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With a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched their first National League Central division title since 2009.

The Cardinals provided the news via Twitter:

St. Louis rode starting pitcher Lance Lynn’s nine-strikeout performance to the win on Friday. Lynn received help from Matt Holliday and David Freese via the long ball, but it was his pitching performance that made the difference.

This is the third year in a row that the club will reach the postseason, which includes their run to a World Series title in 2011. Winning the division allows the squad to skip the one-game playoff between wild-card teams.

The NL Central has been one of the most competitive divisions in baseball, as the Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds were locked in a battle for the top spot all season. It’s the only division in the majors with three teams with at least 90 wins.

However, St. Louis was able to withstand its rivals thanks mostly to one of the best lineups in baseball. Veterans like Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran paired with less-experienced players like Matt Adams and Matt Carpenter make this a tough offense to stop.

These players helped the Cardinals lead the National League in runs scored while also ranking among the top five in the majors in batting average, on-base percentage and doubles.

Although this is not a group that hits a lot of home runs, they make it work with great hitting in key situations.

Meanwhile, the starting rotation is nothing to scoff at with Cy Young contender Adam Wainwright leading a group that includes Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha, two of the best young pitchers in the game.

Although the bullpen has been shaky at times, Edward Mujica has been solid in his first full year as a closer.

St. Louis has been battle-tested this season in an incredibly tough division, and the players have as much playoff experience as anyone else in the majors. The organization has not missed a beat since Mike Matheny took over for Tony LaRussa as manager before last season, and they appear set for another deep run in the playoffs. 

After clinching the NL Central, the group has to be one of the favorites to not only reach the World Series, but to also win a title for the second time in three years.

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For the first time since 2009, the St. Louis Cardinals aren’t heading to the postseason as a mere wild-card team.

Nope, not this year. Meet your 2013 National League Central champions.

The Cardinals have pulled off quite the accomplishment in winning the division. The NL Central is the only division in baseball with three 90-win teams. In the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals outpaced two very good teams. Not a bad way to start a run to the World Series.

And after taking a look at the particulars, I’ve reached the following conclusion: If the 2006 Cardinals and 2011 Cardinals could win it all, then the 2013 Cardinals definitely can.

In the interest of due diligence, what we’re going to do is compare this year’s Cardinals to the ’06 and ’11 championship teams in four key areas: starting pitching, relief pitching, offense and defense. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that this year’s team stacks up pretty well.

Note: All the statistics ahead are current only through the completion of Thursday’s action.

Starting Pitching

Good starting pitching, as you might have noticed, has been a key part of the Cardinals’ success this season.

There have been several moving parts in Mike Matheny’s rotation throughout the year, and the core group he’s using now is notably inexperienced and hasn’t racked up high pitch counts or eating innings. But hey, a 3.46 ERA is a 3.46 ERA. Per FanGraphs, only the Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten a lower ERA from their starters.

Things are already looking good here, but we can make them look better.

Do you guys remember what the ’06 Cardinals rolled into the postseason with in their starting rotation? If not, take a look at the table below. With data courtesy of FanGraphs, let’s take a moment to revel in the mediocrity:

Note: FIP is Fielding Independent Pitching, which effectively takes defense out of the equation to evaluate pitchers based more on their talent than their luck.

Chris Carpenter: good. Jeff Suppan: decent enough. Anthony Reyes and Jeff Weaver: yeesh.

Yes, things ended up working out in the end. But this table serves as a reminder of one of the reasons the ’06 Cardinals, an 83-win team in the regular season, seemed doomed heading into the playoffs. Good starting pitching is of utmost importance in October when the series are short and teams shy away from their worst starters, and the Cardinals only had one really good pitcher to roll out.

The 2011 Cardinals, by comparison, were in better shape. Here’s more data courtesy of FanGraphs:

Better. Much better.

Once again, Carpenter was his typical steady self, and I’m sure you recall him pitching like a stud at the end of the regular season (1.13 ERA in his last five starts) and in the postseason as well. Jaime Garcia and Kyle Lohse, meanwhile, were perfectly serviceable starters, and Edwin Jackson gave the Cards a boost after he was acquired in a midseason trade.

However, you might also recall Lohse and Jackson struggling in the 2011 postseason. That’s always a danger with guys who can’t miss bats, and that was an issue that plagued both of them in the regular season.

This serves as a nice segue into a look at the 2013 Cardinals, with more data courtesy of FanGraphs:

Simple math: the combined WAR of the top three guys here is higher than that of the top three of the 2006 Cardinals or 2011 Cardinals. That has as much to do with the fact that Adam Wainwright has had a downright brilliant season, but hats must be tipped to Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller for the seasons they’ve had.

