31-year old righty swinging outfielder Ryan Ludwick didn’t match his career year of 2008 for the Cardinals but he still had a solid year. Ludwick has played in 135 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 126 for 470 (.268 avg, .784 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 22 homers and 92 RBIs. He started slow with the bat this season but he’s hitting good right now and the Cardinals are banking on him to continue his solid hitting in the playoffs.

23-year old lefty swinging CF Colby Rasmus was the Cards’ #1 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He has played in 139 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 114 for 446 (.256 avg, .727 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 16 homers and 51 RBIs. He has a huge upside as he has power to hit 25+ homers in the future for the Cardinals. He has bumped last year’s CF Rick Ankiel to the bench and probably off the Cardinals roster in 2010.

27-year old lefty swinging Brendan Ryan has done a good job playing mostly shortstop this season for the Cardinals. When Khalil Greene went down with some mental problems the Cardinals needed a shortstop to step up and that has been Ryan. Ryan has played in 121 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 105 for 363 (.289 avg, .732 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 3 homers, 35 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. The Cardinals will probably try to get a full time shortstop next season moving Ryan back into a utility role.

29-year old lefty swinging 2B Skip Schumaker has done a good job for the Cardinals this season. He converted from the OF to 2B in spring training but he made a lot of errors. With the Cardinals this season in games that count he has been better making 9 errors there in 124 games. He has played in 143 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 153 for 499 (.307 avg, .767 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 4 homers and 34 RBIs. If Schumaker just gets a little better on defense at 2B he will be a big asset to the Cardinals as he is a good contact hitter.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Wainwright has been outstanding this season for the Cardinals. He has started 31 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 18-8 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Wainwright will get some Cy Young votes this season but Chris Carpenter will likely split the vote among Cardinals. Wainwright is having a “career year” for the Cardinals this season but he has pitched well since coming over in a trade with the Braves. He has now pitched in 146 games (83 starts) for the Cardinals and he is 45-24 with 3 saves, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He will likely be the ace of the staff for the Cardinals in the near future. With Carpenter, Wainwright and Joel Pineiro lined up for the playoff rotation the Cardinals are going to be hard to beat.