With the Cardinals’ starting staff, the fear from here is about durability and endurance.
Yes, there are plenty of nice names with big upsides. But someone’s got to start 162 games — divided by five, that’s 32.4 starts per pitcher in the rotation. Because Adam Wainwright is unsigned, the Cardinals only have three pitchers who have ever made 32 starts in a Major League Baseball season — Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez and Miles Mikolas. That’s it (Kwang Hyun Kim pitched 30 twice in Korea).
Yes, because the Cards have eight-to-10 starting pitchers, and because injuries happen, they’ll likely spread out the starts.