And collectively, this bunch has been quite good at missing bats. Wainwright, Lynn, Miller and Michael Wacha all strike out more batters than the average starting pitcher. Joe Kelly doesn’t, but he gets enough ground balls to make up for it. His ground-ball percentage is easily over 50.

If it’s a choice between the three rotations, give me the 2013 Cardinals any day. The 2011 Cardinals had starting pitching that was none too shabby, and the experience their starters had must be noted. But this year’s Cardinals are deeper in the starting pitching department, and their collective ability to overpower hitters is something that could definitely come in handy in October.

Now then, how about the arms in the bullpen?

Relief Pitching

Both the 2006 Cardinals and the 2011 Cardinals offer fine testaments in favor of the notion that you can find a good closer anywhere at any time. 

The ’06 Cardinals, after all, didn’t stumble upon Wainwright’s impressive ability to close games until late in the season after Jason Isringhausen was lost to hip surgery. Likewise, the ’11 Cardinals didn’t make Jason Motte their closer until late in the season, and even then it wasn’t really official that he was the guy.

Wouldn’t you know it, the Cardinals are in the middle of more closer uncertainty late in the season this year. Edward Mujica has handled closing duties for the bulk of the season, but Trevor Rosenthal has seen action in the ninth inning recently as Mujica has gotten a break.

Either way, the Cardinals are poised to head into October with a closer at least as good as the ones they had in 2006 and 2011. Behold another table:

The season Rosenthal has had is the best among the four pictured here as far as WAR and FIP are concerned, and those are honors that one indeed earns when one strikes out over 30 percent of the batters he faces while maintaining a strong walk rate.

As for Mujica, ERA does him a favor. But FIP and WAR label him the worst of the bunch here. He’s showed off outstanding control, yes, but strikeouts are good and that’s not a department Mujica has excelled in.

He has excelled in WPA, however. That’s Win Probability Added, and it’s a stat that measures how players impact their team’s win expectancy. In addition to blowing Wainwright, Motte and Rosenthal out of the water in that department here, Mujica has also been among the elites as far as all 2013 relievers go. Per FanGraphs, only 10 relievers have him beat in WPA.

So whether they move forward with Mujica or Rosenthal as their postseason closer, the Cardinals are going to be in terrific shape. Perhaps not in better shape than the ’06 Cardinals or ’11 Cardinals given how well Wainwright and Motte performed in the postseason, but certainly just as good.

And you know what? The rest of St. Louis’ 2013 bullpen is also pretty darn good relative to the two championship clubs. Here’s a look at their MLB ranks compared to those of the ’06 and ’11 teams.

All three bullpens were/are middle of the road in terms of ERA. But FIP and WAR both favor the 2013 Cardinals pen. In its favor goes the nod.

So make it two points so far for the 2013 Cardinals over the two championship clubs. On to offense now.

Offense

It’s getting hard to remember a time when the Cardinals weren’t a strong offensive ballclub. They’ve been that way for ages, and nothing has changed this year. They’ve scored more runs than any other National League club.

But here’s a look at how they compare to the 2006 Cardinals and 2011 Cardinals in some key stats: 

There’s not much separation between the three clubs in batting average, but the 2013 Cardinals are beat in both on-base percentage and ISO—that being Isolated Power, a slugging percentage that ignores singles. And yeah, being inferior at getting on base and hitting for power is generally not a good place to be.

But then there’s wRC+. That’s Weighted Runs Created Plus, and it does the 2013 Cardinals a favor by rating them ahead of the ’06 Cardinals and reasonably close to the ’11 Cardinals.

This is important, because wRC+ is a stat that quantifies things relative to league average. Anything over 100 is above average. It’s best used for individual players rather than whole teams, granted, but in this case it reflects the depth of the 2013 club’s offense.

The 2006 Cardinals were notably better at getting on base and hitting for power than the 2013 Cardinals, but they did so in a day and age when getting on base and hitting for power was a lot easier than it is today. And while the ’06 Cardinals had Albert Pujols at the height of his power, only he and Chris Duncan logged over 200 plate appearances and posted a wRC+ over 130 in Cardinals uniforms.

The 2011 Cardinals, meanwhile, had four such players: Pujols, Allen Craig, Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday. Their offense was notably deeper.

As for the 2013 Cardinals, they have six such players: Craig, Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina, Matt Adams and (the extraordinary) Matt Carpenter. The depth of this offense is indeed noteworthy.

