Five Cardinal questions during spring training

If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan, you've got to be excited about the prospects of this season. On paper, this might be the most talented team the St. Louis ballclub has put on the field in a long time. You hear the word "depth" a lot about this year's team. It's been my experience that St. Louis teams play better as overachievers than as favorites. I hope that's not the case this year. Anything less than a deep playoff run would be a deep disappointment. Most feel this team has fewer question marks than last year's team that won the most games in the National League and went to the World Series. Here are my Top 5 questions as players shake off the winter rust.

5. Will Matt Carpenter repeat his success from last year?: Matt Carpenter was one of baseball's biggest surprises last year, his first as a second baseman. He finished No. 1 in the National League in hits, doubles and runs; he finished fifth in batting average. This year, he is moving to his primary position, third base. Many prognosticators are predicting a significant drop-off in production this year. I like Carpenter's "Moneyball" approach. He's a patient hitter with a great batting eye and waits for his pitch. With that approach, I see him putting up big numbers again this year with a high on-base percentage.

4. Will Yadier Molina stay healthy?: The Cardinals stocked up on players that will add a lot of depth to the St. Louis club this year. There's is a pretty good backup option for just about every position on the field except catcher, where Yadier Molina has emerged as one of the best players in baseball. Molina's knees gave him some troubles late last year, but after some time off, he returned to the lineup. The Cardinals could afford to lose Molina's bat, which was very, very good last year. The team can probably overcome losing the best defensive catcher of his generation in terms of catching the ball and throwing out runners. But it can't replace Yadi's handling of young pitchers and his nuanced pitch-calling. He simply is the best, and the Cardinals are not the same team when Yadi isn't playing. For my money, he's the most valuable player in baseball.

3. Will the Cardinals produce more power than a year ago?: Last year's team was successful because it hit so well in clutch situations. The team proved baseball statisticians wrong by sustaining a tremendous batting average with runners in scoring position for an entire season. It's not wise to think the Cardinals can break more records for a second consecutive year. The Cardinals will need to produce more runs with the long ball, and they have added enough bats to do that. Still, it wouldn't surprise me if the Cardinals scored fewer runs than last year. But fear not. They won't need to.

2. Who will have strong bounce-back seasons?: Jason Motte, the former closer, is returning after elbow surgery. Jaime Garcia, a talented left-handed starting pitcher, is returning after shoulder surgery. Allen Craig, a first-baseman/outfielder/RBI machine, is returning after a foot injury robbed him of a chance to win last year's MVP award. Center fielder Jon Jay is coming off his worst season as a pro, and may have lost his starting job to newcomer Peter Bourjos. And newly acquired shortstop Jhonny Peralta will have to face an awkward introduction to a new franchise following last year's suspension for performance enhancing drugs while he was with the Detroit Tigers. All of these players have something to prove in 2014. If they all have good bounce-back seasons, it will be a very fun year for Cardinals fans.

1. Just how good will this pitching staff be?: The Cardinals have eight pitchers who could find themselves in the starting rotation. Adam Wainwright, perennial Cy Young Award contender, anchors the staff, but there are seven other guys fighting for spots, including Shelby Miller, who was runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2013, as well as Michael Wacha, who took the baseball world by storm with an astonishing, dominant run throughout the playoffs. Carlos Martinez, who can hit 100 miles per hour, and Joe Kelly, who was the Cards' best pitcher through much of the second half of last season, might be the odd men out of the rotation. That means there will be a lot of talent pushed back into the bullpen, which is anchored by new closer Trevor Rosenthal, who throws 100, former closer Jason Motte, who throws upper-90s, and Kevin Siegrist, an overlooked contributor who had an earned-run average of 0.44, best on the team last year. In between Wainwright and Rosenthal, the Cardinals are armed with an arsenal of rockets. If the Cardinals have a great season, it will be primarily because the answer to this question will be "one of the best we've ever seen in St. Louis."