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In April, Jose Bautista had turned into a three true outcomes type of player: home run, walk or strikeout. He hit seven home runs and had a slugging percentage over .500, but was hitting just .200.

Was he just finding his stroke as he returned from last year's injury problems? Or was he no longer the MVP-caliber hitter of 2010 and 2011, when he hit 54 and 43 home runs, drew walks, and hit .260 and then .302?

He hit his first two home runs of May on Sunday in a 12-4 pasting of the Red Sox to raise his overall batting to .246/.360/.544 -- respectable, if not quite 2011-level Bautista. And the Blue Jays need 2011-level Bautista if they have any hope of recovering from their awful start.

I'm not quite sure he's there yet. While Bautista can crush any fastball -- he's hitting .333 with six home runs in 51 at-bats ending with a fastball this season -- it was his production against "soft" stuff that allowed him to hit above .300 in 2011. Check out these two charts on his batting average against soft stuff in 2011, and then the past two seasons:



As you can see, that's a lot of red (hot) in 2011 and a lot of blue (cold) since. This year, he's 7-for-51 (.137) with three home runs against soft stuff. He split his home runs on Sunday -- one came off a first-pitch Ryan Dempster fastball, the other off an 0-1 83 mph slider from Clayton Mortensen. Bautista is a dead pull hitter -- only one home run to center and one to right-center over the past two seasons -- which can leave him vulnerable to breaking stuff on the outside part of the plate.

I haven't seen enough evidence that he's going to punish those pitches like he did a couple years ago, so I would guess he'll be prone to ups and downs throughout the season. He's still a huge threat at the plate, but not the MVP bat of 2011.

REST OF THE WEEKEND

Three stars
1. Shelby Miller, Cardinals. One hit. Twenty-seven down. In a 3-0 win over the Rockies on Friday, the St. Louis rookie became the fifth pitcher since 1961 to allow the first batter to reach base and then retire 27 in a row, joining John Lackey (2006 Angels), Jerry Reuss (1982 Dodgers), Jim Bibby (1981 Pirates) and Woodie Fryman (1966 Pirates). Miller had the Rockies guessing wrong -- or merely looking -- all night long, as he got 30 called strikes, the second-most by a starter this season. Eight of those closed out Miller's 13 strikeouts. Just a dominant performance. In fact, for all the attention given to Matt Harvey this year, compare the two young right-handers:

Miller: 5-2, 1.58 ERA, 45.2 IP, 29 H, 3 HR, 11 BB, 51 SO, .179 AVG
Harvey: 4-0, 1.44 ERA, 56.1 IP, 27 H, 3 HR, 14 BB, 62 SO, .142 AVG

2. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals. Not to be outdone, Wainwright took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Saturday, finishing with a two-hit shutout in another 3-0 win for the Cards. Wainwright improved to 5-2 with a 2.30 ERA and had strong words about his rookie teammate: "You follow Roger Clemens a couple times like I have been, it makes you focus a little bit more," he said. "Once you see Shelby mow through a lineup like he has all year, you want to go out there and do it, too." Kudos also to Cards manager Mike Matheny for leaving in Miller to throw 113 pitches, and Wainwright to throw 120. In this day when managers are too willing to yank starters at 100 pitches, it is good to see a manager let his guys go the distance.

3. Chris Sale, White Sox, and Jon Lester, Red Sox. Two more one-hit shutouts, Lester on Friday, Sale on Sunday. Can't anyone here hit anymore? Lester got 12 ground-ball outs as he joined Pedro Martinez (2000), Hideo Nomo (2001), Curt Schilling (2007) and Josh Beckett (2011) as Red Sox pitchers to throw a one-hit, no-walk shutout in the live ball era. But Sale threw his wearing the so-ugly-they're-cool 1983 throwback uniforms.

Clutch performance of the weekend
Evan Longoria, for his two-out, two-run, bottom-of-the-ninth home run to give the Rays a dramatic 8-7 win over the Padres on Saturday. My favorite part: There's some sort of picnic area in left-center (yes, "picnic area" and "domed stadium" is kind of an oxymoron) where the ball landed, and it looks like half the fans out there didn't realize it was a game-winning home run.

First off, credit Ben Zobrist for a drawing the two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch from Huston Street, working back from a 1-2 count. Street knew that was the batter he had to get. "You get him 1-2, you've got to make a pitch," he said. "I'm frustrated about that just as much as leaving a pitch to Longoria in the middle of the plate." The Rays had led 6-2 before the Padres scored five in the seventh, leading Joe Maddon to say it would have been one of Tampa's worst three losses of the year. "But you can't go to the dance playing like that. When you get leads, you've got to put the other team away. I'm not happy with that. That's inappropriate. That's got to stop," he said.

The Rays finished the sweep on Sunday, however -- their fifth win in a row -- and clawed a game over .500.

Best game
Well, that Padres-Rays game was pretty good. Miller's game was mesmerizing. Toronto's win over Boston on Saturday featured Adam Lind's go-ahead home run in the ninth off Junichi Tazawa, after the Red Sox had tied it in the bottom of the eighth. But I'll go with Cleveland's 7-6 win over Justin Verlander and the Tigers on Saturday. Or Cleveland's 4-3 win on Sunday, in which the Indians tied it in the ninth and won it in the 10th, leading to this quote from Mark Reynolds, who delivered the go-ahead single: "With two strikes, I'm just trying to shorten up my swing and get something into play," he said. Wait ... since when does Reynolds shorten up his swing? Gotta love baseball.

The Indians took two of three from the Tigers to move into a first-place tie with Detroit.

Hitter on the rise: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
He had six home runs through April 21, but his average fell to .173 after a three-strikeout game on April 25. In 16 games, he's hit .419/.478/.694, with three more home runs, eight doubles and nearly as many walks (six) as strikeouts (eight). He has six three-hit games in that stretch, and he's showing he's more than just an all-or-nothing slugger. He's showing he's a guy who is going to be the Cubs' cleanup hitter for a long time.

Pitcher on the rise: Zach McAllister, Indians
Don't believe in the Indians? Don't believe in the rotation? McAllister is starting to look like another solid option alongside Justin Masterson. He didn't get a decision in Sunday's game but pitched a solid six innings. He's 3-3 with a 2.68 ERA and a decent 33/13 SO/BB ratio in 43.2 innings. He's a fly ball pitcher but has allowed just five home runs in seven starts. If he keeps the ball on the right side of the fence he has a chance to be successful.

Brandon Phillips play of the week
This one was pretty.