The picture doesn’t change that much if we remove Craig from the equation, as well we should given that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel has reported that his status for the postseason is still in limbo with a foot injury. St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak told Hummel, “The way I’m always more comfortable dealing with players is when they’re cleared to go do baseball-related activities. He hasn’t been cleared for that yet.”

The Cards still have five 130 wRC+ guys even without him, and Adams is an ideal fill-in for Craig at first base. He’s not the hitter Craig is, but he’s unquestionably a superior source of power.

I’m not sure I would take the 2013 offense over the 2011 offense, which was well-stocked with middle-of-the-order hitters. But the 2013 offense is superior to the 2006 offense, and its depth makes it a good match for the 2011 offense.

So yeah, things are still looking good. Let’s wrap this up by turning our gaze to the field.

Defense

The 2013 Cardinals have pitching and hitting, which is good enough. A team can go far in October with such things.

But good defense? That’s a bonus, and it can make a difference. Especially if a defense is strong in the right areas.

This being baseball we’re talking about, “in the right areas” means up the middle of the field at catcher, shortstop, second base and center field. That’s where we’re going to focus our attention for a defensive comparison of the 2013 Cardinals to the 2006 and 2011 clubs.

What I did was take a look at the primary players who were manning the up-the-middle positions for the three clubs heading into the postseason. That means the following players for each team:

• 2006: Yadier Molina, David Eckstein, Ronnie Belliard, Jim Edmonds
• 2011: Molina, Rafael Furcal, Ryan Theriot/Skip Schumaker, Jon Jay
• 2013: Molina, Pete Kozma, Carpenter, Jay

Next, I went and looked up how each player did in FanGraph’s new “Defense” ratings, which consider how players perform defensively while also factoring in position adjustments.

Then I made the following table:

*Theriot and Schumaker combined.

There’s a lot about the ’06 championship team that invites criticism, but let it never be said that it wasn’t strong up the middle defensively. The same can be said of the 2013 Cardinals.

And that’s not surprising. Molina is still a living defensive legend behind the dish. Kozma is only playing because of his defense at shortstop. Carpenter’s defense at second is pretty good for a guy who learned the position over the winter. Only Jay’s defense fails to impress, but I think most Cardinals fans will agree with me when I say that this is likely a case of a good defender having a weird statistical season than it is a case of a legitimately bad defender.

This year’s Cardinals have weaknesses elsewhere, of course. David Freese has had a horrible season at third base. Adams is not a good defensive first baseman. Holliday is typically one of the worst defensive left fielders in the league. Beltran is a shell of his old defensive self out in right field. Hit the ball to any one of them, and a mistake could happen.

However, there’s no question it’s better to be weak on the corners than it is to be weak up the middle. These Cardinals have a decent margin for error defensively because of their strength up the middle, and it’s yet another area they can boast about in the company of the last two championship teams.

In Conclusion, Gentlemen…

The 2006 Cardinals won only 83 regular-season games. The 2011 Cardinals won only 90.

After seeing what we’ve seen, is it really any wonder that this year’s Cardinals team has 95 wins and counting?

No it’s not. They have good starting pitching, a good bullpen, a good offense and are strong up the middle defensively. Relative to the ’06 and ’11 championship teams, the ’13 Cardinals are considerably more balanced.

That’s not a guarantee that this club is going to win the World Series, mind you. The Cardinals couldn’t win it in 2004 or 2005 despite the fact they won 100 games both years with terrific all-around ballclubs. The postseason has a mind of its own, and absolutely no reservations about devouring teams that seem well-equipped to slay it.

But don’t let that reality get you down, Cardinals fans. Go ahead and have high hopes. This year’s team is worthy of them.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are considered by many to be favorites in the National League heading into the playoffs.

With a record of 92-65, the Cardinals have the fourth-best record in all of baseball and are showing they are contenders once again.

However, the news on Allen Craig isn’t so good. According to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Craig is still in a walking boot and will get x-rays on Thursday during St. Louis’ day off.

Of course, the question is not when will Craig return, but if he’ll return. And for a team that is going to have to fight its way through the NL portion of the playoffs, that’s not good.

So, how would not getting Craig back impact the Cardinals’ postseason run?

Craig’s Impact and His Replacement

Before you can look at the rest of the lineup, you have to look at how Craig affects the lineup. When he starts, the Cardinals are 67-55 on the year. When he doesn’t, the Cardinals are 25-10. That’s a three-game difference.

This year, Craig is batting .315 with 13 home runs and 97 RBI. His numbers with runners in scoring position are even bigger, batting .454 with four home runs and 83 RBI. Simply put, the guy drives runners in.

