St. Louis Cardinals: Ranking the players with the most value beyond 2021

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 20: Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates with Dylan Carlson #3 after hitting a two run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 20, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 20: Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates with Dylan Carlson #3 after hitting a two run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 20, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
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St. Louis Cardinals
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – SEPTEMBER 25: Genesis Cabrera #61 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch in the sixth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 25, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Arizona Diamondbacks won 9 to 7. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

FLAMETHROWERS:

I absolutely love this group of four. They throw hard. They’re young. And they all look ready to contribute in 2021.

17- Ryan Helsley 

Helsley is last in this group because he has sort of become locked into this late-inning relief role. I still want to see what happens if he is a starter, but regardless of his role, he is the real deal on the mound. Definitely potential to move up on this list with a quality year three in the big leagues.

16- Genesis Cabrera

Genesis Cabrera has kind of been the left-handed, slightly less consistent version of Helsley. He’ll play a key role out of the bullpen in 2021, but I’d also love to see what he could do as part of the starting rotation. There aren’t too many left-handed pitchers who boast his stuff– I think Cabrera is an underrated candidate to breakout in 2021.

15- Johan Oviedo; 14- Angel Rondon

Johan Oviedo and Angel Rondon are very exciting young pitchers. They earned this high rank on the list because they have the talent to become top-end starters. Oviedo looked decent in his 24 innings pitched last season, and Rondon was protected this year from being selected in the Rule Five draft. Both of these guys might be ticketed for the bullpen in 2021, but in terms of future impact, the sky’s the limit.

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