2015 St. Louis Cardinals Predictions

I'm a couple weeks late getting this one out, but I enjoyed thinking about the topics so I wanted to make sure I still published this. I always have fun discussing predictions.  So I decided to write about 5 of my predictions for the Cardinals this year.

1. Kolten Wong will steal 30+ bases.

I think this one will be pretty easy.   Wong stole 20 bases last year, showing he has the ability.  I think with another year under his belt, he will hit for a higher average and become a smarter base runner.  30 bases should be a piece of cake for Wong this year.

2. Trevor Rosenthal will have a sub 2.00 ERA.

Last year Rosenthal had an ERA of 3.20, so that would be over a 1 point drop.  But I think Rosenthal could do it.  He has another year of experience under his belt, which always helps.  He should be smarter and more skilled.  But I think a big factor in this will be that Rosenthal is pitching exclusively from the stretch this year.  Last year when the bases were empty, when he was in the windup, batters hit .248 against him.  When there were men on base, from the stretch, batters hit .198 against him. That is a 50 point drop in average.  All this combined, I could definitely see Rosenthal posting a sub 2.00 ERA.

3. Matt Adams will lead the team in home runs.

Last year Adams was third on the team with 15 homeruns, behind Matt Holliday (20) and Jhonny Peralta (21).  Personally I don’t see Peralta hitting more than that.  I feel he is a 15-20 home run guy.  Holliday at this point will probably max out at 25.  The addition of Jason Heyward is interesting as he has hit as many as 27 homeruns in his young career, so he definitely has the potential to hit many.  But I feel Matt Adams will lead the team this year, with 25-30. Last year he was trying to figure out how to adjust to the shift, hitting for a strong average, but sacrificing power.  Late in the year he started not focusing as much on beating the shift and simply hit.  If that mindset carries over to this year, I think Adams will hit for more consistent power.

4. Yadier Molina will not win the platinum glove this year.

Each year the platinum glove goes to the best defensive player in each league.  The award has been given out for the past three years.  Molina has won the award twice.  The other time the award was given to Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons.  Personally, I believe Simmons will win the award again this year.  No discredit to Molina’s talent. I think he’s the best defensive catcher in the game.  Just credit to Simmons.  That man is incredibly gifted. If you have never seen him play, I encourage you to check out some of his highlights here.  

5. Lance Lynn will throw a no-hitter.

There is no way to really prove this one, as no hitters are well…unpredictable.  They can be thrown by the most random pitchers if they are in the right groove.  The last two no hitters thrown by Cardinals have been by rookies who never really amounted to much as starters, Jose Jimenez in 1999 and Bud Smith in 2001.  More of my point with this prediction is that Lynn has grown so much as a pitcher.  He is more consistent and more in control of his emotions.  He seems to have gotten over the “Lynning” he struggled with so much.  Lynn is one of the more underrated pitchers in my opinion.  Lynn has averaged 16 wins the past 3 years, and more importantly lowered his ERA to 2.74 last year, from the high 3’s the two previous years.  There is no telling when a no hitter will happen, but I really do believe Lynn has much more potential to be able to do it now.