Our starting pitching is ridiculous... we are first in the major leagues in FIP. And it's not really that close. The Braves are second with 3.72 FIP, but the Cards are one of the most successful teams in the majors with a 3.54 FIP (5th in winning percentage at 20 games over .500). As expected, we have the highest ground ball percentage, and we have the 3rd lowest line drive %. So our starting pitching is one of the main strengths of the team, but not so much for our relief pitching.

By FIP, our relievers drop waaaaay behind the 1st place pace, the Cards bullpen being 20th in the majors. By ERA, the picture looks a little more forgiving since we are 13th overall. The bullpen is still inducing its fair share of grounders, but batters are teeing off on them for a 19% line drive rate, among the worst in the majors. It's not all that bad though, since the BABIP is .278 for the bullpen, but that's probably not completely sustainable. Thankfully the starters have been getting the bulk of the work, since our bullpen has pitched the fewest pitches and been involved in the fewest innings in baseball. Literally, the starters have by far pitched the most innings of any other team, and our bullpen has had by far the least amount of work. While the bullpen is vastly improved over last season, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Their HR/9 is not atrocious, but it's at 1.02, a little high I'd say. They are not striking anyone out, but the good part is that they are not walking a ton of people either. Our left on base % is ok, but of course it would be nice if we could pitch out of more tight situations. Makes those close games pretty crazy to watch!

Like last year, Kyle McClellan has been the workhorse out of the 'pen. He's pitched more than anyone else, only Ryan Franklin and Jason Motte are close. I'd like to see the guy used a little bit less, because my hunch is that he would do better if he didn't pitch as often. His FIP is 4.39, which is sort of scary to me, and I can understand now why people get a little nervous when he is pitching lately (still, his ERA is pretty decent). It's probably a secret to no one that His Suckiness, Ryan Franklin, and the Lefty Extraordinaire, Trevor Miller, are the saviors of the bullpen (and to a lesser extent, The Hawk has been very helpful as of late). Maybe I shouldn't forget Brad Thompson, since he's pitched a decent amount of innings, and his FIP is better than Hawksworth's. Reyes has also been pretty reliable, but has been quite average with a FIP around 4 (.1 WAR). Personally, once Lohse is back, I'd like to see Boggs get some bullpen time, but 2 innings pitched from the bullpen is not much to go by (although a 1.59 FIP looks nice).

We all know this team would be no where without Wainwright, Pineiro, and of course Carp... but Smoltz so far has cruised to a .63 FIP in 11 innings. Those 4 pitchers are worth nearly 14 WAR together (the team total being 15.5). Very nice! I think down the stretch, maybe we could use Smoltzy and maybe Boggs out of the pen if it gets tight. 

So, to wrap this up, the Cardinals pitching is 4th in the majors in FIP, and 3rd in ERA, and 3rd in WHIP. For contrast, our hitting is almost identical to the Cubs in wOBA! 21st in the majors, behind the Cubs, never would have guessed that.