Happy Mother's Day
Pablo Sandoval uses his pink bat to launch one into McCovey Cove. Tim Lincecum backed up Sandoval with his best outing of the year as the Giants took the final three of four from the Braves. Tough stretch coming up for the Giants, however: 20 of their next 30 on the road, including series in Toronto, Colorado, St. Louis, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

Team on the rise: Indians
They're 12-2 over the past 14, hitting .305 with 24 home runs -- and that stretch does not include that 19-6 win over Houston earlier in the season. The pitching staff has a 2.98 ERA with 13 home runs allowed. The Indians lead the majors in home runs and OPS, and guys like Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera and Lonnie Chisenhall have room to do better.

Team on the fall: A's
Awful week, losing four to Cleveland and then two of three to Seattle. They scored more than three runs just once in seven games as injuries to outfielders Coco Crisp, Chris Young and Josh Reddick have left them playing Michael Taylor and Brandon Moss in the outfield (with Daric Barton or Nate Freiman replacing Moss at first base). Jarrod Parker is still scuffling (6.86 ERA, four walks in 6.1 innings on Saturday). The A's just need to get healthy, and they didn't hit their stride last year until July (they were 37-42 and 13 games out on July 1), so they may be down now, but hardly out.

Thoughts on Tuesday's fun night of baseball ...

• Matt Harvey has deservedly been stealing all the headlines, but Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is quietly off to an amazing start. He pitched 8.1 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win against the Nationals, improving to 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He also walked his first batter of the season -- he has 37 strikeouts -- and that was a careful pitch-around to the red-hot Bryce Harper with runners at first and third and two outs in the sixth. His 2-2, 94-mph four-seam fastball to then strike out Adam LaRoche was a thing of beauty. Good note from Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com on how catchers Yadier Molina and Tony Cruz arrived early to look at video from last season, when the Nationals twice scuffed up Wainwright, including knocking him out in the third inning in the postseason: "I don't want to say I don't do this every day, because I do," Molina said of the pregame video work. "But I was so focused to beat those guys, because I know last year [Wainwright] had a hard time facing the Nationals, so I wanted to do something different." Wainwright threw just one changeup and used his four-seamer more -- he had five strikeouts on fastballs after having just six in his first four starts.
• Big 6-4 win for the Diamondbacks against the Giants after Brandon Belt tagged J.J. Putz for a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth to tie it. Didi Gregorius scored the go-ahead on a wild pitch, but the game's crucial play happened in the bottom of the 10th when Cody Ross threw out Pablo Sandoval at home plate -- by about 25 feet. Check out the jump -- or lack of it -- that Sandoval got on the hit, which wasn't even hit that hard. The Diamondbacks have to be a little concerned about closer Putz, who is now just 3-for-6 in save chances, although Arizona has managed to win all three of those games. And Matt Cain remains winless for the Giants in five starts.
• Speaking of winless starters: The Rays are now 0-5 when David Price starts after losing 4-3 to the Yankees. Price pitched into the ninth inning with the game tied, but left after Robinson Cano's leadoff single. Fernando Rodney couldn't contain the damage as Ichiro Suzuki eventually hit a soft liner to center with two outs to score two. Price pitched OK, but remember that the Yankees have been among the worst teams in the majors against left-handers.
• With a 4-3 win against the Blue Jays, ESPN Stats and Info reports that the Orioles have now won 100 consecutive games when leading after seven innings, the third-longest stretch in major league history (the 1906-07 Cubs won 121 and the 1998-99 Yankees won 116). The Orioles scored all four runs off R.A. Dickey in the second inning, with walks to Ryan Flaherty and Nate McLouth keeping the rally going.
• Oh, those Marlins. Here's a story from the Miami Herald on how Marlins players are upset that veteran Ricky Nolasco was made to start the night game of the doubleheader while rookie Jose Fernandez started the day game. Sources told Clark Spencer that the decision was made by management, not manager Mike Redmond and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. As for Fernandez, watched some of his outing; he has to stop throwing so many first-pitch fastballs. The Twins started jumping on the pitch, including three straight hits in the fourth, including Oswaldo Arcia's three-run homer, his first in the majors.
• Eric Karabell wants me to point out that the Phillies couldn't score off Jeff Locke. ... Mariners fans flooded Twitter with more disgust after yet another Raul Ibanez misadventure in left field. ... Jose Valverde is back with the Tigers and he'll be the closer. ... Watched Clayton Kershaw, and he scuffled through five innings, including a walk to Mets reliever Robert Carson that led to a two-out rally. The Dodgers won anyway as Mark Ellis hit two home runs. ... Howie Kendrick had the big walk-off homer in the 11th for the Angels. Curiously, Josh Hamilton was back in the cleanup spot. ... The Brewers won their ninth in a row even though Yovani Gallardo allowed eight hits and five walks in 6.2.

 
How amazing is Adam Wainwright's start to his season? With 24 strikeouts against no walks in his first 22 innings and three starts, his command could not possibly get any sharper. As Mark Simon noted, his 12-strikeout shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday already puts him in the company of all-time St. Louis Cardinals great Bob Gibson.

If you look at the list of starting pitchers who have struck out 20 or more batters without a walk over on Baseball-Reference.com, you can see Wainwright has a way to go to catch Curt Schilling’s 47 whiffs in 37 walk-less frames. But as hot as Wainwright is, I wouldn’t bet against him.

If anything, you could argue that it’s more of the same for Wainwright. In his final 14 starts last season, Wainwright allowed just 20 unintentional walks in 89.2 IP while striking out 82. Even with baseball’s skyrocketing strikeout rates, he was coming into this year already having long since dispelled concerns over his recovery from Tommy John surgery in 2011.

Whether he does or doesn’t set a record of the sort is less important than what he represents to the Cardinals: He’s the ace ascendant in a franchise design that has long relied on big investments in a top tandem. Making a new multi-year commitment this spring to keep Wainwright from free agency was a move made as a matter of another franchise tradition in Cardinals history: A willingness to take the over when they find an ace. Not to win a single game or provide fans with games like Saturday’s, but to win, period, because the Cardinals play for the highest stakes.

Going back at least to the Cardinals’ decision after winning the World Series in 2006 to give the fragile Chris Carpenter a five-year, $63.5 million deal, it’s almost as if St. Louis embraces high-risk, high-return aces as a core principle. You could even stretch the argument and say it’s a legacy that goes back at least to the ’80s, with equally fragile ace John Tudor. When healthy, Tudor could front a pennant-winning pitching staff. So too could Carpenter -- as is the plan for Wainwright, for years to come.

