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With the All-Star Break finally here we thought it would be a good time break down the Cardinals roster and analyze their first half performance. The Cardinals enter the break with a record of 51-36 and have an eight game lead over the second place Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.
Everyday Lineup: The Cardinals have banged out a league leading 149 home runs and probably have the best starting lineup in the game. Mark McGwire (30 HR, 69 RBI) has been his usual productive self, Jim Edmonds (.341, 25 HR, 59 RBI) is having an MVP type season, Edgar Renteria (10 HR, 38 RBI) is heading to the All-Star Game, and Fernando Vina has been terrific in the leadoff spot. J.D. Drew (.293, 14 HR, 41 RBI) is finally starting to live up to his potential and is becoming a force at the plate. He teams up with veteran Eric Davis (.306) to form an excellent platoon in right field. Mike Matheny has been terrific behind the pate and better with the bat than many people thought. He will need some backup support with Eli Marrero out another 5-7 weeks with a thumb injury. With Fernando Tatis getting his stroke back after two months on the DL, and if Ray Lankford can get hot in the second half, the Cardinals have an offensive assault that no team will want to face in the playoffs. The only downside to all the production is that they do strikeout a lot, but that is a criticism that is probably overrated.
Starting Pitching: Darryl Kile (11-5) has emerged as the ace of the staff and is heading to Atlanta as a reward. Kile finally was able to regain the form he showed in Houston earlier in his career and should continue to anchor the rotation. Andy Benes (9-3) is having a successful second stint as a Redbird, while Pat Hentgen (8-6), the other veteran the Cardinals acquired in the offseason, has been strong lately but has generally been the worst on the five starters in the first half. Garrett Stephenson (9-5) got off to a great start but has come back to earth of late. Stephenson is a candidate for the bullpen later in the season if he doesn't turn things around soon. Rookie Rick Ankiel (6-4) has also had some erratic outings, but has displayed his vast potential on numerous occasions and could very well win NL Rookie of the Year. This is certainly a solid unit that has done a good job of going late into games and keeping strain off of the vulnerable bullpen. They need to strive for a little more consistency in the second half however.
Bullpen: After a disastrous April and May the bullpen was solidified with the additions of Matt Morris and Alan Benes in late May. Both have had a few shaky outings but given the fact they are both coming off serious injuries they have done a nice job. Dave Veres (18 saves) has done nice work as a closer, especially since he is often asked to pitch more than one inning to get his saves something that is not seen too frequently in the game today. You never know what your going to get from veteran Heathcliff Slocumb (5.23 ERA), but in this day and age of watered down pitching you can do worse than him. Mike James has been solid in his limited work (20 innings), but lefty Mike Matthews continues to prove he can't get big league hitters out. Probably the Cardinals number one need before the trade deadline is a lefthanded reliever. Then again, a lot of teams can say that.
Bench: The Cardinals probably have the deepest bench in baseball. It's hard to think of Craig Paquette (19 doubles, 9 HR, 40 RBI) as a bench player since he is always starting at one of the seemingly endless number of positions he can play, but when the team is totally healthy there is no place for him in the everyday lineup. Paquette is a utilityman in every sense of the word, and given his versatility and production with the bat he is one of the best bench players in the game. The same can be said of Placido Polanco (.315) who plays airtight defense at either third, short, or second, and has a penchant for delivering key hits. Ask the World Champion New York Yankees how much they would like to have either Paquette or Polanco. Let's not forget the ageless Shawon Dunston (8 HR, 29 RBI), who had a strong month of June and a good first week of July to get a lot of detractors off his back. Dunston has only had 115 at-bats this season, but his production in that time can't be argued with. Thomas Howard has delivered some big hits, but his overall average (.176) and lack of playing time (85 at-bats) make him clearly the 24th or 25th man on this team.
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