But most of his numbers came in the first half of the season. In the season’s second half, Craig is batting .275 with three home runs and 23 RBI.

There’s no denying Craig’s ability to drive runners in, which is something underappreciated when it comes to the playoffs. But the numbers do show he was doing a better job of it in the first half.

Matt Adams is the one who has been filling in for Craig in his absence and he’s been doing a pretty good job of it. In 242 at-bats as a first baseman, Adams is batting .277 with 13 home runs and 41 RBI. Now, his power may not be what Craig’s is, but he’s still doing a decent job.

He’s hitting .350 with five home runs and 32 RBI with runners in scoring position, and is hitting .315 with seven home runs and 14 RBI in September. Adams is still trying to catch up to Craig’s number of RBI opportunities, but he’s just as capable.

While Craig not being in the lineup does hurt the Cardinals in a sense, Adams has shown that he can at least pick up some of the slack. But, he’s also been hitting against lower-tier MLB pitching, at least compared to the studs he would face in the playoffs. 

*Note: No. 1/2-type starters include all starters who are No. 1 or 2 on their team’s depth chart or would be in one of those spots on any other team, i.e. Ryu (Dodgers) and Julio Teheran (Braves).

Adams has rarely faced the top pitchers in the league this year, which could hurt come playoff time. We won’t truly know what Adams is capable of doing against those type of pitchers until the playoffs.

Who Bats Cleanup?

With Craig out of the lineup, the Cardinals have used Carlos Beltran and Adams in the No. 4 spot lately. Once Matt Holliday returns to the lineup, anything can happen.

Beltran is batting .226 with two home runs and 13 RBI in the cleanup spot, showing signs of struggle all year. Where he’ll fit best is in the No. 2 hole where he’s batting .316 with 19 home runs and 52 RBI.

Adams has been decent in 30 at-bats in the cleanup spot, batting .333 with four home runs and eight RBI. But is he the solution there for the playoffs?

Matt Holliday could also be moved, but do the Cardinals really want to move him out of the No. 3 hole? While he is batting .449 in the cleanup spot, that’s only with 49 at-bats. Compare that to 445 at-bats batting third where he’s hitting .283 with 18 home runs and 79 RBI. It would be a big mistake for the Cardinals to move him from that spot.

When you look at the starting lineup, the only spots in the batting order you can write in pen are Matt Carpenter in the leadoff role, Holliday in the No. 3 hole and Yadier Molina in the No. 5 hole. All three have played in more than 100 games from that position in the batting order and succeeded.

If I were manager Mike Matheny, I might even consider batting David Freese in the cleanup role, hoping he can recapture the magic of the 2011 postseason. In his postseason career, he’s batting .345 with six home runs and 25 RBI.

Having a player who has succeeded in a big spot before is huge. Freese may only be batting .265 with eight home runs and 65 RBI this year, but his postseason success in the past is why I still like him.

How It Affects the Postseason

While we’re still unsure who the Cardinals would play in the first round (or if they’ll play in the Wild Card Game), my biggest concern would be if/when they meet the Dodgers.

When I look at a rotation consisting of Clayton Kershaw (15-9, 1.88 ERA), Zack Greinke (15-3, 2.67 ERA) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-7, 3.03 ERA), I think runs are going to come at a premium.

While the Cardinals have done good this year against Kershaw (six runs in 13 IP), they’ve gotten a little against Greinke (two runs in 6.1 IP) and nothing against Ryu in seven innings.

In no other round, except the World Series, would the Cardinals face great pitching across the board. So, having someone who is known to basically hit everything with runners in scoring position would be a good thing.

Adams hasn’t faced Kershaw, Greinke or Ryu this year. In fact, the only pitcher he has a good amount of experience against that he could face in the playoffs is Ricky Nolasco. And that’s only five at-bats, where he struck out three times.

He has done an admirable job at filling in for Craig, but in no way can he replace the injured first baseman. Everyone likes the numbers, but they forget that it’s not against guys like Kershaw, Greinke, Cliff Lee, Jose Fernandez or any other top starter in the league.

Craig had at least seen all of those pitchers on multiple occasions and knows what to expect when he gets to the plate. That doesn’t mean he’ll get a hit, but at least he would know what he’s getting in to.

In the end, it comes down to having a bench player fill into a key position in the postseason. First base and (possibly) the cleanup role are big areas for any ballclub and I don’t see Adams having as much success given his limited experience.

The postseason is all about players performing their roles in high-pressure situations. Adams hasn’t done that.

