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The 2015 MLB season just ended a little over a week ago, and already the St. Louis Cardinals are having to deal with an injury ahead of next year.

The team announced Tuesday that Lance Lynn had Tommy John surgery and will be absent for the entirety of the 2016 campaign.

Lynn went 12-11 in 31 starts during the regular season, finishing with a 3.03 ERA and a 3.44 FIP, per Baseball-Reference.com. The 28-year-old then made one appearance in the postseason, allowing one earned run in an inning pitched.    

Sporting News’ Jesse Spector and MLB.com’s Mike Petriello illustrated how unpredictable serious elbow injuries can be for major league pitchers:  

At least the Cardinals now have an entire offseason to try to fill Lynn’s spot in the starting rotation.

MLB Network’s Dan Plesac speculated St. Louis will now make an even harder push to sign one of John Lackey or Jordan Zimmermann. ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield threw out Zack Greinke and David Price as options as well, citing a heightened desperation from the Cardinals to bolster the pitching staff after shoulder issues ended Carlos Martinez’s season prematurely.

The timing of the injury is somewhat troublesome for Lynn, though. He’ll earn $7.5 million over the next two seasons and will become a free agent ahead of 2018. Ideally, he’ll be back to full health with an entire year to recover, but that is never a guarantee.

Both the Cardinals and Lynn will hope he can contribute in a meaningful way once Opening Day rolls around in 2017.

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St. Louis Cardinals minor league pitcher Alex Reyes will miss the start of the 2016 season after earning a 50-game suspension following a positive test for marijuana, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize for disappointing my family, fans, teammates and the St. Louis Cardinals organization,” Reyes said in a statement, per Sanchez. “I acknowledge my inappropriate behavior and will accept the consequences. Baseball is my passion and I will do everything in my power to put this behind me and move forward.”

As MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch noted, the suspension will begin immediately and the remainder of Reyes’ Arizona Fall League schedule will count toward the 50-game total.

In a statement, the commissioner’s office confirmed Reyes’ suspension is a result of a second positive test, per Sanchez. Although the 50-game suspension is in line with the league’s standards, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan wondered whether testing positive for marijuana should be a punishable offense:

Before the start of last season, Baseball America ranked Reyes as the No. 2 prospect in the Cardinals organization. Baseball Prospectus subsequently rated him the 16th-best prospect in all of MLB in its midyear ranking.

Reyes spent 2015 with the Cardinals’ rookie league, High-A and Double-A affiliates. In 22 starts, he finished with a 5-7 record and a 2.49 earned run average.

He’s still likely another full season away from helping St. Louis at the major league level. Only eight of his starts came in Double-A, so the Cardinals will want to give him more time there and also groom him with Triple-A Memphis before giving him a full call-up.

Being absent for a stretch of games at the beginning of 2016 is unlikely to demonstrably stymie Reyes’ development and eventual MLB arrival.

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The conclusion of the federal investigation into St. Louis Cardinals‘ alleged hacking of the Houston Astros‘ database could be on the horizon.

“I’m hopeful that that situation will be taken care of during the offseason,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, per Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. “The timing, however, is not completely within our control. Obviously we’re playing second fiddle to the U.S. Attorney here, as it should be. And we’ll have to be driven to some extent by their timing.”

Back in June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began looking into whether any member of the Cardinals organization violated federal law by stealing proprietary information from the Astros.

“The FBI aggressively investigates all potential threats to public- and private-sector systems,” said an FBI spokeswoman at the time, per Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. “Once our investigations are complete, we pursue all appropriate avenues to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”

In July, the Cardinals fired scouting director Chris Correa. According to Robert Patrick and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Correa admitted to accessing the Astros’ database but denied his aim was to steal information from Houston, rather to see if the Astros stole proprietary information from the Cardinals.

