The St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation took a big hit on Saturday when the club announced that starter Carlos Martinez would be shut down for the rest of 2015, including the Postseason, with a strained shoulder.
Carlos Martinez (shoulder strain) will miss remainder of season, Mozeliak announces #cardinals #stlcards News coming soon at @StlToday.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 26, 2015
Martinez will miss postseason, but injury is not severe enough to require surgery, Mozeliak says. Shutdown "is right decision." #cardinals
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 26, 2015
Martinez has arguably been the Cardinals’ best starter this season, pitching to a 3.01 ERA in 179 2/3 innings, punching out 184 and walking 63. However, the 24-year old had already reached a career high in innings by more than 70. On Friday in Milwaukee, Martinez exited his outing against the Brewers after throwing just seven pitches.
The team’s rotation is still formidable even without Martinez – they’ve got John Lackey, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, and Michael Wacha in the gold, and Lynn’s 3.16 ERA is the highest of that quartet. But of course, there are caveats. Lynn and Wacha have both struggled in September, posting ERAs over 6.00 and combining for 26 strikeouts and 25 walks.
If the Pirates mount a furious rally and bump the Cardinals from the NL Central lead, Garcia would be the one in line to start the Wild Card game against the Cubs. If St. Louis holds Pittsburgh off as expected, they can set their rotation how they want for the Division Series against either the Pirates or Cubs, likely leading off with Lackey.
This Cardinals team doesn’t look at bulletproof as it has been in previous years, despite the team’s 98-57 record. Their offense is solidly middle of the pack, ranking 19th in baseball in wOBA and 16th in wRC+. The team’s rotation has the best ERA in baseball at 2.99, but is now without Martinez in addition to Adam Wainwright, injured in April. The bullpen’s 2.65 ERA is the second-best mark in baseball, but much of that value comes from closer Trevor Rosenthal and set-up man Kevin Siegrist.
There’s also Yadier Molina situation. He hasn’t played since September 20th while dealing with a torn ligament in his thumb, and the Cardinals have kept winning this week without him, the dropoff from him to Tony Cruz is massive – both offensively and defensively.
No one is writing the Cardinals off – that’s ridiculous. They’ve run through the National League this season and held off the second and third best teams in baseball for the division crown. But are they a lock once the Postseason begins? Not by a long shot.
