The St. Louis Cardinals have Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter. That's what most people say. For us Cardinal fans, we say differently. Sure, we have the reigning MVP and Cy Young Award winners, but we also have Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Yadier Molina, David Eckstein and Juan Encarnacion. There is, however, one more thing that has been added to that list and that is the bullpen. The past two years we've had the best bullpen in the majors. This year, everyone knew the Cardinals bullpen wasn't as good as it has been. Without Ray King and Julian Taverez, it shouldn't be. Instead, the Cardinals started from scratch. They started with Jason Isringhausen, Randy Flores and Brad Thompson. They filled the spots with Ricardo Rincon, Josh Hancock, Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper. Now, Rincon and Isringhausen are gone because of injuries. Now, they filled those two roles with Josh Kinney and Tyler Johnson, both rookies. Lets break down the young pen and show you how they are doing it.
     First, lets start with the guy that was there last year and did great, started bad this year and finished good: Brad Thompson. Thompson has got a sinking fastball, groundball pitcher. He doesn't over dominate you, but he'll get the job done. He gets mostly grounders to get you out, and he does it well. He started the season good but in the middle became really rocky when the bullpen fell apart. He was sent to Triple A Memphis to be a starter and work out the kinks, which he did. Since coming back up, Thompson appeared in 10 games in the regular season (the end of August and all of Spetember and October) and had a 1.13 ERA. In the postseason so far, he's appeared in two games and pitched one inning combined for a 0.00 ERA and one strikeout and one walk. Not bad. Thompson, before last year, was thought of as a future number 5 starter come 2007. Now, I don't think Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan want him pitching every fifth day because he's become so good out of the bullpen. This is one pitcher that has the bright lights of fame in front of him.
     Adam Wainwright is the new closer for the Cardinals. He started the year in Spring Training competeing with Sidney Ponson and Anthony Reyes for the fifth starter job. Wainwright was considered a long shot. At the end of Spring Training, Ponson was the number five starter, Reyes was at Memphis and Wainwright was in the bullpen. The bullpen? Wasn't this guy considered a long shot? He was a long shot, but the Cardinals needed help in the bullpen, and Wainwright got the job over Reyes because of Reyes' lack of warming up in a hurry and if the Cardinals needed Reyes for the rotation, he'd be ready by starting at Memphis. So, Wainy was in the pen working some good innings and pitched great. He pitched in 51 games before Spetember and had a 2.84 ERA. Thats impressive. E####ally for a guy who'll be in the starting rotation next year. When he was still pitching in relief, then moved to being a setup man then moved into the closer's role in September, he posted a 2.79 ERA over 10 games and was 2 out of 2 in saves. In the postseason, he's gone four and a third innings over four games and is 1 out of 1 in saves and has yet to allow a run. Way to go Wainy!
     Tyler Johnson was a nasty lefthander that was taken in the Rule V draft in 2004 by the Oakland Athletics. The Cardinals knew he would taken because he was so good, but they didn't have room for him on their 40 man roster. The Athletics though returned him and the Cardinals then added him to thier 40 man roster because they didn't want to lose him again. When Rincon went down early, it was Johnson that got the call, not Carmen Cali (who is now basically done in the Cardinals organization). Johnson pitched ok to start with, then got rocky and then pitched amazing. He ended the year with a 4.95 ERA over 56 games. In the postseason, he's showed why he's so good. Todd Walker of the San Diego Padres said his slider (his best pitch) is the nastiest thing he has ever seen. He also has a very good fastball and can get the lefties out in a hurry. He can also dominate the right handed batters if he comes in with that slider. He is key kog to this revamped bullpen.
     Last, but certainly not least, is Josh Kinney. First off, let me say Kinney pitched at Quincy Unniversity during his college years and QU is my hometown's college, so I like Kinney more than anyone else (Josh Rabe of the Minnesota Twins also played at QU). Kinney was pitching with an independent league team a few years ago when the Cardinals found him. They persuaded him to come into their organization. He did, and he's flourished. He wasn't at Spring Training and he has bounced around all over the Cardinals organization, but has finally made it. He is the setup man to the new closer Wainwright and has pitched well since his recall from Memphis. When he first came up, he had a 4.97 ERA over his first 10 games and was sent down. When Spetember came along, he got recalled and proved he was better than what he showed in July. He pitched in 10 games and had a 1.97 ERA in Spetember and October and has pitched extremely well in the postseason so far: 3 games, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 2 BB in 3 innings. Not bad at all.
     Now that you know how good these four have been, think about next year. Hancock and Looper will be back and Isringhausen will be healthy. Johnson and Flores will still be the dynamic duo against lefties and Kinney will be out there as well. Wainy will be in the rotation. That's six guys. Know what that means? They can either sign a veteren (maybe Kerry Wood? Great fastball, former starter. He could be a good setup man) or callup Mark Worrell. The possibilities are endless right now.