Adam Wainwright

2016 St. Louis Cardinals Preview, Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:23 p.m. ET

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The 2015 Cardinals ranked 24th in runs scored – 3.99 runs per game – but behind a league-high 106 quality starts, league-high 2.94 staff ERA (only one sub-3.00) and league-high 62 saves, St. Louis was the only team to win 100 games last season.

The loss of Jason Heyward and John Lackey isn’t ideal, especially because of where they landed. Lance Lynn’s Tommy John surgery comes at a bad time. However, Adam Wainwright returns and the club added Mike Leake to reload the rotation once again; a skill the organization seems to have perfected.

ALSO SEE: TEAM PREVIEWS ARCHIVE

In case you missed my National League Did You Know fantasy baseball notes on the Cardinals, here ya go:

Mozeliak: Peralta will have thumb examined in STL. Initial read, could be tear, could be "2-3 months." #STLCards
— Chris Hrabe (@chrabe) March 7, 2016

- Stephen Piscotty’s post-All-Star break production raised some eyebrows .305 BA / 39 RBI / 29 R / 7 HR / 2 SB

- Randall Grichuk “grips and rips” as he smacked 17 homers in 103 games, but also owned a 31.4 percent K-rate

- Matt Carpenter finished top seven in runs, home runs and RBI among third basemen in 2015

- Trevor Rosenthal has converted 93 of 102 save opportunities over the past two years

- Based on projected lineups and loss of Jason Heyward, Cardinals top speed option is Kolten Wong. He stole 15 bases in 150 games last season.

Projected Lineup

1. Matt Carpenter

2. Stephen Piscotty

3. Matt Holliday

4. Jhonny Peralta

5. Matt Adams

6. Randal Grichuk

7. Yadier Molina

8. Kolten Wong

For the first time in his major and minor league career, Carpenter hit more than 12 homers in a season … the aggressive approach at the plate produced 28 homers, but also pushed his strikeout rate five percent higher than previous career norm … Piscotty’s 77.6 percent contact rate ranked 70th among outfielders with 250 plate appearances … yet he carried an extreme .372 BABIP … now 36-year-old Matt Holiday missed a good chunk of the season with a hamstring last year … why do I get the sense that’ll flare up again in 2016? … still think 20 HR from Holliday is possible … granted it came in 20 more games played, but Peralta posted similar 5 x 5 roto stats to Tulo including 17 HR / each … Adam’s missed most of 2015 due to injury … when healthy his 3-year split vs. LHP is nearly 100 points below vs. RHP (.202) … that poses a problem on draft day … Grichuk’s power numbers do date back to success in the minor leagues … if only he could improve upon the 31 percent K-rate and not rely on a .365 BABIP … at 33 years old and coming off nagging injuries, Molina won’t hurt your team, but it would take a time machine for him to lift you up the standings … if Carpenter is going to push 20+ homers again, it would make more sense for Wong to leadoff and provide some more speed ... not great against lefties is holding him back a little

Projected Rotation

1. Adam Wainwright

2. Carlos Martinez

3. Michael Wacha

4. Mike Leake

5. Jaime Garcia

Coming off an Achilles’ injury, now 34 years old and without a stout offense, Wainwright may fall short of 20 wins in 2016, but the ERA will be better than 3.50 and the K/9 better than 7.00 … Carlos Martinez NFBC ADP is 107 (8th / 9th) round – that’s a bargain! … fastball pitcher with healthy K/9 rate flirting with 9.00 and ERA better than 3.50 … Wacha’s September ERA was 7.88 and postseason start was equally awful … Leake is MLB-friendly pitcher, but isn’t a game-changer in fantasy circles … I typically assume Garcia is injured until proven healthy … late-round flier? … maybe

Top Prospects

Alex Reyes, SP – the organization's top prospect is suspended 50 games for testing positive for drugs … K/9 rate was north of 13.00 in 21 starts at High-A and Double-A ball last season

Tim Cooney and Marco Gonzales, SPs – Cooney is in a throwing program after issues with his shoulder flared up … in 2015 cup o’ coffee (six starts), he posted an 8.44 K/9 … Gonzales fought through shoulder issues himself in 2015 … led to him not being as crisp as he was in 2014 with 8.05 K/9 with a 4-2 record in 10 appearances for the Cardinals