It’s almost a case of the Cardinals doubling down when they feel they’ve got a guy they can win with. The Cardinals repeatedly spent their way past reasonable concerns that Carpenter would break down -- his five-year deal overlapped an existing club option for 2008, and they subsequently rewarded him again en route to the 2011 World Series, giving him another two years and $21 million in September of their pennant run. That the last deal hasn’t worked out well might prove little solace for the 2011 Phillies, Brewers or Rangers. What statheads or opponents might consider spending too much, too soon, the Cardinals have taken as the cost of doing business. The Yankees or Red Sox can’t sign a man if he never reaches free agency, after all.

So it’s no surprise that, just as they did time and again with Carpenter, the Cards were more than willing this spring to roll the dice and invest major money in a front man early, rather than risk ever losing him to the open market before they were done with him. Plunking down $97.5 million for a five-year extension at the end of spring training might have been too rich for some clubs’ blood, and perhaps too rich at a time when every sensible stathead is going to repeat the sense and sensibility of avoiding big-money deals with starting pitchers beyond three years in length. But not to the Cardinals.

To their credit, they weren’t hung up on Wainwright’s 14-13 season or 3.94 ERA. Saturday’s brilliant outing might represent just a bullet point documenting that they’re smart enough not to get hung up on aggregate stats in what was necessarily a bounce-back season. They know what they have, and they knew he was worth it. From here on out, it’s a matter of letting it ride where their latest big-ticket gamble on the mound is concerned.

It’s easy to look back and say that the Cardinals teams that won in 2006 and then again in 2011 were the Albert Pujols Cardinals, but they were always more than that, and watching him slip away may well have been the best thing possible for them if the money saved is what helped them afford to reinvest in Wainwright. The overstuffed Cardinals lineup of today figures to become more crowded still, with the incipient arrival of Oscar Taveras. It has already inspired new risks, like making Matt Carpenter a second baseman and carrying first baseman Matt Adams on the bench. Even once Carlos Beltran or Matt Holliday or David Freese get going, it will not be “their” team.

That’s because if it’s anybody’s, it may be Wainwright’s. Indeed, the more things change, perhaps the more they really do stay the same. We’ll see if Shelby Miller becomes the club’s “other” ace in the same way that Wainwright played pennant-winning Padawan to Carpenter’s Jedi Master. But having seen this sort of plan pay off for them in the past, investing in Wainwright figures to be the latest Cardinals risk well worth running -- one they’ll ride all the way to future pennants, one brilliantly pitched ballgame at a time.

Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

One of the best aspects of early April baseball is all the aces start on Opening Day. Then a few days later they meet again. Usually by each pitcher's third or fourth starts, the schedules get out of whack -- teams don't have the same off days, some teams will skip the fifth starter and so on. After those first couple of starts, ace-versus-ace matchups are more of a random occurrence throughout the baseball season. And when they do meet, you don't get a whole slate of them like we do Sunday.

Here are eight matchups to watch (pitchers' stats from opening start in parentheses) -- and these don't even include Chris Sale, David Price, Marlins 20-year-old rookie Jose Fernandez or Dodgers rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu. If you're not going to the ballpark, it looks like a good afternoon to sit inside. (Just get your exercise in before the games start!)

8. Diamondbacks at Brewers
Ian Kennedy (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K) vs. Yovani Gallardo (5 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K)

Two pitchers trying to prove they are No. 1s. Kennedy was two years ago when he went 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA and finished fourth in the Cy Young vote. He went 15-12 with a 4.02 ERA last year, but looked very good in beating St. Louis in his opener. Gallardo is 47-26 with a 3.63 ERA over the past three seasons. He walked 81 batters last year, so unless he cuts down on the free passes, he'll remain more of a No. 2. And the 1-4 Brewers are already reeling with Aramis Ramirez heading to the DL and the bullpen struggling again. Can you go nine, Yovani?

7. Cubs at Braves
Jeff Samardzija (8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K) vs. Tim Hudson (4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K)

The former Notre Dame wide receiver showed in his first start that there was nothing fluky about last year's strong performance. He blew away the Pirates with his mid-90s heat, slider, cut fastball and splitter. He'll find the Atlanta lineup a little tougher, especially the red-hot Justin Upton, who already has five home runs in five games. Hudson isn't quite an ace anymore, but you know what you're going to get: a lot of ground balls. The flame-throwing kid against the wily veteran. How can you not watch this one?

6. Red Sox at Blue Jays
Jon Lester (5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K) vs. R.A. Dickey (6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 4 K)

Lester is trying to prove that he still belongs with the other names on this list after struggling in 2012. He scuffled through his Opening Day start against the Yankees, striking out seven but throwing 96 pitches in five innings. A couple of things to watch with Dickey: He walked four in his first start, something he did just once last year in his Cy Young campaign with the Mets (also in his first start); and catcher J.P. Arencibia really struggled with the knuckleball, allowing three passed balls.

5. Royals at Phillies
James Shields (6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K) vs. Cole Hamels (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB 5 K)

Shields is coming off a 1-0 loss to Sale while Hamels allowed three home runs for just the eighth time in his career. The first trip through the revamped rotation showed positive signs for Kansas City: 11 runs in 28 innings and a nifty 32/5 K/BB ratio. But Shields will likely have to do better at getting the ball on the ground. He had just four ground balls and 10 fly balls in his first start (and six line drives). Last year, his ratio was 336 ground balls and 186 fly balls. Give up too many fly balls in Philly, and a couple may find the seats.

4. Cardinals at Giants
Adam Wainwright (6 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 6 K) vs. Matt Cain (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K)

Cain came up on the no-decision end of Clayton Kershaw's Opening Day shutout, leaving after six impressive innings. Cain is tough at home: 2.03 ERA at AT&T last year, 2.80 in 2011, with only 11 home runs allowed over the two seasons. His fly balls go to die in San Francisco. The Giants have scored just 12 runs in their first five games, so Cain may have to put up another zero to beat Wainwright.

3. Yankees at Tigers
CC Sabathia (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 K) vs. Justin Verlander (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K)

It's way too early to call this a must-win game for the Yankees, but they're 1-4 and now have to face Verlander. In their first time through the rotation, Yankees starters pitched the second-fewest innings of any club (23, one-third more than the Padres), so New York is desperate for Sabathia to pitch deep into the game. Verlander has never started a season 2-0. The Yankees hit him well in three regular-season matchups last year: 25 hits, including four home runs, and 12 runs in 20 innings.