Craig’s injury hurts because he’s sustained results over a longer period of time. For Adams, we’ve seen results in a short amount of time. But will it last?

That’s the biggest question mark right now. And if I’m the Cardinals, the last thing I want entering the playoffs is question marks.

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While the St. Louis is eyeing its third consecutive postseason appearance, a number of important events dramatically altered the 2013 season.

Most of these events are based on opportunity, while others are wrapped around raw talent. Perhaps the most important is youth, which the Cardinals boast plenty of.

First off, as weird as it may sound, the Cardinals have enjoyed great success due to injuries to some key players, including shortstop Rafael Furcal and starting pitcher Jaime Garcia.

Furcal, who was penciled in as the Opening Day shortstop, hurt his elbow during the 2012 postseason. The injury never healed, and Furcal opted to undergo season-ending surgery during spring training.

Welcome to the big leagues, Matt Carpenter, who was a hero during the Cardinals’ run to the National League Championship Series last fall.

Though shortstop isn’t Carpenter’s natural position, he’s done wonders as the leadoff man. In fact, he’s making noise in the National League MVP race. 

Carpenter, who is batting .321, with 116 runs scored, has been the best leadoff man in the NL, hands down. When batting first, Carpenter has scored 103 runs, hit 43 doubles and has driven in 67 runs. Moreover, Carpenter trails MVP contender Andrew McCutchen of Pittsburgh by six runs batted in. That’s ironic, because Carpenter bats first and McCutchen hits third.

Another prime event that changed the Cardinals’ season was the injury to left-handed starter Jaime Garcia.

Garcia underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on May 24. With an open spot in the rotation, the Cardinals turned to the young right-hander Joe Kelly.

Before the All-Star break, Kelly was just 1-3, with a 3.88 ERA in 24 games, including three starts. Following the break, Kelly owns the best record in the NL. He’s 8-1, with a 1.86 ERA in 11 starts.

That’s very impressive, considering Kelly is in his first full season with the Cardinals.

Out in the bullpen, young fireballer Trevor Rosenthal has been a late-inning stopper for the Cardinals, and one of the best in the NL. Mainly used as the eighth-inning man, Rosenthal has struck out 92 hitters, third-most in the NL, trailing Kenley Jansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Aroldis Chapman of the Reds.

There’s nothing more intriguing about this team than youth, which has really helped shape this season. The Cardinals’ average age is 27.4, tied for the fourth youngest in all of baseball. In fact, only one other team (Washington) is in the playoff race. The others (Seattle, Miami, Chicago White Sox and Houston) all have losing records and are out of the playoff picture.

The story of the 2013 Cardinals is wrapped around opportunity and youth, which is often overlooked by many. Still, these events have dramatically changed the Cardinals’ season.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates seem like they have been within a game of each other all season.

There’s a reason for that—they almost have been.

The idea that neither team can gain any ground is more than a feeling (Boston pun intended).

Thanks to a savvy reader, a very interesting correlation was pointed out Tuesday morning. They obviously share the same overall record and winning percentage or there would be no tie, but the numbers tell a more interesting story.

The Cardinals and Pirates have identical home and road splits.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 17, each team is 48-27 at home and 39-36 on the road. Like I said, that feeling that every time the Cardinals win so do the Pirates isn’t a feeling, it’s fact.

But the similarities don’t start there. Following are a number of interesting stories within the numbers.

• Each team’s biggest lead in the division has been by only four games. For the Cardinals, that happened on Sunday, June 9. For the Pirates, it was on Saturday, Aug. 10.

• Each team’s biggest deficit under first place is also only four games. For the Cardinals, that was on Aug. 10, the same day the Pirates had their widest margin. For the Pirates, that day was on Sunday, June 20.

• Both the Cardinals and the Pirates longest game this season was 16 innings. For the Cardinals, it’s happened twice—once on April 3 and once on Sept. 4. The Pirates 16-inning game was on Sunday, Aug. 18.

• Each team has been shutout by opponents 11 times this season.

• The Cardinals first half record was one game better than the Pittsburgh Pirates. To date, the Pirates second half record is one game better than the Cardinals.

• The teams have identical records against four teams: the Atlanta Braves (3-4), Miami Marlins (4-2), New York Mets (5-2) and the Oakland Athletics (1-2.)

• The Pirates own the season series against the Cardinals by only one game (10-9.)

While there are a lot of similarities, there are also many differences. Just for fun, here are a few of those.

• The Cardinals are considerably better in—and have been involved in more—blowout games. The Cardinals are 32-17 in games decided by more than five runs. The Pirates are 17-14.

