St. Louis Cardinals: Predicting the 26-man roster one month out

Pitchers

The Cardinals will likely be taking 13 pitchers north with them. Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson… you can pencil in as starters. It is a fool’s errand to try to predict the numbers four and five starters, since it is an open question plus manager Mike Shildt has not stretched out any starters yet in spring training.

But the other ten spots will likely go to Carlos Martinez, Giovanny Gallegos, John Gant, Andrew Miller, newly acquired Kwang-Hyun Kim, John Brebbia, Ryan Helsley, Tyler Webb, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Genesis Cabrera. We are in a weird spot that I have never seen before at spring training where at least half of this “bullpen” could conceivably be stretched out into starters.

Now I want to step out of my predicting mode and pontificate. I fear that Andrew Miller‘s days are done. He may be Greg Holland 2.0 at this point (making almost as much as Holland did in that year with the Cardinals).

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The team would be better served by having on staff Austin Gomber, Junior Fernandez or even Kodi Whitley, a strapping 25-year old right-hander who had a 1.52 ERA and 2-0 record for Memphis last year. Fernandez and Whitley would fit the model of durable right-handers in their mid-20s that the Cardinals can use up in relief and then spit out when their arms get worn out (at least I’m being honest!).

The Cardinals are heavy on left-handers all of a sudden. With the new three-batter rule, left-handed relievers become less-useful. Although Miller has been used for both left-handers and right-handers in his career, at the moment he is getting into trouble with both of them.

Though there is still plenty of time to straighten out, Miller has been atrocious in his one appearance so far. Miller allowed an earned run on a walk, two hit batsmen and a wild pitch over one inning in a loss to the New York Mets on Friday. Plus, he committed the unpardonable sin of hitting Tim Tebow, he of the.163 average last season at AAA.

Miller will turn 35 before Memorial Day. He may not be “done-done” but there are certainly more interesting live arms in the Cardinals organization. The only problem is: he is making $11M this year. The Cardinals won’t be able to easily get rid of him if he indeed becomes untrustworthy.

I must say that, up-close at spring training, Miller has one of the most Intimidating body structures in a pitcher you’ll see. He is daddy-long-legs to the extreme. When he throws with that southpaw, the ball looks like it’s coming out of the first baseman’s right ear. But he just hasn’t been effective.

So there it is. 13 position players, 13 pitchers, a lot of players on the cusp. This isn’t necessarily the roster I would choose, but based on how the Cardinals have started the year for the past decade, this is my best guess for what the team will look like.