago Cubs in 2018. But that shouldn’t be their main focus.

During the offseason, management needs to focus on building the best team possible and correct the errors of previous seasons. If the Cardinals occupy themselves with comparing their roster side by side to the Cubs, they’ll likely fall short.

St. Louis Cardinals: Five New Year resolutions for 2018