St. Louis Cardinals: Protection (or better) waiting in the wings

The St. Louis Cardinals have a strong farm system exemplified by a few of their power players who are waiting in the wings for their chance to shine. Will these show that they are ready to protect or supplant the talent at the MLB level?

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of their Winter Warmup visits to cities that claim to be part of Cardinals Nation. A major part of these visits are face-to-face encounters with tomorrow’s talent.

I’ve watched the reviews and coverage pouring in via Twitter and find it very interesting the names that seem to be bubbling to the top. These include pitchers, infielders, and outfielders. Are we fans to read into this that the organization is focused on protecting these positions? They likely should.

As it relates to pitchers, the St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to protect pitchers with farm system talent. This reality exists thanks to the loss of Lance Lynn and the questionable performance(s) of Adam Wainwright. Additionally, the organization is sure to question whether Luke Weaver will continue his performance or if there will be a regression to the mean.

The Cardinals have- as the entire world knows- a plethora/overflow of outfielders. That said, the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals outfield looks to be built with Dexter Fowler (minorly injured from time-to-time in 2017) moving to a “new” position, the former “made-of-glass” Tommy Pham taking over at center field, and the newly-acquired Marcell Ozuna who may or may not repeat his impressive 2017.

An outfield filled with hyphenated adjectives may leave many unanswered questions as the season starts. In response, the organization seems to be pleased to tout their young guns.

Infield questions also seem to be filling the expectations going into 2018. All offseason the St. Louis Cardinals have contemplated adding the likes of Josh Donaldson, Eric Hosmer, etc. Each of these potential additions brought questions about Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, and others.

These questions in mind, the farm system seems ready to fill any holes that might appear with young guns.

Let’s take a deeper look at who is waiting in the wings ready for their chance to shine or supplant players for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018.