The scandal presents a tough situation for MLB since nothing quite like this has happened before between competing teams. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller argued the league couldn’t afford to let the Cardinals off easy should they be found to have engaged in a “widespread, organized effort” to access the Astros’ servers:

FanGraphs‘ Nathaniel Grow analyzed each of the different scenarios for Manfred to discipline the Cardinals, including handing them a postseason ban, taking away draft picks or fining the Cardinals a $2 million fine—the most allowed under the MLB constitution.

Not only would a postseason ban be unfair for the players, who almost certainly had no role in the scandal, it would violate the collective bargaining agreement, Grow asserts.

As a result, some combination of a fine and draft pick forfeiture makes the most sense. Stripping St. Louis of multiple draft picks would hurt the team at an organizational level without jeopardizing the careers of the team’s major league roster.

Other teams would also be wary to engage in similar espionage tactics if they knew they were risking one or more high draft selections.

Manfred is likely waiting until the FBI’s investigation concludes to issue any punishments to the Cardinals or any team employees implicated in the scandal.

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After losing the National League Division Series to the Chicago Cubs in four games, it’d be easy to call for sweeping change in St. Louis this winter.

But once emotions calm and sanity creeps back in, we’ll remember that the Cardinals were baseball’s most successful team during the regular season—and that a large part of that roster will be back in 2016.

Lest we forget that the series may have gone in a completely different direction had Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright been able to pitch in the rotation…or if Yadier Molina was able to grip a bat…or if Matt Adams was healthy enough to play first base.

That’s not an excuse as much as it’s a fact, and while changes are certainly coming to Busch Stadium, the fact is that they’ll be on a far smaller scale than some would like.

What follows is a look at the decisions the team is going to have to make when it comes to the roster—and some reinforcements that could be welcomed.

Begin Slideshow

Yadier Molina, who is battling a thumb injury, was not in the lineup for Game 4 of the National League Division Series as the St. Louis Cardinals saw their season end at the hands of the Chicago Cubs.

Molina was originally in the lineup for the contest, but was scratched in favor of backup Tony Cruz.

He originally injured his hand when Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo slid into home on Sept. 20, suffering a partially torn ligament in his left thumb.

Continue for updates.

Molina to Undergo Tests to Determine Severity of Injury

Wednesday, Oct. 14 

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Molina will undergo an MRI on his hand on Wednesday.

Matheny Comments on Molina’s Injury

Tuesday, Oct. 13

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said on Tuesday that Molina has “considerable weakness” in the injured left hand, per Goold. 

Molina Is Crucial to Cards’ Title Hopes in 2016

It wasn’t a surprise to see Molina struggling offensively in the NLDS, as this season had been a difficult one for the 33-year-old. He did play in 136 games, but his .660 OPS was his worst since 2006 and the third-worst mark of his career. 

Molina is a seven-time All-Star, a former Silver Slugger winner and a seven-time Gold Glove winner. The Cardinals’ pitching staff boasted a sparkling 2.79 ERA in games Molina caught before he went down with the thumb injury, per Nightengale. 

Now that St. Louis’ season is over, the team can allow Molina to get healthy before reloading for another run at a World Series title.

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Through a season full of injuries and, at times, uncertainty, Jason Heyward was a constant.

Playing in his first season with a new team loaded with World Series expectations, coming off a relatively down year and a summer and fall away from his first foray into free agency, Heyward became one of the St. Louis Cardinals’ most dependable and best players. He starred for the club with the bat, was a defensive marvel in right field and ended up as one of the game’s best baserunners.

The Cardinals won 100 games this season with absolutely outstanding pitching and possibly the best defense in the majors. Their offense was just so-so, but that made Heyward’s presence in the lineup all the more crucial.

If the Cardinals capture another National League pennant this month, it will be done with their pitching. However, considering the opposing pitching the team will face in a loaded side of the bracket, Heyward will play a vital role in the team’s postseason success, and that will go a long way in determining his value on the open market this winter.

The Cardinals acquired Heyward in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, where he entered the big leagues with massive potential and carrying the hopes of the franchise on his broad shoulders, though he never really lived up to any of it. The Cardinals gave up promising starting pitcher Shelby Miller, who still had four years of team control at the time of the deal, but the sudden and tragic death of right-field prospect Oscar Taveras prompted the Cardinals to move on Heyward.