• Despite their close records, the Cardinals have scored far more runs. In 149 games, the Cardinals have scored 715 runs, while allowing 556. The Pirates have scored 580 runs and allowed 534.

• In extra innings, the Cardinals are 5-5 with a .500 winning percentage. The Pirates are 9-8 with a .529 winning percentage.

• The Pirates have a slight edge in one-run games (28-21) over the Cardinals (17-15.)

As the season winds down, each team is well aware that everything is on the line. Each win, run and even pitch could be the difference in a division championship and Wild Card play-in game.

As tight as it has been so far, don’t be shocked if this race comes down to the last night.

Stats current as of Sept. 17, 2013, via http://baseball-reference.com/

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Season-ending surgeries sprinkled in with promising performances characterize the St. Louis Cardinals’ Top 10 prospects for the week of Aug. 19.

Injuries are part of the game, sure. Oscar Taveras, the organization’s top prospect is out for the season, left-handed starting pitcher John Gast and right-hander Tyrell Jenkins are also lost for the season due to significant injury.

However, with every downfall, a glimmer of hope emerges down on the farm. A number of young, talented players are getting hot at the right time as their season draws to a close.

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It’s rare that a top hitting prospect will be called up early in the season without a regular lineup spot. Despite the benefit of being around big league veterans and coaches, they simply need to play every day to develop the necessary skills to compete in the major leagues. 

The Cardinals and reserve first baseman/pinch-hitter extraordinaire Matt Adams have made it work, though. The 24-year-old rookie has started 40 games at first base, keeping him just sharp enough to have success coming off of the bench (10-for-29, 3 HR). 

Another rookie prospect, second baseman Kolten Wong, is now in a similar position after getting called to the majors today. Unlike Adams, the 22-year-old Wong has had the benefit of regular playing time in the minors this year—he hit .303 with 10 HR, 21 doubles, eight triples, 41 walks and 20 stolen bases in 107 Triple-A games—but, like Adams, he’ll likely find himself on the bench more than he’s ever been throughout his baseball career.

This team is banged up, though, and Wong, the team’s first-round pick in the 2011 draft, could find himself making at least three or four starts per week as long as he’s productive. 

A polished left-handed hitter with good, but not spectacular all-around skills, Wong is unlikely to be overwhelmed by major league pitching. At his peak, he projects as a .280-.300 hitter who can hit 10-15 homers, 30-40 doubles and steal 15-20 bases annually.

He doesn’t appear to be far from his ceiling, which is why the Cards felt comfortable bringing him up now. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him starting in the playoffs after just a month-and-a-half in the big leagues. 

Wong was in the starting lineup on Friday—he went 0-for-3—with Matt Carpenter sliding over to third base and David Freese getting the day off. While Freese is injury-prone and his overall numbers aren’t great (.731 OPS, 6 HR in 102 games), he’s healthy now and having a strong month (14-for-45, HR, 6 2B). But with Wong now in the picture, Freese could ultimately lose playing time and could end up in a platoon situation with starts coming mostly against left-handed pitchers, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

Other potential scenarios exist, however. Carlos Beltran, who is battling a sore foot, has been taking a day off every three to four games with Adams playing first base and Allen Craig starting for Beltran in right field. Matt Holliday’s sore ankle could also give him problems, opening up a similar scenario where Adams starts and Craig shifts over to left field. 

But the addition of Wong and the versatility of Carpenter give them an extra option to consider. In addition to second and third base, Carpenter can also play either corner outfield spot. If they feel comfortable enough with Wong in the lineup, expect Carpenter to spend more time in the outfield. He’s made just one start in the outfield thus far in 2013, but that could change now. 

With a two-and-a-half game deficit in the NL Central, the Cards can’t afford a drop off down the stretch. Wong’s arrival gives the team a chance to give regular rest to Beltran and Holliday while allowing them to keep an extra power threat on the bench in Adams.

Bringing up Wong now also ensures he could be placed on the playoff roster. Not only is it important because he needed to be on the 25-man roster prior to September 1 to become eligible, but also because the Cardinals will have a good amount of time to evaluate him and decide if he could make a positive impact in the postseason.  

With a six-game lead over the Diamondbacks in the wild-card race, there is a very good chance they’ll make it. They’re not taking any chances, though, and calling up Wong now without the guarantee of regular playing time is a strong indication they weren’t happy with a team that is only 12-16 since the All-Star break. 

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It wasn’t shocking to see many National League Central Division contenders like St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh stand pat when last week’s non-waiver trade deadline passed.

This is especially true for the Cardinals, who garner the best development system in the game.

