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I put the Cards under the microscope May 16 and concluded:
So separate the two ideas. The Cardinals are 26-18, but it’s a bit of a mirage built on close games falling their way and the healthiest roster in the league. They’ve used just 14 position players, six starting pitchers (with just one off-rotation start) and 11 relief pitchers (seven accounting for 89% of the relief innings), and the odds say they’ll have to reach into their depth soon enough.
That hasn’t happened. They made some elective changes, with Nootbaar returning and Scott and Gorman losing their jobs, but the position player group has remained healthy. They’ve had one additional off-rotation start, making a total of two. The top seven relievers still account for 84% of the team’s relief innings. I would say that most of the Cardinals’ success, the biggest reason they’re in contention, is that their depth has not been tested at all. Almost any MLB team that only has to use its top 28 or so players is going to have a puncher’s chance to make the playoffs. If that somehow holds up for three more months, the Cardinals can stay in the wild-card mix.
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