He immediately endeared himself to his new club by racking three hits, two of them doubles, on Opening Day. Things tumbled downward from there, and the now-26-year-old finished the first month of the season batting .217/.261/.349 with a putrid .611 OPS.

Heyward clearly picked up the pace after April, and his OBP never dipped below .340 in any month after that. His OPS was never lower than .783, peaking at .881 during a torrid June. He finished with a .293/.359/.439 slash line, .797 OPS and 117 OPS+. He also ended up being a huge plus on the bases, accumulating a 7.0 BsR total, according to FanGraphs.

“Just trying to keep it simple, keep it simple,” Heyward told reporters last month. “There are good stretches, bad stretches. You just try to minimize all of them regardless of what happens. Each at-bat, put it behind you and go attack the next one.”

Heyward has done a decent job of attacking in this postseason. Through Monday night’s Game 3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Heyward is 4-for-12, and he hit a home run and a double in that third, both coming against baseball’s Second Coming, Jake Arrieta.

Heyward came into this playoff series with three others to his name. In the small sample of 40 plate appearances, he has produced a dismal .154/.175/.256 slash line, two extra-base hits and 16 strikeouts to his one walk.

Even with that on the back of his card, Heyward can use a strong playoff performance this fall to juice up his value on the free-agent market this offseason. And recent history proves it is possible with Pablo Sandoval landing a ridiculous $95 million for five years of declining work, much of it based off a couple of outstanding playoff runs.

Heyward does not and will not have the body issues Sandoval has, and because he will not turn 27 until next August, a deal well into the ninth figure is absolutely plausible given the kind of all-around player he’s become.

Heyward is also coming off a season in which he was worth 6.5 wins above replacement, via Baseball-Reference.com, and 6.0, via FanGraphs WAR. Both marks put him in the NL’s top 10.

For comparison’s sake, Heyward is coming off a better season going into free agency than Jacoby Ellsbury did after the 2013 season, when he had a 5.7 B-R WAR and a 5.6 fWAR. Ellsbury, going into his age-30 season, landed a seven-year, $153 million contract from the New York Yankees.

Heyward’s season, and possibly his postseason, has most likely priced him out of the Cardinals’ range. The Yankees and Boston Red Sox won’t be in the market to drive up Heyward’s price, but as we’ve seen with plenty of other players in recent offseasons, it only takes one team willing to unload the armored truck.

Jason Heyward‘s 2015 Stats .293 AVG .359 OBP .439 SLG .797 OPS 13 HR 60 RBI 23 SB 33 2B 4 3B 1.9 DWAR 6.5 WAR Worth of a BIG contract?

— The Birds On The Bat (@BirdsOnTheBat13) October 5, 2015

The Cardinals are not built around Heyward, so watching him walk in the offseason won’t be entirely devastating. However, for the time they do have his services, it is imperative Heyward be an anchor in the lineup if the organization is going to qualify for its 24^th World Series.

If Heyward can be that, a championship and a mega-contract will be within his reach.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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In just a few hours, (5:07 p.m. CT to be exact), a pivotal Game 3 of the of the National League Division Series will take place at the historic Wrigley Park, where the hometown Chicago Cubs are looking to break the series tie against the St. Louis Cardinals. It won’t be an easy task for either team to take the lead, but there is no doubt that both teams are more than ready to step it up and walk away with a win.

For the Chicago Cubs, this is an opportunity to make the next two games memorable since this is the first postseason game to take place in Chicago since 2008. As a unit, the Cubs have had success when Cardinals lead pitcher Michael Wacha is on the mound, batting a .311 average along with a .365 on-base percentage in a total of 115 plate appearance.

