The Cardinals don’t feature a dominant starter like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer or Sandy Alcantara in their rotation.
Beyond Ryan Helsley, there hasn’t been much consistent swing-and-miss muscle in their bullpen either.
But the Cardinals have upgraded their arms supply through trades and promotions, so a strong collective effort could earn them the division title and another ticket to postseason play.
While Albert Pujols’ bid for 700 homers and the MVP-caliber play of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will rightfully command our attention, what happens on the mound will decide this team’s fate.
Manager Oliver Marmol must play the matchup game while seeking winning performances from as many hurlers as possible. This appears more doable than it did a month ago.
Injury-plagued Jack Flaherty will get a final rehabilitation start Wednesday before rejoining the rotation. All signs have been positive on his latest comeback bid, so he could still make a difference this season.
Don’t forget how good Flaherty can be when healthy.
Dakota Hudson has held his starting spot, temporarily, with the Cardinals carrying a six-man rotation to cover a looming doubleheader. Hudson finally looked like his old self while beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field, then he relapsed against the Reds on Tuesday. So he still needs work.
Age-defying Adam Wainwright remains the lead starter, but Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and newcomers Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana must settle the pecking order behind him. The competition should be constructive.
Andre Pallante moved from rotation success to bullpen success. Power pitcher Jordan Hicks is trying to earn a high-leverage relief responsibility again after flopping as a starter.
Chris Stratton became more reliable after making key adjustments and left-hander JoJo Romero has shown a lively arm since recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Lefty starter Steven Matz will spend next month rebuilding arm strength after recovering from his knee injury. In a star-crossed season, he finally caught a break by avoiding surgery.
So there will be plenty for Marmol and pitching coach Mike Maddux to sort during the weeks ahead.
At this moment, this staff appears to be trending in the right direction. But that qualifier — at this moment — is critical because this statement was made in this space earlier this season.
And then stuff happened.
Flaherty’s shoulder balked again. Reliever Nick Wittgren washed out. Hudson became a sunkenballer. Matz returned from a sore shoulder only to suffer his knee injury. Matthew Liberatore flashed promise but failed to sustain success.
T.J. McFarland struggled. Impingement-prone Drew VerHagen finally shut down for repairs. Right-handed hitters punished Packy Naughton. Génesis Cabrera’s fastball lost its electricity.
So the pitching carousel kept spinning.
Newcomers Montgomery and Quintana bolstered the rotation after arriving in season-altering trades. Newly acquired Stratton and Romero added critical bullpen depth.
Jake Woodford finally escaped the Memphis shuttle and earned more permanent big-league work. Zack Thompson came back from Triple-A with high-90s heat, while Cabrera, Naughton and McFarland are back at Memphis trying to regain their earlier form.
With no glaring pitching weaknesses to address, the Cardinals decided to wait until baseball’s Sept. 1 roster expansion to plug Flaherty back into the mix. Giving him an extra rehab start could be beneficial, given how badly his rushed comeback bid went earlier this season.
Better yet, that decision allowed Marmol to keep Romero and Thompson plus the surging Woodford in the bullpen without losing anybody to a 15-day demotion to Memphis.
With the Cardinals fully staffed, Marmol can manage more aggressively. When Mikolas succumbed to a missile attack during the fifth inning Monday night in Cincinnati, Marmol called on Stratton to rescue him.
He did not wait to see if Mikolas could dig out and claim the victory after getting staked to an 8-0 lead.
On Sunday night Marmol sent Helsley to replace Wainwright in the seventh inning. That move didn’t pay off, but that result won’t discourage Marmol from deploying Helsley before the ninth inning again.
If Flaherty is able to make a significant contribution upon his return, and if the other positive trends hold, Marmol will have myriad pitching strategies to ponder.
An extra starter would allow him to shuffle his sequence to grant extra rest and/or create more desirable matchups against particular opponents.
Marmol could move a starter into middle relief to create a potential tag team to work deep into games and lighten the load for the high-leverage guys.
If Hicks, Stratton, Woodford, Thompson and Romero can join Pallante, Giovanny Gallegos and Helsley in handling tough assignments, the Cardinals could turn to their bullpen sooner to shield starters from the dreaded third turn through the order. Marmol could even toy with the “opener” concept while seeking to mess with an opponent during a short series.
There could be a successful path forward for this pitching staff after five months of fits and starts.
