St. Louis Cardinals: 2020 coronavirus pandemic-shortened season outlook

The St. Louis Cardinals have sustained success with relatively unknown players for years and that will not change come the 2020 season.

The Cardinals’ pitching rotation is leading with Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas -- all of whom had a solid 2019 season and helped the Cardinals win the National League Central division. All three pitchers will be integral to the sprint to the postseason in 2020.

Flaherty had a 2.75 ERA with 231 strikeouts in 2019. He’s only 24 and arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball. Mikolas had a 4.16 ERA with 144 strikeouts, and Hudson had a 3.35 ERA with 136 strikeouts. Teams shouldn’t sleep on these three pitchers in a strange year where 40 wins could get you a division crown.

The offensive side is where most of the well-known stars reside. Paul Goldschmidt will look to have another great year. He hit a team-high 34 home runs in 2019. Paul DeJong also added 30 homers. The team will try to squeeze out what is left of 38-year-old Yadier Molina and will hope Matt Carpenter can thrive and stay healthy in a designated-hitter role.

It will be tough for St. Louis to repeat as division champs because of the competitiveness. But don’t sleep on this team.

Through 60 games in 2019, the Cardinals were 31-29.

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2019 finish: 1st NL Central

2019 record: 91-71

Manager: Mike Shildt

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Projected Starters

C: Yadier Molina

1B: Paul Goldschmidt

2B: Kolten Wong

3B: Tommy Edman

SS: Paul DeJong

OF: Tyler O'Neill

OF: Harrison Bader

OF: Dexter Fowler

DH: Matt Carpenter

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Pitching Rotation/Closer

SP: Jack Flaherty

SP: Dakota Hudson

SP: Miles Mikolas

SP: Adam Wainwright

SP: Carlos Martinez

CL: Kwang-Hyun Kim

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2020 Schedule