Cardinals All-Quarter Century Team after 25 years of historic baseball

Rotation

SP1: RHP Chris Carpenter

There are few better aces and big game pitchers since the year 2000 than Chris Carpenter, who won two World Series titles with the Cardinals as their bulldog, top-of-the-rotation ace who could shut down any lineup in baseball. He won the 2005 NL Cy Young and finished runner-up in 2009 and third in 2006, and in 197 starts for St. Louis, posted a 3.07 ERA. In a winner-take-all game, give me Carpenter, and I love my chances.

SP2: RHP Adam Wainwright

Adam Wainwright is equally worthy of being the Cardinals' ace here, but man, what a number two option. Wainwright finished runner-up for the NL Cy Young twice (2010, 2013) and third twice as well (2009, 2014), and was robbed of two of his prime seasons due to Tommy John surgery in 2011 and a torn Achilles in 2015. Even so, Wainwright still managed to win 200 games in his Cardinals career, posting a 46.4 fWAR and 3.54 ERA in 2586.1 career innings. Wainwright had his own postseason moments in 2006 as the Cardinals' closer on their way to the World Series, and St. Louis does not achieve the heights they did most of this half-century without him.

SP3: RHP Lance Lynn

If Holliday is one of the most underrated position players in Cardinals history, Lance Lynn is one of the most underrated pitchers. Among Cardinals starters with more than 50 starts since 2000, Lynn ranks third in ERA (3.44) while posting the fourth-most innings of any Cardinal (1063.2). Lynn was so dependable for the Cardinals from 2011-2017, and then came back and posted another sub-4.00 ERA season for the Cardinals at age 37 in 2024.

SP4: LHP Matt Morris

Since 2000, Matt Morris ranks in the top five of Cardinals starters in innings, games started, and fWAR while posting a 3.82 ERA. The southpaw is really only rivaled by Jamie Garcia for the best Cardinals' lefty since 2000, and Garcia almost beat him for this spot. Morris got the nod due to his longevity and innings-eating ability, and had the best individual season of the pair, posting a 3.16 ERA and 6.1 fWAR in 216.1 innings in 2001.

SP5: RHP Michael Wacha

Selecting the fifth starter for this rotation was one of the toughest decisions of this entire list. Along with the aforementioned Garcia, there were a number of contenders for this spot. Shelby Miller has the second-best ERA of Cardinals who've made 50+ starts since 2000, but he only spent two seasons with St. Louis. Darryl Kile was great as well, but his tragic death also kept him from sustained time with St. Louis. Carlos Martinez, Jack Flaherty, Woody Williams, and Kyle Lohse were also strong nominees.

I ultimately went with Michael Wacha due to his combination of heights reached in both the regular season and the postseason, as well as his longevity with St. Louis, as he and the other four starters ranked in the top six for St. Louis in starts since 2000, alongside Miles Mikolas. Wacha's run in 2013 is one of the best from a Cardinals starter, and he was nearly unhittable for most of the 2013 World Series run.