28-year old righty starting pitcher Edwin Jackson has pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the Cardinals since coming over from the White Sox, via Toronto in a deal in July. Jackson has now pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Cardinals & White Sox this year and he was 12-9 with a 3.81 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Jackson wants to re-sign with the Cardinals and I think they will as long as his salary demands are reasonable.

29-year old righty reliever Jason Motte has been the closer for the Cardinals in September and he is doing a solid job. Motte has pitched in 11 games so far in September and he is 1-0 with 7 saves, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has now pitched in 75 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 4-2 with 8 saves, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Motte has only walked 13 batters and given up 49 hits in his first 66 innings while whiffing 60 batters and those are impressive stats. Motte has now pitched in 212 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Cardinals and he is 12-8 with 11 saves, a 2.81 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. The Cardinals need Motte to finish strongly this year if they are going to catch the Braves for the N.L. Wild Card.

36-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Carpenter struggled earlier this year, but he’s looking good right now and the Cardinals need that to continue. Carpenter has pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 9-9 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has now pitched in 191 games (190 starts) in his first 8 years with the Cardinals and he is 93-42 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.

Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel have been pretty solid for the most part since coming to the Cardinals in the Colby Rasmus deal at the end of July. Jackson has pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Cardinals so far and he is 3-2 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He has given up 46 hits in his first 38 1/3 innings with the Cardinals, so he hasn’t been missing a lot of bats. Marc Rzepzynski has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals and is 0-0 with a 0.90 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP as he has given them a solid lefty out of the pen. Octavio Dotel has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals this year and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP as he is throwing the ball well. These guys are doing their part and the Cardinals might still have a run in them as they are too talented to keep playing like they are right now.

36-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Carpenter got off to a slow start in 2010. But, in his last 9 starts, Carpenter is 6-1 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has now pitched in 24 games (all starts) overall this year and he is 7-8 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He has given up 177 hits in his first 163 1/3 innings this year, so he’s getting hit a lot harder than usual this year. But, he has limited the damage by walking only 40 batters so far this year. The Cardinals have a good starting rotation, but they need Carpenter to continue being the stopper the rest of the year.