Individually, it’s hard to ignore the incredible run that Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta has been on recently. As per our very own featured columnist Joel Reuter, the 29-year old is 8-0, with a 0.27 ERA, 0.552 WHIP, 73 strikeouts and 67.0 innings pitched in his last nine starts. Most recently, Arrieta pitched an impressive five-run shutout during a crucial Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When asked about his mindset going into tonight’s matchup, Arietta views it as a special opportunity:

“Getting two in St. Louis would’ve been great, but getting one in St. Louis puts us in a good situation to do some special things here at Wrigley over the next couple of days,” he said, per Greg Garno at MLB.com.

As for the St. Louis Cardinals, participating in the postseason is nothing new to them, as they are one of the top teams who have the talent to do so. Perhaps the X-factor in tonight’s game will be the Cardinals bullpen, who will need to step up in a big way if starting pitcher Wacha continues to struggle as he has in recent weeks on the mound. Overall, this relief squad averaged a 2.82 ERA this season, ranking them in third place in majors.

In addition to recent trips to the playoffs, this is not the first time that the Cardinals were up against the league’s most sought-after pitcher. Last year, they faced Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who also happened to be the Major League MVP and National League Cy Young Award winner.

Arrieta is having a similar stellar season to the one Kershaw had last year, serving as familiar territory for the Cardinals. “I swear, it feels like it’s déjà vu,” said Cardinals leadoff man Matt Carpenter on Sunday, per Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. “Just facing a different guy.”

Yet this experienced squad is ready tackle this déjà vu moment head on. “We’ve gone up against a number of teams and a number of pitchers where everybody kind of ruled us out and said you can’t do this or that, and I think this team has responded well in the past,” said Cardinal manager Mike Mathany. per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. “We understand there’s a pitcher on their side that’s been throwing the ball very well, and we need to just come out and do what we do.”

Judging by the numbers, it is easy to assume that the Cubs will walk away with tonight’s win. However, it’s impossible to count out a team like the Cardinals, who have more postseason experience in recent years. Needless to say, fans are in for a treat tonight!

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In their first game of the 2015 postseason, the St. Louis Cardinals got a boost from two rookies and one guy who’s being paid like a rookie.

The big difference, of course, is that the guy they’re only paying like a rookie is 36 years old and is in the middle of what might be the finest season of a long, successful career.

That would be John Lackey. He took the ball in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium on Friday and led the Cardinals to a 4-0 victory by pitching seven and one-third shutout innings. He took a no-hitter into the sixth and finished with just two hits and one walk allowed with five strikeouts. MLB highlighted the Cardinals’ shutout:

In the process, Lackey lowered his career postseason ERA to 2.90 in 124.1 innings. Somewhat quietly, he’s put himself up there among the great postseason pitchers in MLB history.

“You put a guy in a situation like this,” said Cardinals skipper Mike Matheny after the game, per MLB.com, “and we talk a lot about him being a big-game pitcher, about the experience he’s had, how he thrives in these situations, and then he just takes it there and goes a step further with just the way he competed today.”

As for Lackey’s offense, it was Matt Holliday’s first-inning RBI single off Jon Lester—who also pitched very well—that put the Cardinals on the board and long home runs by rookies Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty in the eighth inning that put the game away.

For the Cardinals, this means they now need just two wins to move on to what would be their fifth straight National League Championship Series appearance. For Lackey, it was yet another exclamation point on a season that’s featured many more than anyone could have anticipated.

When the Cardinals acquired Lackey in a trade with the Boston Red Sox last year, they were acquiring a veteran pitcher they knew they controlled through at least the end of 2014.

However, there was some question about whether Lackey would stick around in 2015. The Cardinals technically held a mere $500,000 team option for the 2015 season—a gift from a clause in Lackey’s contract that kicked in when he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012—the possibility existed that Lackey would simply take his $100-plus million in career earnings and hang up his spikes.

Fortunately, Lackey didn’t take long to ease any and all doubts, confirming in early August that he would indeed honor his league-minimum 2015 option if the Cardinals picked it up.

Though Lackey posted just a 4.30 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for them, the Cardinals did just that. And for that, they were rewarded with arguably the best season of Lackey’s career.

