Every Major League Baseball team will have a designated hitter in 2022. So, what will this look like for the Cardinals?
Kevin Wheeler analyzed what the team's offense may look like this upcoming season (especially in the wake of Albert Pujols' signing) in Tuesday night's edition of Sports Open Line.
"It sure seems like we're looking at a potential platoon with Dickerson and Pujols at the beginning of the year- obviously, Dickerson getting most of the at bats against righties, Albert getting them against lefties, and I would assume some opportunities against righties; then, we assess from there," Wheeler said in the first hour of the show. Hear all of Kevin's comments on the 2022 offense in the audio clip below.
With the signing of Pujols, Wheeler argues that there are essentially no holes in this year's lineup. Despite Dickerson and Pujols being the expected DHs, that doesn't rule out Lars Nootbaar or other hot bats from getting put in the lineup.
"Whoever hits will play," Wheeler puts simply. "If you hit, they're gonna find a way to get you in. This is a team that has some flexibilty."
Kevin also points out that last year's team was tied for 11th in OPS+ (on base percentage plus slugging percentage, then normalized across the league). OPS+ takes ballparks into account which neutralizes advantages and disadvantages of the park, as if every team played on the same field. 2021's OPS+ has Wheeler optimistic for 2022.
"This lineup should be very solid," Wheeler predicts. "If you're looking at the right advanced numbers, I think we can project them to be somewhere in the lower part of the top half of the league."
On the flip side of the coin is pitching. The Cardinals have already been dealt a rough hand with injuries to both Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes early in spring training.
"I think the Cardinals have plenty of pitching talent. I don't think there's a shortage of ability on their staff," Wheeler says. "But, I do think we have some reasonable concerns when it comes to availability for some of the guys." Hear all of Kevin's comments on this season's pitchers in the audio clip below.
As of now, most of the rotation is healthy. Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson are healthy and ready to go. However, having last year's pitching struggles in mind, it's not unreasonable to wonder if the starters will be asked to put out more than they can give. We are still a week away from an updated assessment of Flaherty's shoulder, making an April mound appearance from him very unlikely.
The Cardinals host the Pirates on Opening Day April 7th at 3:15pm CT. KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network will have all the action beginning with the pregame show beginning at 1:40pm CT.