Comparing the St. Louis Cardinals rotation to other NL playoff teams

San Diego Padres

Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger 

The Padres have a much deeper rotation than the Phillies, but the Cardinals have really closed the gap since the trade deadline.

Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish are a formidable duo at the top of their rotation. Musgrove is a borderline Cy Young candidate with a 3.16 ERA with 152 SO this season. He recently received a  5-year, $100 million deal from the Padres for his career season. Darvish has been one of the better pitchers in baseball for a long time now, and his 3.31 ERA should be no surprise to fans around the league.

Similar to the matchup with the Phillies, the Cardinals should matchup well with Musgrove and Darvish head to head. The real difference is how they matchup with the rest of their rotation.

Blake Snell is a former AL Cy Young winner and has a career 2.83 ERA in the postseason. Historically, Snell has not gone deep into games, which if that remains the case, could work St. Louis’ favor as the Padres bullpen is shaky. Clevinger has a 3.96 ERA on the season, but has the ability to pitch much better than his ERA currently shows. Flaherty and Mikolas should have the edge still, but it’s much closer than the Phillies.

Verdict: St. Louis

New York Mets

Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer*, Chris Bassitt, David Peterson

For most of 2022, the New York Mets have been a scary proposition come October. The thought of facing Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer in a 5 or 7 game series should strike fear in the hearts of any team. Scherzer’s recent injury puts this into question though.

At the moment, Scherzer’s injury is being deemed as “non-significant”, but the Mets co-ace has battled injuries already this year and his health must be monitored down the stretch.

deGrom and Scherzer are a historic duo when healthy. Since returning from the IL, deGrom has a 1.66 ERA in 7 starts with 63 SO in 43.1 innings. Scherzer has been right behind him, with a 2.26 ERA and 153 SO in 127.2 innings of work. The Cardinals real hope in any series against those two would be to grind out good at-bats, scrap a few runs, and get to their bullpen as quickly as possible. If deGrom or Scherzer are on though, there just isn’t much you can do.

Bassitt and Peterson are great back end of any playoff rotation, with 3.24 and 3.32 ERAs respectively. Bassitt was acquired from the Athletics this offseason and Peterson is coming into his own after showing a lot of promise in 2020.

While the St. Louis rotation has improved drastically, it just is not in the same class as the Mets if they are full healthy.

Advantage: Mets

Atlanta Braves

Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Kyle Wright, Charlie Morton

Not quite the star power that the Mets boast, but Max Fried and Spencer Strider may be just as deadly of a combo for St. Louis to deal with.

Fried is an NL Cy Young candidate, with a 2.48 ERA in 163.1 innings this season. Strider has broke on the scene this year and is the favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year, sporting a 2.69 ERA and 183 SO in 120.2 innings of work. On top of that, the duo has dominated St. Louis this season.

Strider, in 12 innings of work against the Cardinals, has 19 SO while allowing just 1 run on 8 hits. Fried is his only start against St. Louis went 6 shutout innings with 4 SO while allowing just 5 hits. St. Louis has their work cut out for them if they are going to win games that Fried or Strider start. Luckily, Wainwright and Montgomery have the ability to keep the Braves in check, but it will be tough.

Kyle Wright is another name that does not carry a ton of excitement but is pitching like one of like a legit playoff starter with a 3.23 RA in 26 starts this season. Veteran Charlie Morton has struggled this season with a 4.01 ERA, but has 16 career starts in the postseason and a 3.35 ERA, making him an extremely valuable 4th starter.

While it would make sense to lean Atlanta with their elite top of their rotation and really solid 3-4 combo, the fact that the Cardinals 1-4 may be a more balanced unit. Flaherty and Mikolas can both easily pitch like the number one starter of this staff, meaning they probably get a slight edge in those later matchups.

Verdict: Push

Los Angeles Dodgers

Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Anderson 

For as elite of duos that the Mets and Braves have, the Dodgers have by far the deepest and most formidable rotation in the National League.

Despite missing ace Walker Buehler, the Dodgers have two Cy Young candidates and two other legit All-Star level starters. Tony Gonsolin has been one of the breakout performers of the 2022 season, with a 2.10 ERA in 128.1 innings of work. Urias has been just dominate, with a 2.29 ERA in 145.2 innings of work.

To round out their rotation, Los Angeles has lefties Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson, guys who could be at the top of most other team’s rotations themselves. Kershaw, a future Hall of Famer, has struggled against St. Louis historically, but is still an elite starter carrying a 2.26 ERA, and Anderson is right behind him at 2.73.

It’s clear that the Cardinals do not matchup talent wise with the Dodgers’ rotation. What St. Louis may have in their favor is that 3 of the 4 starters are left handed, which is a major strength of the St. Louis lineup. This allows the club to start left-handed mashers like Albert Pujols, Dylan Carlson, and Tommy Edman alongside Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Regardless, when just stacking up the rotations, the Dodgers are the class of the league.

Verdict: Dodgers