My First 2017 Cardinals

I have not purchased any 2017 Topps yet other than the pack I gave away in last week's contest. I doubt if I will buy any Series 1 packs since I was able to complete 2 small trades with Trading Bases members to acquire all the Cardinals base cards.  Both of the trades came in over the weekend.

 

Neither Reyes or Duke will throw a pitch for the Cardinals this year after having Tommy John surgery.  Reyes of course is the bigger lose.  He was a strong Rookie of the Year candidate who was most likely going to be the Cardinals fifth starter.  Duke was a good lefty reliever last year after he was acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline.  

 Here are two more guys who will not be playing for St. Louis.  Moss signed with the Royals as a free agent, while Garcia was traded to the Braves.  I wonder if he would have been traded if the Reyes injury happened sooner.  

Pham and Adams project to be backups at this point, although with a strong spring Adams may force the Cardinals to move Matt Carpenter back to third.  He lost 30 pounds this offseason doing Pilates and eating healthy.  I hope that will help him hit lefties better.

You could be looking at the Cardinals 3-4-5 hitters to start the season, though I would be Diaz will hit second and Matt Carpenter will be third.  Piscotty is a better all around hitter, but Grichuk has more power when he can make contact.  Along with Dexter Fowler in center, I hope their outfield defense will be better than last year.

Other than Carlos Martinez, the Cardinals have a lot of question marks in the starting rotation.  Wainwright is a year removed from an Achilles injury and also a year older.  At 35, you have to wonder how much longer he can throw 200 innings per year and be effective.  It would be nice to get another 3 or 4 years of 12-15 wins out of him.  Wacha burst onto the scene in the 2013 playoffs and was an All Star in 2015, but shoulder problems have plagued him the last year and a half.  He stands to be the 5th starter with Reyes out.  Weaver was the Cardinals first round pick in 2014.  He tore up the minors the first part of last year and was serviceable in a handful of starts in August in September.  I think he could use a half season or so in Triple A to gain more confidence and fine tune his secondary pitches.  He does get the honor of starting the first spring training game on Saturday.