St. Louis Cardinals: Michael Wacha expectations for 2018

After another down year, what can the St. Louis Cardinals expect from pitcher Michael Wacha in 2018?

What will the St. Louis Cardinals do in 2018? Considering the state of the division, it’s worth their time to build a reputable ball club.

This may mean making a few trades they don’t want to. One guy they may need to keep in order to prevent a complete collapse is pitcher Michael Wacha.

In 2015, Wacha was a 17-game winner. At age 23, he made his first All-Star Game and set up shop in the Cardinals’ rotation. In the previous two seasons, Wacha pitched very well in limited opportunities both as a starter and reliever. So, when he got even better in 2015, it looked like the Cardinals had the next Adam Wainwright.

The fun times did not last long. Wacha struggled mightily in 2016. During his 24 starts and three relief appearances, Wacha went 7-7 with a 5.09 ERA. He rebounded in 2017 with a much better performance which included a 12-9 record with a decent 4.13 ERA.

The Cardinals need to commit to one direction. While a part of me believes Wacha is trade bait, the Cardinals just don’t have the pitching to support the rest of the team without him.

Lance Lynn is a free agent and there’s no telling how youngsters Alex Reyes or Luke Weaver will perform. Aside from Carlos Martinez, there really isn’t any stability present.

Wacha needs to get back to the way he was two seasons ago. At the very least, Wacha must become a reliable source of wins. This starts by allowing fewer runs to score.

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Over the last two seasons, the Cardinals have been pretty good on offense. Surprising seasons from guys like Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong and Jedd Gyorko helped keep them in contention. But the same way Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty fell off the face of the earth, so can they.

Next year, expectations for Wacha should rise. If healthy, we can expect him to win 12-13 games again. The 17-win season he had in 2015 is probably out of reach. This could become an even tougher task if the Cardinals don’t make a lot of offseason moves to get better.

For as troublesome as 2017 was at times, Wacha still had a better FIP than he did in 2015 and set a new high in strikeouts with 8.6 per nine. We have to remember, this is a relatively young pitcher. Growing pains like this are expected and must be accounted for in any analysis.

Next: Cardinals 2017 Season Review

While Wacha may never reach ace status, he can match up well with Martinez as a top arm in the Cardinals’ rotation. If he can’t do so, St. Louis might spend the summer searching for a lot of pitching help. That’s if the offense can keep them in contention.