2. Nationals at Reds
Stephen Strasburg (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) vs. Johnny Cueto (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K)

Any Strasburg start is must-see TV, especially when facing the Reds -- the team many consider the second best in the NL behind the Nationals. Strasburg's first start against the Marlins was interesting in that he shut them down but struck out just three in seven innings and was removed after 80 pitches. Strasburg has never pitched more than seven innings in any of his 46 career starts. In my book, you can't call him a true No. 1 until he proves he can go eight or nine once in awhile to help remove some of that stress on the bullpen.

1. Angels at Rangers
Jered Weaver (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K) vs. Yu Darvish (8.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K)

My must-watch game of the day, and not just because it's the national game on Sunday night on ESPN. This game has everything going for it: Darvish coming off his near-perfect game against the Astros, division rivals, Josh Hamilton back in Texas and Weaver trying to keep intact a 13-game winning streak in March/April. Keys to watch: Hamilton is 1-for-20 with 10 strikeouts so far and Mike Trout was 6-for-17 with two homers and a double off Darvish last year.

Earlier, the SweetSpot bloggers overwhelmingly supported Mike Trout for AL MVP and Justin Verlander for the AL Cy Young Award. Let's see how the predictions line up in the NL.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
For the second straight, the SweetSpot bloggers select Reds first baseman Joey Votto as their MVP favorite. Votto won pretty easily, collecting 24 of the 47 first-place votes, with the other 23 distributed among nine different players. Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has big expectations in his sophomore season and he finished second in the balloting, ahead of Ryan Braun and Buster Posey, the past two MVPs. Will the Pirates make the playoffs? Andrew McCutchen actually received the second-most first-place votes but finished fifth in the vote.

Points on a 14-9-8-7-6 basis.

1. Joey Votto, 524 points (24 first-place votes)
2. Bryce Harper, 271 points (3)
3. Ryan Braun, 238 points (2)
4. Buster Posey, 212 points (3)
5. Andrew McCutchen, 196 points (6)
6. Jason Heyward, 148 points (2)
7. Matt Kemp, 139 points (4)
8. Justin Upton, 120 points (1)
9. Giancarlo Stanton, 65 points (1)
10. Adrian Gonzalez, 36 points (1)

Others -- Troy Tulowitzki (34 points), Paul Goldschmidt (24), David Wright (24), Allen Craig (19), Ryan Zimmerman (14), Matt Holliday (7), Jay Bruce (6), Brandon Belt (6), Carlos Gonzalez (6).

CY YOUNG
The bloggers predict a two-way Cy Young race between Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw -- who won the award in 2011 and finished second last year -- and Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, coming off a 15-6, 3.16 season in 28 starts. He received one more first-place vote than Kershaw, but Kershaw had more down-the ballot support to edge ahead. Six other pitchers received first-place votes, showing the depth of great starters in the NL.

Points on a 7-4-3 basis.

1. Clayton Kershaw, 229 points (18 first-place votes)
2. Stephen Strasburg, 214 points (19)
3. Cole Hamels, 56 points (4)
4. Matt Cain, 45 points (1)
5. Adam Wainwright, 30 points (2)
6. Cliff Lee, 17 points (1)
7. Gio Gonzalez, 14 points (0)
8. Mat Latos, 13 points (1)

Others -- Madison Bumgarner (12 points), Johnny Cueto (9), Jordan Zimmermann (7, one first-place vote), Yovani Gallardo (6), Jeff Samardzija (3), Roy Halladay (3).

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Twelve different players received first-place votes, so this race looks wide open. Obviously, playing time weighs heavily, so Shelby Miller of the Cardinals and Julio Teheran of the Braves, who won rotation jobs out of spring training, rank 1-2 in the balloting. The Cardinals have the potential for a great rookie class as Oscar Taveras, Trevor Rosenthal and Kolten Wong also received votes.

Points on a 5-3-1 basis.

1. Shelby Miller, 93 points (14 first-place votes)
2. Julio Teheran, 92 points (8)
3. Jedd Gyorko, 57 points (6)
4. Oscar Taveras, 39 points (5)
5. Adam Eaton, 36 points (4)
6. Travis d'Arnaud, 21 points (2)
7. Gerrit Cole, 15 points (2)

Others -- Yasiel Puig (10 points), Zack Wheeler (10), Billy Hamilton (9, one first-place vote), Tyler Skaggs (8, one first place), Trevor Rosenthal (7), Kyuji Fujikawa (6 points, one first place), Christian Yelich (5 points, one first place), Nolan Arenado (5 points, one first place), Hyun-Jin Ryu (3), Rob Brantly (2), Kolten Wong (1).

A little more than a year ago, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak had a career-defining decision to make, in whether to sign free-agent-to-be and face of the franchise Albert Pujols. But it was another would-be free agent that factored into that decision.

Mozeliak and the Cardinals extended Adam Wainwright's contract Wednesday, reaching a deal for five years and $97.5 million. Yes, relative to the Cardinals' history with long-term contracts for pitchers, it's outsized. But the contract is a smart one given the market, and it makes a lot of sense for the Cardinals in several ways.

By avoiding a $250-million sinkhole in Pujols' contract, Mozeliak kept his team's payroll flexible. That's a necessity for a mid-market team like the Cardinals, who, as Bernie Miklasz observed recently, have to balance annual competitiveness with long-term sustainability and therefore have less room for monolithic contracts.

The contract sets up Wainwright to be one of the longest-tenured starting pitchers in recent Cardinals history. He's currently tied for 31st on the club's all-time list in games started and tied for 10th since Bob Gibson:

1. Bob Gibson, 482
2. Bob Forsch, 481
3. Matt Morris, 206
4. Chris Carpenter, 197
5. Steve Carlton, 172
6. Curt Simmons, 171
7. Ray Sadecki, 165
8. Ray Washburn, 163
9. Joaquin Andujar, 153
10. Adam Wainwright, 151
10. Ernie Broglio, 151

Assuming Wainwright stays relatively healthy for the next six seasons -- more on that in a moment -- and averages 25 starts annually (his average over the past six, including his non-existent 2011 season), he'll reach 300 starts.

In addition to providing the kind of franchise appeal that Pujols would have, Wainwright provides immediate and near-term value for the team. With Chris Carpenter out of the picture, Wainwright inherits the mantle of veteran leadership. That will be vital as the club's stockpile of young pitching talent ascends to the rotation, which began with Jaime Garcia and Lance Lynn, continues this season with Shelby Miller and, as the Cardinals hope, gets even better with Michael Wacha and Trevor Rosenthal. Wainwright is a different kind of leader from Carpenter, but he can provide the same mentoring and stability.