All Lackey did in his 33 starts was post a career-low 2.77 ERA across 218 innings, also marking his first 200-inning season since his first year in Boston in 2010. As for how he did it, it was a combination of Lackey being his usual self while also adopting some new tricks.

One thing Lackey has going for him is that he still has a good arm attached to his body. FanGraphs put his average fastball at 91.6 miles per hour in 2015, which is where he was even as a much younger man in his final year in Anaheim in 2009.

And as ESPN Stats & Info can vouch, against the Cubs, he showed that he’s still plenty capable of reaching back for more:

But while good velocity definitely helps, while playing the Cubs Lackey also demonstrated that he’s no longer using velocity as a crutch. 

As Brooks Baseball can show, Lackey essentially shelved his two-seam fastball upon his departure from Anaheim, instead choosing a life as a four-seamer/slider pitcher. But his two-seamer made a comeback in 2015, particularly in the second half when it accounted for nearly a quarter of his pitches.

What’s the value of a good two-seamer? Well, it never hurts to simply have another nasty pitch in your arsenal. As pictured by MLB GIFs, that’s another thing Lackey demonstrated Friday:

Apart from sheer nastiness, a good two-seamer is also an easy way to get ground balls. Those started coming for Lackey as he moved more toward his two-seamer in the second half of the year, as he upped his GB% from 44.6 to 47.9.

Against the Cubs, it was more of the same. Per ESPN.com, he induced 10 ground balls to seven fly balls. That’ll work.

Apart from maintaining good velocity and reaping the benefits of more liberal two-seamer usage, there was something else Lackey has done really well this season that he got a chance to demonstrate in Game 1.

If he seemed particularly nasty in the few instances in which the Cubs had runners on base, well, just know that was also a continuation of a trend. As Neil Weinberg noted at FanGraphs, Lackey was notably harder to hit with men on base—and even harder to hit with men in scoring position—than he was with the bases empty in 2015. His .227 average against with men on base put him in the same company as Gerrit Cole. His .200 average against with men in scoring position was the league’s 11th-best.

We’re not talking about a major overhaul here, but all of this definitely worked for Lackey throughout 2015. And it’s probably because good velocity, a good two-seamer and an ability to clamp down with runners on base will make a pitcher a tough matchup for pretty much anyone.

It would appear, however, that Lackey is an especially tough matchup for the Cubs.

Even before he got them again on Friday, Lackey had already dominated the Cubs to the tune of a 1.25 ERA in three starts throughout 2015. Three related stories would appear to be that the Cubs are among baseball’s least consistent teams at hitting good velocity, hitting two-seamer/sinkers and hitting with men on base. They’re not particularly good at the things that Lackey is good at.

On the bright side for the Cubs, it’s possible they won’t see Lackey again in this series. If they can win the next three games against Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn, they’ll move on to the National League Championship Series, and their struggles against Lackey will become nothing more than a bad memory.

If the Cubs only win two of the next three, however, Lackey will be waiting for them in Game 5. After already turning in a renaissance season for the books, that would be his chance to produce yet another work of art. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, BaseballSavant.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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It’s October, and Kolten Wong is feeling himself.

The St. Louis Cardinals second baseman celebrated his two-out double in the second inning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs by hitting the whip.

Wong was left on base, but the Cardinals still carried a 1-0 lead into the third.

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Take this next sentence, stick it in an envelope, put the envelope in a time machine and send it back to a St. Louis Cardinals fan in March 2015.

Here’s the sentence: You’re going to lose Adam Wainwright for essentially the entire season to a busted Achilles, Matt Adams and Matt Holliday are going to miss almost 200 combined contests to injury—and the Cards are still going to win 100 games.

It’s tempting to say that fan would scoff (after he quit marveling at your time machine). But maybe not.

These are the Cardinals, after all, perennial contenders who always seem to plug leaks with savvy trades and free-agent additions, plus call-ups from their eternally fertile farm system. 

