So we got the big 4 game series w/ the Cubs started last night w/ a fair, by Carp’s standards, pitching performance, w/ Wellemeyer, Wainwright, and Lohse to come in the next 3. This follows a sterling pitching performance from whoever this Pineiro character is Wednesday afternoon. The pitching is going to be a key to the 2nd half of the season and how far we go in the postseason if we’re fortunate enough to make it. Over the first half of the season, there just haven’t been too many teams who’ve pitched better – at least from their starting rotation – than we have.
Below is a list of all the teams in the majors who have 3 starters who are 20 or more runs above replacement level at this point in the season.
- Red Sox (Lester, Beckett, Wakefield)
- White Sox (Floyd, Danks, Buehrle)
- Cardinals (Pineiro, Carpenter, Wainwright)
So let’s compare the Cards’ starters w/ the other teams in the NL Central.
Cards | RAR | Brewers | RAR | Cubs | RAR | Reds | RAR | Astros | RAR | Pirates | RAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pineiro | 27.7 | Gallardo | 16.7 | Lilly | 18.6 | Harang | 16.9 | Rodriguez | 19.4 | Maholm | 20.0 |
Carp | 22.7 | Parra | 4.5 | Zambrano | 16.2 | Cueto | 11.3 | Oswalt | 17.9 | Duke | 15.6 |
Wainwright | 20.5 | Suppan | 1.8 | Wells | 15.8 | Volquez | 2.6 | Hampton | 8.9 | Snell | 5.9 |
Lohse | 7.0 | Looper | -3.6 | Dempster | 13.4 | Owings | -0.5 | Ortiz | 4.9 | Ohlendorf | 5.4 |
Wellemeyer | 0.3 | Bush | -3.7 | Harden | 3.2 | Arroyo | -2.0 | Moehler | 0.3 | Morton | 4.3 |
The totals for the teams’ 5 starters are as follows:
- Cards – 78.2 RAR
- Cubs – 67.2 RAR
- Astros – 51.4 RAR
- Pirates – 51.2 RAR
- Reds – 28.3 RAR
- Brewers – 15.7 RAR
Pitching’s going to play a huge role in who wins the division and, even w/ Dempster’s injury, the Cubs are still scary. We saw last summer what Harden can do, despite his problems last night and, really, throughout the first half. They’re going to be tough. But you have to like where the Cards stand w/ just 3 games to go before the All-Star break.