However, the deadline for teams eying to add the finishing touches via waivers expires Aug. 31. What will the Cardinals do? With five-time Gold Glover Yadier Molina sidelined with a right knee injury, will general manager John Mozeliak add a veteran catcher to accommodate the youth of backup Tony Cruz and call-up Rob Johnson? How about the possibility of adding a power bat off the bench for late-game situations? What about depth at shortstop?

All of the aforementioned equations represent different necessities the Cardinals could use, each carrying more importance.

So far the Cardinals remain quiet in terms of publicly expressing their plan of attack. They would be foolish to inform other general managers of what they intend to do for the time being.

An upgrade behind the plate while Molina continues to nurse his right knee would be one route Mozeliak could take.

Then again, he isn’t in a position where acquiring such player is a must, and reserve backstop Cruz is doing just fine in Molina’s absence. Cruz is no Molina, but he’s taking on his share behind the plate. 

As far as a power bat off the bench, the Cardinals remain intrigued by slugger Matt Adams, who hit his third pinch-hit home run of the season against the Dodgers on Aug. 7, the most by a Cardinals pinch-hitter since Carl Sawatski, who had four in 1961. 

But the Cardinals are in danger of snowballing. 

On June 20, the Cardinals were the best team in the game, sporting a mark of 47-26 and a 3.5 game lead over the second-place Pirates.

Since then, the Cardinals have sleepwalked their way to a 20-24 mark and have been elbowed out of first place by the Pirates, who hold a three-game advantage.

Some will argue against Mozeliak’s inability to land a trade following the deadline, others will cry afoul. Putting it bluntly, the Cardinals didn’t need to make a move before the deadline, and they don’t need to make one in the days following.

If you thought the Cardinals could sustain such excellence throughout the season, you’re kidding yourself. It’s extremely rare for a team not to struggle in a whirlwind of a 162-game schedule.

The Cardinals are in the thick of a pennant and division race. Shaking up the roster could negatively impact team chemistry.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have great prospects, and it became clear at the 2013 trade deadline that they were with the team to stay—at least for this year. 

So as we analyze the current team and look for holes during its recent slump, which minor league players may step up and contribute? Now more than ever, it might be important to take a look at a position-by-position breakdown of the Cardinals‘ best prospects.

Per MLB.com‘s rankings, I’ve listed each position’s star, his 2013 season statistics and history with the team.

Read on to find out which are the future of St. Louis!

*All statistics are current on MiLB.com as of August 10, 2013*

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I don’t know if Albert Pujols has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. Frankly, I don’t care. The Steroid Era in baseball, which rather seamlessly morphed into the PED Era, has become so much more about defending one’s innocence that it could ever be about actually, you know, being innocent.

Baseball moralists—many of whom consistently looked the other way as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were saving the sport in the 1990s yet seem to revel in the demise of today’s cheaters with perverted delight—have a difficult conundrum on their hands: Should they believe Pujols when he defends his Hall of Fame-caliber career, or believe former St. Louis Cardinal All-Star Jack Clark, who recently accused Pujols of cheating?

Facts, in this particular drug allegation, are hard to come by. The only facts we know are that Clark went on his new radio show and accused Pujols of taking steroids early in his career, Pujols denied those claims, and Clark was removed from his radio job. That’s the black and white in this story, with the rest, like everything in this era in Major League Baseball, swathed in a sea of gray.

Clark claimed that Chris Mihlfeld, a former trainer for Pujols, told Clark in 2000—when both worked in the Dodgers organization—that the trainer “shot Pujols up” with drugs earlier in his career. Clark said that he didn’t know who Pujols was at the time, but Mihlfeld told him the slugger would soon be a star. Pujols debuted in the majors in 2001 and has been a star ever since.

Clark could have been seen as a former player outing one of this generation’s greats in an effort to clean up the game. Some in the moralizing media might love that. At the same time, Clark waited a decade to out Pujols, in the first week as host on a St. Louis sports talk radio show that, clearly, got him national attention. It also got him fired.

The moralists might have issue with that.

It’s easy to take the side of Pujols here, if you were inclined to take sides in public debates about players accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs with very little facts. There would be no reason not to believe him, especially after Clark was professionally exposed.

This all stems back to the Pujols denial. That glorious denial.

Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, here is the Pujols denial, broken into paragraphs with an explanation as to why this is, unequivocally, the greatest denial in PED history. The moralists should want to build a statue out of this denial.

I’ve said time and time again that I would never take, or even consider taking, anything illegal. I’ve been tested hundreds of times throughout my career and never once have I tested positive. It is irresponsible and reckless for Jack Clark to have falsely accused me of using PEDs.