That's to say nothing of his on-field performance, the main reason the Cardinals were willing to spend a team record for a pitcher. Since he entered the rotation in 2007, Wainwright has racked up the 16th most Wins Above Replacement among pitchers, and that's absent an entire season. He has a 3.30 Fielding-Independent Pitching mark as a starter, which compares favorably with Justin Verlander's 3.27, Felix Hernandez's 3.25, Cole Hamels' 3.53 and Jered Weaver's 3.63. And Wainwright, 31, is still relatively young.

The contract isn't overly team-friendly, but it's not going to break the bank. In terms of average annual value, it's more than Weaver's ($17 million) but less than recent contracts for Matt Cain ($21.25), Hamels ($24 million), Zack Greinke ($24.5) and Hernandez ($25).

One complicating issue is of course the righty's health. Wainwright had Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow ligament and missed all of 2011. He bounced back to form in his return last year, posting his best strikeout rate (8.34 per nine innings) since becoming a starter. However, the Cardinals undoubtedly recall not only Carpenter and his battles with injuries, but Mark Mulder, who never came back after tearing his rotator cuff. The best recovery example is probably former ace Matt Morris, who posted five respectable years in the rotation after his Tommy John surgery. Fangraphs' Jeff Zimmerman uses his tested formula to estimate that Wainwright has only an average chance for injury in 2013.

Back in December of 2011 when Pujols flew the coop for the Angels, few Cardinals fans were thinking about Wainwright. But Mozeliak and company were. Like a chess player thinking ahead multiple moves, Mozeliak saw into the future, even when others criticized him as being methodical. In spurning Pujols and opting for Wainwright and a more flexible payroll for the next several years, Mozeliak has shown that anything other than methodical would've been madness. Today, the Cardinals are better off for it.

Matt Philip writes for Fungoes.net.

Does pressure exist in baseball? We've made heroes and goats of those who performed -- or didn't perform -- in the game's biggest moments. But those are usually isolated snippets of time in a postseason game, when the results of one at-bat or a few games serve to define your character (fairly or not).

Pressure in the regular season is different; it's more about external expectations and a player's importance to his club. Some players thrive under that spotlight; some pretend it doesn't exist. Tommy Lasorda put it another way: "Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure."

For the most part, major leaguers are oblivious to pressure because they are good; they expect success, not failure. But that doesn't mean pressure isn't out there in some form. For example, did Albert Pujols struggle last April because of the pressure of his new contract? It's certainly possible.

Here are the 10 guys I would suggest are facing the most pressure this season.


10. Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Marlins moved Ramirez off shortstop not just because they signed Jose Reyes a year ago but because they also believed Ramirez no longer had the range required to play the position. The defensive metrics back up that assertion -- minus-39 defensive runs saved over the three seasons, in what amounts to about two years' worth of innings at shortstop -- but Ramirez wants to play short and that's where he'll open the season. After hitting .313 over his first five seasons, Ramirez also has to show there's some potency left in his bat after hitting just .252 over the past two seasons.

9. Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
It's easier to be the big man on campus when winning results are hoped for more than assumed. But now that the Blue Jays are expected to be relevant, the spotlight will shine more intensely on Bautista. Is he the guy to carry a Jays team that many believe can -- or should -- reach the World Series? He's reportedly healthy after last year's wrist injury, but he has to prove he can come closer to 2011's monster numbers (.302/.447/.608, 43 home runs) than 2012's more pedestrian ones (.241/.358/.527).

8. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
The pressure on Wainwright won't come from a heavy-handed local media or fan base with unrealistic demands, but from the knowledge that Kyle Lohse won't be here and Chris Carpenter's career may be over. With young pitchers like Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal and Joe Kelly battling for the starting rotation, the mantle of staff leader falls on Wainwright's shoulders -- and surgically repaired right elbow. He obviously had a positive return from Tommy John surgery a year ago (14-13, 3.94 ERA), but it's important to note it wasn't really that great of a year -- his ERA ranked just 31st among qualified National League starters. But a strong second half has many believing Wainwright can return to his pre-injury Cy Young contender status.

7. Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox spent enough money in the offseason -- Ryan Dempster, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew, Koji Uehara, Jonny Gomes -- that club officials certainly expect a rebound from last season's disaster and a return to contender status. To do that, however, they'll need a year like Ellsbury gave them in 2011, when he hit .321 with 32 home runs and finished second in the MVP vote. Ellsbury hasn't hit more than nine homers in any other season, so as an impending free agent he's also looking to earn a mega-payday by showing that power spike wasn't a fluke.

6. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
As always, there's a lot of pressure on Longoria to lead a Tampa offense that isn't going to scare a lot of opponents. Aside from that, he has to prove he can stay healthy after missing significant chunks of action the past two years -- and rejoin that discussion of being one of the top five players in baseball -- and show that $100 million extension the Rays gave him in the offseason wasn't a mistake.

5. Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers
With no Josh Hamilton and veteran leader Michael Young jettisoned to Philly, this is now Beltre's team, so to speak. He's the star of the Rangers' show and with that comes the pressure to carry a lineup that scored 47 fewer runs in 2012 than it did in 2011. Beltre hit .321 with 36 home runs, but he turns 34 in April, that precarious age when decline often starts setting in.

4. Josh Hamilton, Los Angeles Angels
Speaking of Hamilton, when you leave a winning franchise to sign a $125 million deal with your former team's biggest rival, yeah, I'd say the intensity of expectations will be pretty high. Will the money affect him? How will he hit outside of Texas? What was up with all the strikeouts last year? Sure, it helps having Pujols and Mike Trout around to help carry the offensive burden, but Pujols' struggles suggest pressure to live up to a huge contract can arguably affect even the biggest stars. Anything short of Hamilton helping lead the Angels to a division title will be considered a disappointment.

3. Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves
Considering the months of trade rumors surrounding Upton -- and then everybody saying the Braves stole him from the Diamondbacks -- he has to show he was worth all the hype. He has hit .307 with a .937 OPS in Arizona in his career, .250 with a .731 OPS on the road. Did the Braves trade for a guy who was an MVP candidate in 2011 or merely a good, but inconsistent, player?

2. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
No Nick Swisher. No Russell Martin. No Curtis Granderson for April. No Alex Rodriguez for who knows how long. A declining Mark Teixeira and an aging Derek Jeter trying to return from a broken ankle. Two outfielders in Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Gardner with little power. Oh, yeah, you're also playing in the toughest media market in the sport, coming off a postseason in which you hit .075 and playing for a huge contract as an impending free agent. Enjoy the season, Mr. Cano.

1. Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers
When you admit you signed with the Dodgers because of the hefty paycheck ($147 million over six years) it's not just a refreshing bit of honesty (although I respect him for saying it). With that comment, Greinke put the bull's-eye on himself. Heck, Dodgers management believes they're starting a dynasty here; they already have Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, but it's Greinke -- a guy with a 3.83 ERA over the past three seasons -- with the most pressure on the team.

This time of year, it's easy to look at 40-man rosters around the game and wonder how teams are going to fit everybody into their regular-season rotation. The overstocked starting staffs of the Dodgers and Cardinals might seem to demand action, for example, but not so fast. Credit their general managers and a few other decision-makers with sitting tight.

Consider the Dodgers. It might seem that their cup runneth over after adding Zack Greinke and Korea's Hyun-Jin Ryu. On paper, they have eight plausible options in their rotation, including Clayton Kershaw, Josh Beckett, Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang, Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly.

That number gives you a sense of mass that's far more certain than the identity of the Dodgers' final five. Billingsley was hitting the mid-90s during rehab work in November, but there's ongoing concern over his elbow. Lilly is supposed to be all the way back from shoulder surgery in spring training, but we'll see how he looks once he reports. Capuano's second-half fade in 2012 on top of a long list of surgeries (including two Tommy John procedures) don't add up to a sure thing.

So they have to make a deal, right? Staff-filling No. 4 pitchers like Harang and Capuano aren't liable to bring much in return. The Dodgers might be asked to eat considerable cash given the back-loaded deals Ned Colletti gave the two pitchers.

If you're Colletti, why hurry or worry until you see what shape everyone is in, and who's ready to go in the latter half of March?

Similarly, the Cardinals' situation looks good on paper, but perhaps not so much when you ponder their past. Getting Chris Carpenter back to round out a rotation featuring Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Jake Westbrook and either Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly or top prospect Shelby Miller might allow GM John Mozeliak deal from a position of strength.

But would the Cardinals, after getting by without Carpenter and Wainwright at the same time for most of the past two seasons, trade either in their final seasons before free agency? That would hamper the Cardinals' bid to win one more title armed with both, and absent somebody coughing up a top-shelf middle infielder, they're not a team with many needs.

Sticking with the NL Central, the Reds' decision to move Aroldis Chapman back into the rotation might make it seem like Mike Leake is extraneous. But why should Walt Jocketty deal Leake before seeing how well the Cuban Missile takes off while pitching every fifth day? And where would dealing Leake leave the Reds should anyone get hurt in the early going?

You don't even have to be a contender to want to join the ranks of hoarders. The Cubs' decision to sign veterans Edwin Jackson, Scott Feldman, Scott Baker and Carlos Villanueva during a busy winter doesn't mean that both Travis Wood and Jeff Samardzija are out of their jobs. But it could mean that Matt Garza is now a bargaining chip who would become available after he shows that he's healthy this spring.

Baker is also working his way back from injury, so there will be plenty for the Cubs' brass to monitor. The freedom to deal a pitcher as good as Garza can be in his last year before free agency -- and the possible draft compensation he'd create on departure -- could bring in some sorely needed talent to their rebuilding effort.

Which all goes toward saying that right now it's sensible to carry six or seven or more starters and let events and availability dictate your actions if you're a GM. Wait and see who breaks down, on your team or everyone else's, because inevitably somebody will.

Sensible as this may all be, some people are hurt by it. Kyle Lohse is the most obvious example. If a club wants to add a veteran starter, why go two years on a likely one-year wonder like Lohse, when you might wait and see if Garza is healthy and if the Cubs like one of your prospects?

On the other hand, if you're one of those teams that really could use Harang or the like to round out your rotation and complete your offseason plans, it's easier to wait out the next two months until the Dodgers may have to make a move than it is to sign him on the market.

If you're worried about a seemingly incomplete rotation on your hometown nine, don't sweat it -- the talent pool isn't just made up of who's left on the market, it also includes everybody on the other 29 teams. And if you're wondering about who's going to round out your starting quintet, don't worry -- it might just be a Dodger TBNL.

Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

The obvious answer here is: Well, of course, you do. Starters rarely throw complete games anymore in the postseason; in the past 10 postseasons we've had just 19 complete games. Only two starters have thrown more than one in that span: Josh Beckett and Cliff Lee, with three apiece.

But what I'm really getting at: Can the Detroit Tigers reach and win the World Series without Jose Valverde closing games? Valverde had 35 of Detroit's 40 saves this season, but two disastrous outings against the A's and the Yankees clearly made Jim Leyland lose confidence in him.

So far that hasn't mattered, as Phil Coke has closed out the past two wins. Coke has a good arm -- and as we saw last night when he struck out Raul Ibanez, the ability to put away left-handed batters with that nasty slider -- but he didn't have a good season. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings, only 11 allowed more walks plus hits per inning than Coke. But maybe Leyland has discovered a hot hand. Sometimes that's all you need. Look at World Series champions during the wild-card era with some issues at closer.

2011 Cardinals: Jason Motte. Didn't pick up his first save of the season until Aug. 28. Remember, he wasn't perfect in the postseason, either. He gave up two runs in the ninth in Game 2 of the World Series as the Rangers won 2-1. And he gave up two runs in the top of the 10th on Josh Hamilton's home run in Game 6, only to be rescued in the bottom of the 10th when the Cardinals tied it up.

2006 Cardinals: Adam Wainwright. When Jason Isringhausen got injured late in the season, the rookie got two saves the final week and then four in the postseason, as he pitched 9.2 scoreless innings.

2005 White Sox: Bobby Jenks. Another rookie who started closing games after Dustin Hermanson got injured. Jenks had six saves in the regular season and four more in the playoffs, although the White Sox also threw four straight complete games in the ALCS.

2003 Marlins: Ugueth Urbina. A trade acquisition, Urbina eventually took over the closer role from Braden Looper. Jack McKeon used him extensively in the postseason -- 13 innings in 10 appearances (the Marlins played 17 games total). He did pick up four saves, although he also had two blown saves in the playoffs and allowed five runs in 13 innings.

2001 Diamondbacks: Byung-Hyun Kim. Kim had a good regular season and did pick up three saves before falling apart in the World Series, but this team rode Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson all the way.

The point being: You don't need your closer to be perfect to win it all. The Tigers lost Game 4 against the A's, but won Game 1 against the Yankees and certainly have a shot to win it all. It is worth noting that all the pitchers above had much better regular-season numbers than Coke. Valverde did pick up a save earlier against the A's, so another question: Since the wild-card era began, has a team won the World Series with different relievers closing out games?

