1CARDINALS
O/U WINS: 32¹/₂ PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Paul Goldschmidt had a rough start to open last season, his first in St. Louis. He had a .769 OPS in the first half, followed by .886 in the second half. Goldschmidt doesn’t have the luxury of that much time to get going in a 60-game regular season.
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Dylan Carlson. The team’s top prospect is just 21 and played only 18 games at Triple-A, but he is on the team’s 60-man player pool and could win an outfield spot. He hit well in spring training before it was shut down and could be in line to compete for the starting job in left field, along with Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas, as the Cards move on from Marcell Ozuna.
BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: How do they replace Ozuna in the lineup after not adding any significant bats following his free-agent departure to Atlanta? They’ll need contributions from new faces, as well as better seasons from veterans like Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter.
HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: The Cardinals overcame a mediocre offense last year to get back to the postseason, as Paul DeJong and Tommy Edman helped make up for some of Goldschmidt’s struggles. They’ll need the entire lineup to produce at some point. Carlos Martinez will return to the rotation after working as a reliever. Lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim came over from the KBO and is set to pitch in the back end of the bullpen. Flamethrower Jordan Hicks — who was coming off Tommy John surgery — chose to opt out of the season. Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Miller will have to pick up the slack for a team that’s good enough to contend in an underwhelming division.