The Big Three of the Cardinals starting rotation (Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Joel Piniero) are going to cause huge matchup problems for opposing teams in the playoffs. After all, these three guys have combined to start 93 games for the Cardinals this season in which they are 51-24 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Carpenter will start the first game for the Cardinals and he has been fantastic this year for the Cardinals. He has started 28 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Adam Wainwright is a awesome #2 starter. He has started 34 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Wainwright was the stopper when the Cardinals won the World Series a few years ago but he has been converted into a dominating starting pitcher. Joel Piniero is another one of the reclamation project of Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan. He has always had great stuff but now he is using it to the best of his ability. He has started 31 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 15-12 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. No team can match the Cardinals’ top three starters so we will find out shortly if they can lead them to the World Series.

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.

Manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan have done a masterful job of deciding when you use Trever Miller and you can see that in his numbers. The 36-year old lefty reliever has pitched in 56 games (0 starts) this season and he is 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. He has only allowed 22 hits in 35 2/3 innings this season while whiffing 37 batters. This is the same Trever Miller who came into this season with a 14-14 record, 10 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 519 games in his major league career. It’s amazing to watch LaRussa and Duncan getting the most out of their pitching staffs year in and year out.

Righty starting pitcher Joel Pineiro is the latest pitcher to be turned into a star by pitching coach Dave Duncan and manager Tony LaRussa. He has started 19 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 9-9 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has exhibited outstanding control so far this season walking only 13 batters in 128 1/3 innings for the Cardinals. There is absolutely no reason to think that Pineiro can’t keep up the good work as he has nasty stuff. The forecast here is that he will start winning more games now that the front office has gotten Albert Pujols some protection in the lineup.

Watching Kyle Lohse pitch over the years he always made me scratch my head because he has good stuff but appeared to be lost on the pitchers’ mound. That seems to have changed in St. Louis as manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan are working their magic again with Lohse. Lohse has started 18 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 10-2 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He deserves to make the National League All-Star team and we’ll see tomorrow if he made it or not. Even if he doesn’t make it, Lohse is one of the main reasons that the Cardinals have been competing for the division lead this season. If he keeps giving the Cardinals good outings every five days they will stay in the race the whole way.