Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, and Chase Burns are aces: Do the Cardinals have one?

The National League Central certainly isn't the most powerful division in the league. The National League West and American League East are duking it out for that title. However, don't overlook the young starting pitchers in the National League Central.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have Paul Skenes at the top of their rotation, and he's already one of the best pitchers in baseball just 365 days into his young career. Skenes has a career 1.91 ERA with 276 strikeouts in 235 innings pitched. He's exceptional in every facet of the game.

Skenes has averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings for his career, and his 1.85 ERA this year leads the league halfway through the season. He doesn't walk batters, he doesn't allow home runs, he doesn't allow hits, and he shuts down the opposing team's best hitters. He's the definition of an ace in baseball.

The Milwaukee Brewers recently promoted six-foot-seven right-handed Jacob Misiorowski. Misiorowski made his debut against the Cardinals on June 12th, going five innings, striking out five batters, and not allowing a run. Through his first career starts, Misiorowski has a 1.13 ERA with 19 strikeouts in only 16 innings. He's been quite dominant in the very early stages of his career.

Misiorowski's fastball velocity ranks in the 99th percentile in baseball already. His ability to strike batters out is something that Cardinal pitchers have been sorely lacking for a long time now.

The Cincinnati Reds debuted their 2024 first-round draft pick, Chase Burns, on Tuesday night against the New York Yankees. Burns went five innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out a whopping eight batters.

Four of Burns's nine fastballs exceeded 100 MPH in the first inning, and the remaining five were all 98 MPH or faster. His slider hit 93 MPH, too. His first three outs of his career? Strikeouts of Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Aaron Judge; that's light work. Burns is certainly going to be a star in the league for a long time.

Do the St. Louis Cardinals have their own version of Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, and Chase Burns?

The simple answer is no. These are once-in-a-decade type of pitchers, and all three just so happen to be in the National League Central. The Cardinals haven't been able to draft high enough to land a guaranteed top-of-the-rotation pitcher over the last two decades, and their player development system has been in shambles for years now when it comes to developing starting pitchers.

However, Chaim Bloom is in charge of player development now, and he's made some sweeping changes already.

In order to have a dominant starting pitcher, you have to start with his ability to strike batters out. Tink Hence has struck out 11.5 batters per nine innings for his minor-league career, but until he proves that he can stay healthy, I don't think we can put him in the same bucket as these other pitchers.

Top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews has averaged 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings, but he has a 4.45 ERA this year across three levels in the minors. If Mathews can settle and familiarize himself with the Major League Baseball, he has a chance to be an ace-level pitcher.

Tekoah Roby has struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings throughout the minors, and his fastball grades out as one of the best in the minors. He stands the chance to be the player who most likely develops into a top-of-the-rotation arm in the minors.

Another key indicator of being a high-level starting pitcher would be having multiple shutdown pitches. For Skenes, it's his fastball and sweeper. For Misiorowski, it's his fastball and curveball, though his slider has fared quite well so far. For Burns, it's his fastball and slider.

Tink Hence's best pitch is his mid-90s fastball. His best pitch is his changeup. If he can develop those two pitches, he'll have a nice one-two combination.

Quinn Mathews's fastball is relatively flat compared to others, so it's not an overpowering pitch, especially considering that it averages out around 93 MPH. His two best pitches could be his changeup and his slider. If he can generate more velocity on his fastball, he could have multiple high-level pitches.

Tekoah Roby's fastball is nothing to scoff at. It can touch 98 MPH consistently, and his plus extension helps the pitch play up. His low-80s curveball is his best pitch, though. It generates whiffs at a high rate, and it would pair nicely with the fastball if he can maintain the four-seamer's velocity.

Tink Hence, Quinn Mathews, and Tekoah Roby stand the best chance of being the ace-level pitcher that the Cardinals have been searching for since 2019 Jack Flaherty. They are able to rack up strikeouts at high rates, and each has at least one overpowering pitch.