Bryan De La Cruz (Creative Commons: docjeffhyde)
After a sluggish start, the St. Louis Cardinals have rebounded to give themselves a decent shot at making the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates, boosted by the addition of rookie ace, Paul Skenes, also enhanced their playoff chances by some trade deadline additions. Here’s a quick look at both teams.
The Cardinals are in the playoff hunt despite being in transition
For the last few seasons, the Cardinals have been anchored by their corner infielders, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. While Goldschmidt showed some decline last season, that declined has accelerated this season. His WAR is 0.5. While a shot of Red Bull might result in a temporary boost in Goldschmidt’s production, don’t count on it.
Arenado’s decline hasn’t been as steep but is still evident. The Cardinals offense has gotten a boost from DH, Alec Burleson who has slugged 18 home runs with 63 RBIs to go with an OPS of .782. In addition, when not injured, catcher, Willson Contreras has been the best hitter on the team, but more was needed.
To give the offense some more help, the Cardinals picked up a useful player in outfielder Tommy Pham.
Cardinals starting pitching isn’t great, but is solid
Before the season, the Cardinals signing of free agent starting pitchers, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson was generally received with a collective yawn. However, combined the duo has given the Cardinals 220 innings with an ERA of around 4.00.
Sonny Gray was also picked up free agency and was perceived as the staff ace. While his numbers aren’t acelike, he has pitched 112.2 with an ERA of 3.79. Former White Sox starter Eric Fedde should fit right in with this group. He’s pretty good, but not an ace.
The Cardinals did as well as anybody at the trade deadline.
The Pirates give themselves a chance
I admit that if the Cubs don’t make the playoffs, I’d like to see the Pirates sneak in. The Pirates have a beautiful ballpark and long-suffering fans. Much like the Cubs. At this point, the Pirates have given themselves a punchers chance by adding a couple of bats.
The big-ticket addition was Bryan De La Cruz. De La Cruz has poor defensive metrics, but his 18 home runs will be a welcome addition to the Pirates, either as an outfielder or DH.
The Pirates also picked up the versatile Isiah Kiner-Falefa in a trade with the Blue Jays. Kiner-Falefa is having a sneaky good season. He’s carrying an OPS of .758. That, coupled with his ability to play numerous positions, should make him a valuable addition to the Bucs.
Before moving on from the Pirates, it should be noted that Pirates first baseman, Rowdy Tellez, has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence. There was talk of him being released earlier in the season, but he’s come around to where his numbers are now merely subpar. Tellez currently has an OPS of .692 vs. a career mark of .742. If Tellez continues to march towards his career mark, the Pirates will get another boost for their playoff run.
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