First, Pujols isn’t just denying the claims by Clark, he’s reiterating his previous denials. This is subtle but smart in that he immediately reminds people that this is not the first time accusations have been levied against him and, per his defense, wrongfully so.

Not only would Pujols never take PEDs, he makes the case that he wouldn’t even consider it. He wouldn’t even consider considering it, really. And like all former cheaters in baseball—not suggesting Pujols is, but this part of his statement is something the former cheaters always say—he reminded everyone he’s never failed a test, which is a false argument anyway, considering that failing a drug test is barely even the way MLB catches cheaters in the game these days.

My faith in Jesus Christ, and my respect for this game are too important to me. I would never be able to look my wife or kids in the eye if I had done what this man is accusing me of.

Respecting the game is great, but nothing and nobody trumps Jesus Christ. By invoking Jesus, Pujols effectively ends the entire conversation. Referencing faith as the reason he would never cheat—as if faith precludes people from any moral impropriety—is a moralist’s dream. Adding in the notion that he wouldn’t be able to look at his wife and kids is the syrup on this faith-and-family-values sundae. 

I know people are tired of athletes saying they are innocent, asking for the public to believe in them, only to have their sins exposed later down the road. But I am not one of those athletes, and I will not stand to have my name and my family’s name, dragged through the mud. I am currently in the process of taking legal action against Jack Clark and his employers at WGNU (920 AM).

This is where the Pujols denial separates itself from other denials. His agent, or whoever wrote this statement, deserves a raise.

The statement reminds people that known cheaters like Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez have publicly professed innocence—without using their names, everyone knows who this statement is referencing—which makes the public skeptical when players who are actually clean say they are clean. By acknowledging that fact, the Pujols statement expertly separates him from the other unbelievable denials of the past, thereby doubling down on his own veracity. (This is so wonderfully meta.) 

In addition, Pujols invokes his family into the conversation for the second time. It’s one thing to sully his name, but HOW DARE YOU sully the name of his family, Jack Clark.

And then, the denial coup de grace: the threat of legal action. 

In today’s society, you don’t even have to take legal action on anyone, so long as you publicly and angrily announce that you plan to take legal action.

In this situation, the threat was enough for the radio station that sub-contracted Clark to terminate the relationship after a week. Now, in theory, Pujols won’t even have to sue Clark or the radio station because getting the public to think he will serves the same purpose. It’s brilliant, really. 

I am going to send a message that you cannot act in a reckless manner, like they have, and get away with it. If I have to be the athlete to carry the torch and pave the way for other innocent players to see that you can do something about it, I am proud to be that person.

Message sent and received.

I have five young children and I take being a role model very seriously. The last thing I want is for the fans, and especially the kids out there, to question my reputation and character.

It’s about the kids, folks. And not just his kids, but all of our kids, too. Thanks, Albert, for defending your name in such a way that my kids know, once and for all, you are not a cheater.

OK, fine. That part I’m mocking a bit because somewhere along the way, baseball hand-wringers have convinced players that cheating is about a message it sends to the kids. Jumping to conclusions and making decisions about players based on how good a quote they are might send a worse message to kids, but we never really talk much about that, do we?

Three references to family aside, the brilliance of combining family, society, religion, respect for the game and his past history of never failing a test is, truly, the greatest anti-drug statement of all time. This is better than Braun’s claims of innocence in 2011, which fans now look back on with rolled eyes. This is better than Rafael Palmiero’s finger wagging to Congress, too.

It’s the best. This is the holy grail of denials. Anytime a player is accused of taking PEDs in the future, his agent should copy and paste this statement and just change a few words to make it sound fresh.

For what it’s worth, I don’t want anyone to think I don’t believe Pujols. Frankly, the statement was so expertly ironclad it would be incredibly cynical for anyone to not believe it. In a way, it was too good.

Does Jack Clark’s 13-year-old story really deserve such a vehement statement? If anything, the level of defiance in this statement is the only thing that has me wondering if there’s some validity to the accusations. I’ve been on record that I’ve never cared if a player takes a substance to enhance his performance. It would be a much bigger issue if the rumors floated by Dan Le Batard in 2011—that Pujols is older than he claims—were true. That would show less respect for the game and personal integrity than taking a few drugs to help him hit a ball better.

And yet for those who care about a player’s drug-related cleanliness, this Pujols denial is manna to be devoured and regurgitated with all those other statements from players who want the game to be cleaned up for good.

It’s perfect, really. Almost too perfect.

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