Still, St. Louis was absolutely, brutally injury-bitten this season. On top of the aforementioned names, All-Star catcher Yadier Molina, outfielder Jon Jay and onetime Rookie of the Year hopeful Randal Grichuk all got dinged. And that’s a partial list.

Yet, to repeat, the Cardinals won 100 games in the toughest division in baseball. They walked away with the National League Central. Tip your hat to a resilient bunch.

There’s one more injury we haven’t mentioned, however. And as the Cardinals prepare to kick off their historic division series with the Chicago Cubs on Friday, it might finally be the one that slows St. Louis’ roll.

We’re talking about Carlos Martinez, the hard-throwing, young right-hander whose emergence helped alleviate the loss of Wainwright.

Before succumbing to a late-September shoulder strain, Martinez posted a 3.01 ERA with 184 strikeouts in 179.2 innings. It was a legitimate breakout for the 24-year-old, who has always had the stuff to be a star but spent the bulk of his first two big league seasons in the bullpen, where he posted plus-4.00 ERAs.

Suddenly, there he was, fronting the rotation, looking like an ace in the offing. Then, in a flash, he was lost.

At the time, manager Mike Matheny called it “a shame,” per the Associated Press (via USA Today).

“Such is this game,” the Cardinals skipper added, per the AP. “We’re just going to have to keep rolling like so many other times this season.”

He’s right, as we just outlined. St. Louis has shaken off a MASH-unit’s worth of ailments to remain on its annual October track. And, somehow, even with the recently activated Wainwright limited to bullpen duty and Martinez on the shelf, the Cards have cobbled together a passable division series rotation, with veteran John Lackey slated to pitch Game 1, followed by Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn.

Glance at the other contenders in the National League, though. The New York Mets have a trio of burgeoning studs in Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The Los Angeles Dodgers have Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. 

And the Cubs have Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta, backed by playoff-tested lefty Jon Lester. 

By comparison, the Cardinals’ starting corps appears vulnerable. It lacks a true ace.

Indeed, a pitching staff that was a strength for the Cardinals for most of the season faltered in the final lap, posting a pedestrian 4.18 ERA in September and October.

And it’s not as if St. Louis has a world-beating offense to fall back on. The Cardinals scored the 24th-fewest runs in baseball in the regular season and hit the 25th-fewest dingers.

Yes, their postseason roster is sprinkled with seasoned bats who’ve been on this stage before. It’s never wise to dismiss the Cardinals, who have made four consecutive trips to the National League Championship Series and tacked on two Fall Classic appearances and a Commissioner’s Trophy in that span.

To reheat the cliche, they know how to win. (We’ll spare you talk of the “Cardinal Way.”)

Here’s how SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee summed it up:

The adaptability, the depth, the answer for every single pitfall, an answer to every pitfall at the bottom of the pitfall … it’s something I don’t ever remember seeing. The Cardinals should be struggling to stay above .500, bemoaning the loss of their ace, one of their #2 starters, their starting catcher, their first baseman, and a half-dozen different outfielders. And instead, they’re here again, threatening to win a championship.

Martinez, however, was a huge part of that threat. The Cardinals went 25-8 in games that he started. His absence will be felt, particularly against a young Cubs lineup that, while potent, struck out at a higher rate than any other MLB team, per FanGraphs. That’s a weakness Martinez and his swing-through stuff could have exploited. 

It’s entirely possible St. Louis would have lost its first-ever playoff series against the archrival Cubbies even with Martinez on the hill. Casting aside the regular-season disparity, Chicago enters the NLDS with momentum on its side after vanquishing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game behind a dominant Arrieta outing.

On the other hand, perhaps the Cardinals can find a way to win without Martinez. Let’s say Wainwright rises from the ashes, or the current rotation exceeds expectations, or the bats turn up the heat.

To put it another way: Maybe, just maybe, St. Louis has one more burst of resilience—the kind you’d send back in a time machine.

All statistics current as of Oct. 8 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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