Thanks to a brilliant streak, the St. Louis Cardinals finished atop the NL Central in 2009 and have all the pieces to repeat this year. They have been the most consistently strong club in the division for the last five years and this year should be no different.

Cy Young finalist Chris Carpenter intimidates the other teams in the division and Adam Wainwright backs him up with another upper arm, giving the Cardinals the two most powerful starting pitchers in baseball. Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny fill spots three and four, while Rich Hill and Jaime Garcia battle it out for the last spot in the rotation.

Adam Ottavino had an impressive spring and it looks like he could eat a lot of innings out of the bullpen while waiting for his chance to start, but with Mitchell Boggs struggling, they may be on the hunt for a veteran right-handed reliever. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday will do most of the damage on offense, but the Cardinals’ main strength is their depth, which will help offset a lackluster defense.

The NL Central isn’t one of the most competitive divisions in baseball, but the St. Louis Cardinals could prove they have the best team in baseball this year. The team should win around 92 games this season and take the NL Central. They were eliminated from the playoffs early last year and have every reason to believe they can go further this year.