St. Louis Cardinals: A 2019 starting pitching preview

ST. LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 30: Yadier Molina #4 and Carlos Martinez #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals return to the dugout after recording the final out of the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on August 30, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 30: Yadier Molina #4 and Carlos Martinez #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals return to the dugout after recording the final out of the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on August 30, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
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St. Louis Cardinals
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 22: Dakota Hudson #43 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates a groundball out of Manny Machado #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers to end the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Ryan Helsley

Ryan Helsley features a repertoire that is almost becoming common for young pitchers. With a sizzling fastball and solid secondary pitch, Helsley has a lot of potential for the St. Louis Cardinals. Helsley really impressed at AAA last year. He was over a strikeout per inning (11.5/9IP to be exact) with a 1.01 WHIP and a 3.71 ERA.

The ERA is kinda irrelevant compared to the other numbers, for a couple of reasons. For one, the Pacific Coast League (home to the Memphis Redbirds) is notoriously hard on pitchers. For another, minimizing baserunners to go with high strikeouts is a very good formula for success. The ERA will come with time. Helsley profiles as a 2/3 starter at his peak and will see Major League playing time this season. Whether that means more starts or bullpen time remains to be seen.

Dakota Hudson

I think the Cardinals will take a similar approach with Dakota Hudson as they did Carlos Martinez when he first came up. He spent a year or two exclusively working out of the bullpen to refine his stuff and to get a feel for Major League hitters. Hudson excelled out of the bullpen last year, earning himself high leverage innings down the stretch.

Hudson is a sinkerball pitcher who minimizes hard contact. In the future he might be a right-handed Dallas Keuchel, pitching at the front end of the rotation. Hudson has a bright future ahead of him.

Alex Reyes

Most likely to be used out of the bullpen all year, Alex Reyes still boasts an electric fastball and a knee buckling curve ball. If he can stay healthy, this will be a season to remember for the young fireballer. People seem to have forgotten the magic and charisma he had in his 2016 late season cameo where he was nothing but dominant. Reyes could be an elite starter if he stays healthy. As for 2019, his starts will be numbered.

Schedule