#Cardinals pass torch from Waino to Martinez

Carlos Martinez, official
Cardinal Ace Moundsman

Both of the St. Louis Cardinals' top two pitchers, Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright, were downplaying the issue of who was going to start opening day, as was manager Mike Matheny.

I call bullshit, since the Spanish Twitter Flea has now been named the opening day starter.

He's the "ace" now. Waino is still good, though his 2017 may be closer to his 2016 than his pre-Achilles 2014. And so, it's time for this transition to take place.

Along with the signing of Dexter Fowler, it will probably make for locker room change too. Let's hope.

As for the rest of the rotation? If Lance Lynn is back to his old self, he's No. 3, Mike Leake is No. 4 and Michael Wacha is No. 5. Trevor Rosenthal, or possibly Marco Gonzales up from Memphis, is in the wings. (If Waino is really more like 2016 than 2014, will Matheny have the gonads to drop him to No. 3 if Lynn is at least as good as in the past?)

I'm looking forward to a new season, and the changes of leadership.