Yes. Sort of.

In 1995, Mark Wohlers was Atlanta's closer. But after he allowed a home run and a double to begin the ninth in Game 4, Bobby Cox used lefty Pedro Borbon for the final three outs in a 5-2 game. Three other teams also won a World Series with more than one pitcher getting a save during their postseason runs, but the saves came in unique circumstances. Ramiro Mendoza got a save for the Yankees in 1999, coming in during the eighth inning of a 4-1 game and staying in for the ninth when it was 6-1. Looper got a save for the Marlins in 2003 in the 11th inning of an National League Championship Series game and Mark Buehrle got a save in the 14th inning of a World Series game for the White Sox.

What Leyland will have to do is rather unique in recent postseason annals. As Paul Swydan wrote today on ESPN Insider, using multiple closers wasn't so unique prior to the wild-card era. Maybe Leyland sticks with Coke. I suspect we'll see Octavio Dotel or Joaquin Benoit at some point.

It won't be as easy as running Mariano Rivera out there, but it can done. It just requires a little thinking outside the box. And if any manager is capable of that, it's Leyland. Remember, this is a guy who with the Pirates once started a relief pitcher in a playoff game.

The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t your typical 88-win team. When you go through their roster, it’s difficult to find obvious holes. The lineup was second in the league in runs scored. The pitching staff allowed the fifth-fewest runs in the league and features Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright and now Chris Carpenter, who returned late in the season. The bullpen features a bunch of power arms in 18-game winner Lance Lynn, moved from the rotation, plus Mitchell Boggs and closer Jason Motte.

So, yes, the Washington Nationals won 10 more games during the regular season, but they weren’t the overwhelming favorite to win the series, especially considering the Cards’ status as defending World Series champs.

Before the series, I penciled Game 2 as the key game for the Nationals. It was the one game for which they had the obvious pitching advantage on paper, sending Jordan Zimmermann (good season) against Jaime Garcia (so-so season, although better in September). As it turns out, Garcia had to leave after two innings, but with Lynn sitting in the bullpen, Mike Matheny had a good option to go to.

Unlike in Game 1, the Cardinals didn’t miss their scoring opportunities in this game, routing Zimmermann and a slew of relievers in a 12-4 victory to lock up the series at a win apiece. Zimmermann usually is a good bet to deliver a quality start -- he did so in 24 of his 32 starts – and he allowed five runs or more just twice all season. One was a five-run game against the Marlins, but the other was an eight-run blowup on Sept. 1 against the Cardinals. A lot will be made of whether the Cardinals own Zimmermann, but I’d just chalk it up to small-sample-size fluke for now.

What isn’t a fluke is that the Cardinals now arguably have the edge in starting pitching for the next three games:

Game 3: Chris Carpenter (0-2, 3.71) versus Edwin Jackson (10-11, 4.03)
Game 4: Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86) versus Ross Detwiler (10-8, 3.40)
Game 5: Adam Wainwright (14-13, 3.94) versus Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89)

Yes, Carpenter is a bit of a wild card with only three regular-season starts under his belt. But there are pitchers who know how to grind out a postseason game like he can. But Matheny isn’t asking him to go deep into the game; even after using Lynn for three innings in Game 2 and four relievers, the bullpen is in fine shape. Lynn might be unavailable after throwing 50 pitches, but I guess this is why you carry 12 pitchers in a postseason series.

Meanwhile, Jackson is a definite wild card. He started four postseason games for the Cardinals last year. He won one, got knocked out after two innings in another and walked seven in his World Series start. Obviously, the Cardinals know him well, so they expect them to be patient and force Jackson to show he has his command.

Game 4 has to rate as another edge for the Cards; Lohse had a quiet, underrated campaign and doesn’t seem likely to blow up. Detwiler is likewise an underrated pitcher, a lefty with a good power sinker who generates a lot of ground ball outs. But he’s also a guy with a big platoon split: .170 against lefties, .263 versus righties. The Cardinals, of course, are predominately right-handed.

And in a potential Game 5, it’s back to the Game 1 starters. One of them walked seven batters in that game and the other one didn’t.

After reading through all that: Don’t tell me the Nationals won’t miss Stephen Strasburg.

That doesn’t mean the Cardinals will win the series. The games will take place in Washington; the Nationals, despite the beating in Game 2, still have a good bullpen. They can score runs. I think they have a big edge in the dugout with Davey Johnson.

* * * *

Carlos Beltran added to his postseason legacy with two home runs. While Mets fans remember his strikeout looking against Wainwright for the final out in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, it’s fun to see Beltran back in the playoffs for the first time since that strikeout. With the Astros in 2004, he slugged eight home runs in 12 games; he now has 13 home runs in just 25 career postseason games. He had a red-hot first half before going through a big slump Aug. 15 through Sept. 21, when he hit .215 with one home run and six RBIs over 31 games. With a lineup that leans heavy to the right side with Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Allen Craig and David Freese, the switch-hitting Beltran essentially fills the role that Lance Berkman provided a year ago: that lefty power bat in the middle of the order.

If the Nationals are to win this series, they'll have to shut down Beltran. But if this game is a harbinger of things to come, Beltran just might help carry the Cards into the NLCS.

For a St. Louis Cardinals fan, saying something nice about Johnny Cueto, who in a 2010 brawl literally kicked Jason LaRue out of baseball, is possibly more difficult than complimenting Don Denkinger. (At least Denkinger never meant to hurt anyone.) Still, with Cueto helping the Cincinnati Reds to a National League Central-leading 76-50 record, I'll say it: Cueto is one of the best pitchers in the league this year and should be considered for the Cy Young.

That's less a personal opinion than a fact. Though he didn't pitch quite as well Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies -- allowing two runs in five innings, while issuing three walks in a game the Reds would lose 4-3 in 11 innings -- as he has for most of the year, Cueto entered the game with a 2.44 ERA, the best in the National League. Not bad for a guy who starts half his games in one of the majors' homer-happiest parks.

Somehow, he's keeping the ball on the ground, as his uncannily low 6.2 percent home run/fly ball ratio attests. But his third consecutive year with a single-digit homer-to-fly rate just might be due to something in his control, such as inducing weak contact. That's in no small part because of an increased reliance on his changeup, which he's featuring twice as often as he did in 2011.

