Cardinals open season today with major questions

ST. LOUIS — A thin rotation was the St. Louis Cardinals' downfall last year, and they're facing a similar shortage of quality arms heading into today's season opener. But help could be on the way.

By midseason, a team that limped to the finish line with its first losing season since 1999 — one year after a stunning 2006 World Series triumph — could be loaded with options. Joel Pineiro may miss a turn or two in the rotation after shoulder-related setbacks in spring training, Mark Mulder should be ready by May following a second shoulder operation and probably Matt Clement, too, and by July at the latest former NL Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter expects to reclaim the role of ace.

"At some point during this year, we're going to have the deepest starting rotation of all time," said Adam Wainwright, who'll start today against the NL champion Colorado Rockies. "It's a good problem to have."

The big questions: whether the Cardinals can be competitive enough with most of the rotation that ended last season so that it'll matter when the reinforcements arrive, and whether Mulder and Clement can fully rebound.

"Mulder, he's one of the guys I've come to trust what he says," manager Tony La Russa said. "And when he says he's feeling better than he has in three years, that's exciting."

Those questions along with the departures of Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and David Eckstein have led to rampant pessimism. Sports Illustrated, for example, forecast a 73-win season.

"People are looking at other clubs and liking them better than ours," La Russa said. "I look at our club and see some real possibilities. We've got a real shot if we go about it right."

Signing Kyle Lohse to a one-year free agent deal in mid-March gave early definition to the rotation, even though he comes advertised as an underachieving innings-eater. At the least he'll lessen the load on a bullpen that finally collapsed under duress last season. Lohse steps in as the No. 2 starter behind 14-game winner Wainwright.

The Cardinals are hoping Lohse is another Woody Williams or Jeff Suppan, and not a Kip Wells, who was 7-17 with a 5.70 ERA last year.

"I think it's just really understanding what you have to work with and how to use it best against individual hitters," pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "I'm expecting good things and I'm excited to have him."

The other three spots, for now, go to pitchers who easily could end up in the bullpen. Braden Looper won 12 games in his first season as a starter but was inconsistent, and Brad Thompson and Todd Wellemeyer are career journeymen but a lot more predictable than Anthony Reyes, who impressed at times this spring but hasn't cleared the massive hurdle created by last year's 2-14 disaster. He's likely to start the year in long relief.

"All the teams in our division have talented position players," La Russa said. "Who pitches? It's been true for 100 years."

The lineup has undergone a much more massive makeover and has more youth than in recent years, especially with 38-year-old Juan Gonzalez falling short for now in a comeback bid due to a persistent abdominal injury. New center fielder Rick Ankiel (28) is nine years younger than Edmonds and Cesar Izturis (28) is five years Eckstein's junior.

Rolen's longtime feud with La Russa led to a third baseman swap for Troy Glaus, held back by a foot injury last year. Injury concerns led to Edmonds' trade to San Diego for a prospect and to Eckstein's free-agent departure for Toronto. Izturis was a budget free-agent pickup and gets his first regular job in three seasons after a somewhat shaky spring in which he totaled more errors than hits through most of the schedule.

La Russa forecasts a much stronger 2008 for second baseman Adam Kennedy, who batted a career-worst .219 and fell into a platoon job before knee surgery in August.

"I'm trying to earn a job, trying to get everything right," Kennedy said.

A full year from power-hitting left fielder Chris Duncan, hampered by a sports hernia the second half of last year, could give the team a second 30-homer man in addition to Albert Pujols.

This year's team also has more speed than recent seasons. Skip Schumaker, Rule 5 pickup Brian Barton and Kennedy all can run.

"When I hit the ball in the gap, I'm automatically thinking three bases," Barton said. "My goal always is to get in scoring position so Albert and Troy can knock me in."

La Russa will build the lineup, as usual, around Pujols. Pujols has a torn elbow ligament that may require reconstructive surgery at some point, but that could be seasons in the future given his strong spring. He batted .407 with a .500 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBIs.

The lone concession for now is he'll get more scheduled days off.

"Hopefully I can play the next 10 or 15 years, if I have that long to play in this game, and pray I don't need surgery," Pujols said earlier in the spring. "Who knows? One thing I can tell you is I'm not going to back off."