Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
If there was one person who had to be very happy that the St. Louis Cardinals saw their game rained out after two innings on Tuesday, it had to be Jake Westbrook. Westbrook had given up four runs which would have wiped his perfect start to the season. Westbrook had pitched nearly 16 straight shutout innings before Tuesday’s game. It has been a very impressive start for Westbrook, who will now wait until Sunday to pitch again.
You can’t say that Westbrook has been one of the most consistent pitchers in MLB during his career, but he has won at least ten games in six different seasons over his 13-year career. The beginning of this season for Westbrook though has to be something that is a bit shocking. He has a career ERA of 4.26 so no one is going to expect this to last, but I will say that he is looking better this season than he did last year.
The Cardinals have to be very pleased with how well Westbrook is pitching, especially with an offense that isn’t producing on a batting average basis just yet. St. Louis is scoring runs in bunches especially lately and have found themselves in first place to begin the season. This is looking like a season where Westbrook could finish with a career year. There is a long way to go, but Westbrook looks like a pitcher that may win 15 or 16 games in 2013. St. Louis just might have enough behind him as well to make a serious run at the playoffs again.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.
