Can the Redbirds of St. Louis Repeat? - St. Louis Cardinals 2007 Season Preview

The friendly city of St. Louis was awash in red after the underdog Cardinals surprised the nation & won the World Series. The Cards beat the heavily favored Mets in dramatic fashion to win the National League Championship Series and in the World Series, beat a Detroit Tiger team that was on an amazing wave of momentum. Skipper Tony LaRussa won his third World Series, while Albert Pujols won his first. The Redbirds may have limped their way only 83 wins to finish during the 2006 regular season, but they came through then it mattered.

Although Redbird Nation had an exhilarating end to 2006, the winter for the Cardinals has been relatively full of fanfare. Even though the Cardinals have not signed a marquee free agent, the team took the initiative to extend ace Chris Carpenter’s contract, as well as resigned Jim Edmonds and Scott Speizio, who was nothing short of clutch in the playoffs. Meanwhile, pitchers Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis left the team for greener pastures and join rivals within the division.

However, fans should feel confident that the National League Central is fairly weak this season, with exception of perhaps the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals have a good as chance to win the division. The Cardinals have won consistently in the past decade, and there’s no reason to doubt the team can’t do it in 2007. The Cardinals do not look as strong on paper as they have in past seasons, but there’s no doubt that they will be contenders in the Nationals League.

Right now, the Cardinal pitching rotation remains unresolved. The only pitchers penciled in the starting rotation are ace Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, who resigned with the team and is coming off an injury riddled 2006, and Anthony Reyes, a young pitcher who showed amazing composure during the playoffs. Carpenter, of course is the man in the starting rotation as he’ll be expected to win and put up solid numbers as usual. Mark Mulder will be counted on returning back to pre-injury form; Anthony Reyes will need take his success from the playoff run in 2006 and translate into to big things in 2007.

The team went to the bargain bin to shore up starting pitching and hope the gamble pays off. The Cardinals signed veteran Kip Wells, who has had an up and down career with the Pittsburgh Pirates & former Mariner Ryan Franklin who struggled in 2006.

The bullpen in 2006 was amazingly reliable and will be counted on to do the same in ’07. Adam Wainwright broke through last season after injuries to Jason Isringhausen. His deadly curveball buckled Carlos Beltran in the NLCS and he pitched well in the World Series. He’ll be counted on to close this upcoming season and put out the fires that will be waiting for him. The bullpen is deep with Braden Looper as the setup man, Ricardo Rincon, Randy Flores, Brad Thompson, Josh Kinney and recently signed Russ Springer.

The offense, although aging, still has a lot of firepower and will be productive. The team of course, has the deadly first baseman Albert Pujols batting the middle & we know he’ll do a lot of damage and put up some amazing numbers. Third baseman Scott Rolen also carries a big stick, and although he struggled with some ailments at times in 2006, especially a sore shoulder, he’ll be a key to the offense and should keep in line with his career numbers since.

At the top of the order will most likely be shortstop David Eckstein, who despite his size & stature, has a lot of intangibles and always manages to contribute in most every way. Based on his track record, he should continue to produce and be integral to the team. New Cardinal Adam Kennedy will be playing second base and he’ll be expected to continue his success that he had at the plate in Anaheim with St. Louis.

The outfield will be manned by longtime veteran Jim Edmonds, young Chris Duncan and Edwin Encarnicion. Possible contributors include longtime veteran Preston Wilson & So Taguchi.

Jim Edmonds is probably past his prime, but he’s a human highlight film in the outfield and can still rake at times, though his average and power numbers have gone down steadily the past few seasons. He’ll be expected to be still the traffic officer out there and fans should expect a SportsCenter moment or two.

The wild card in the outfield will be Chris Duncan. At times, he looked a little lost in the outfield, as he’s a former first baseman and learning the nuances of a new position; however, he has a potent bat, and should be expected to improve on his 22 home runs, plus have a monster year with more playing time. Edwin Encarnicion should be in right field everyday, but super bench guy So Taguchi should be expected to garner a lot of playing time, along with Preston Wilson who is serviceable & has power, but strikes out too much and lacks plate discipline.

Yadier Molina will be the everyday catcher, and hopefully can bring some of his World Series success into the regular season. Former Expo and National Gary Bennett will be the backup catcher.

Outfielder John Rodriguez and Larry Bigbie along with infielder Aaron Miles will come on the bench. They will be counted upon as part of a platoon or in pinch hit situations.

In the end, although the Cardinals lost a few key players that helped in their run to the World Series, Redbird fans should still count on the team to do well and contend in 2007. Although it is unknown if the Cardinals can duplicate their World Series run from 2006 in the upcoming season, but Tony LaRussa, Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter and company should keep Busch Stadium rocking. Even though the Cardinals didn’t make a huge splash this winter, expect the team to continue to win and possibly take the NL Central again.