His non-traditional stats -- career bests in strikeout/walk (3.65), fielding independent pitching (3.04) and xFIP (3.62) -- are strong, but not as knockout-impressive as other Cy Young candidates such as Stephen Strasburg (11.33 K/9), Gio Gonzalez (2.80 FIP), Clayton Kershaw (2.84 FIP), Cliff Lee (6.04 K/BB) or Adam Wainwright (2.99 xFIP). Still, it's not like Cueto is a one-hit wonder: He would've won the NL ERA title last year with a 2.31 ERA had season-starting and -ending stints on the disabled list not prevented him from pitching a measly six more innings to qualify.

He has been healthy the entire 2012 season and therefore has been a constant for the Reds, who have at various times been without the services of key players such as Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, Drew Stubbs and Ryan Madson. Just how important has the righty been to the Reds? Despite Votto's ethereal .465 OBP, Cueto nearly matches him in WAR (wins above replacement), 4.3 to 4.8. So Cueto may more appropriately qualify as an MVP candidate than for the Cy Young.

As the surging Cardinals head into Cincinnati for a weekend series, Cueto will miss the action (he's next scheduled to pitch Tuesday). In addition to the built-in rivalry between the two contending teams -- including former Cardinals Rolen, Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Cairo, all of whom don a different red-and-white uniform now -- the matchup is a reminder of the ongoing bad blood between the Reds' ace and the defending world champs. The weekend tilt isn't the only meeting with Cardinals players that Cueto has missed this season. Though he was expected to join Yadier Molina (later replaced by Matt Holliday), Carlos Beltran, Lance Lynn, David Freese and Rafael Furcal on the NL All-Star team, former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa passed over Cueto, upsetting both the player and his manager, Dusty Baker. For his part, La Russa denied any vendetta, insisting that he omitted Cueto because he was scheduled to start two days before the game. La Russa also snubbed Zack Greinke, having a better year than Cueto, and of course is no stranger to head-scratcher lineup choices. But even so, the episode wasn't exactly an act of rapprochement.

Cueto made himself persona non grata with the Cardinals two years ago for his cheap shots in the fight. But there's nothing cheap about his 2012 campaign, which he's establishing with his arm. And that's what continues to make his presence on the field an unwelcome sight, not only for the Cardinals but the rest of the National League this year.

Matt Philip tweets at @fungoes and posts everything that doesn't fit at fungoes.net.

It's amazing how quickly storylines can change over the course of just a couple of months.

When the season began, most people had the Arizona Diamondbacks pegged as the favorites to win the National League West. Of course, they got off to a brutal start, became somewhat of an afterthought, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were everyone's flavor of the month. Then the Dodgers cooled off and the San Francisco Giants got going and suddenly Matt Cain & Co. were the talk of baseball. Well, the D-backs haven't caught up just yet, but they're making it clear they should not be written off.

On Friday, Arizona second baseman Aaron Hill made history by becoming just the second player of the modern era to hit for the cycle twice in a season, and the D-backs thrashed the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 9-3.

Unlike their counterparts in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the D-backs have yet to really hit their stride this year. Sure, Hill (.849 OPS) and left-hander Wade Miley (2.19 ERA) are probably playing a bit over their heads, but a lot more has gone wrong than right for Arizona this year, which bodes well for a resurgence. For example:

1. Stephen Drew didn't play until this week.
2. Ian Kennedy hasn't been himself.
3. Justin Upton hasn't hit his stride.
4. Daniel Hudson is going to have elbow surgery.

Now, it would be easy to point to Hudson's injury as evidence that the D-backs can't win the NL West, but the one thing this club has is pitching. Trevor Bauer made his debut Thursday, and while it was rocky, there is plenty of reason to believe he can be a factor. And if not him, Arizona also has Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs ready to step into the rotation. Also, as the Cardinals proved last season when they won the World Series in a year in which Adam Wainwright didn't pitch an inning, no pitcher is completely indispensable, and I think we can all agree that Wainwright is better than Hudson.

Now that the likes of Hill and Miley have done their part to keep Arizona alive, it's up to Upton, Kennedy and Drew to pick up the slack. Upton, who was bothered by a thumb injury earlier in the year, has been hitting about .500 over the past 10 days, which is a great sign for Arizona fans. Kennedy has an ERA of 4.20 and a FIP of 3.82, which suggests he's actually pitched a lot better than his traditional stats indicate. As for Drew, he'll almost certainly be an upgrade over Willie Bloomquist, who has actually been pretty good, but whose career .660 OPS suggests his current line of .297/.327/.407 is unsustainable.

Arizona is just four games behind San Francisco in the loss column, and considering all that has gone wrong thus far, that's a pretty good place to be.

ST. LOUIS -- Those who know Adam Wainwright's posture on the pitching mound can easily recognize him anywhere. Standing in the middle of his teammates shagging balls in the outfield at 6-foot-7 and 228 pounds he stands with his legs apart, his glove resting in the middle of his body, just like he does on the mound. Sometimes he crosses his arms but mostly he has the same posture wherever he stands.

In his first season back since having Tommy John surgery on Feb. 28, 2011, Wainwright does not feel sorry for himself. After seven years in the majors and two World Series rings, the 2010 NL Cy Young runner-up doesn’t want any young guys who haven’t reached the big leagues to feel sorry for him either. He knows a few have, but that’s not how he lives his life.

Wainwright focuses on staying positive, his Christian faith and living with no remorse. It is not just a life motto or a cliché of novel ideas; it is the backbone of his ability to pitch well. Like his pitching mound stance, his beliefs follow him wherever he goes.

He remembers throwing something -- a baseball, a football, anything -- since he was three years old. Like most professional baseball players Wainwright has played baseball year round since he was 12. Not being able to pitch for a year could have been very difficult.

"If you let it, it can become a roller coaster ride of emotions," Wainwright said about life after Tommy John surgery.

He worked hard in rehab, believing, hoping everything would work out OK. Early in spring training Wainwright threw very well. He pitched five games and had a 1.45 ERA.

"It wasn’t necessarily that I was commanding everything perfectly, it was just that everything was real sharp," Wainwright said of those spring training performances. "I had late movement on my ball. My slider and my curveball were real sharp -- snapping good -- the changeup was dropping nicely."

Once the season started and the innings began to stretch out, however, he struggled. In the first eight starts Wainwright had two wins with a 5.77 ERA and had given up seven home runs.

"I wasn’t commanding my curveball," Wainwright said. "My slider completely lost its break and was flat as a board."

Wainwright says the surgery did not make him change his pitching mechanics.

"Sometimes I have to watch my arm swing a little bit," he said. "It can get up there. It can get a little too high [with] the elbow in the back."

Wainwright’s mechanics are similar to those of Stephen Strasburg and C.J. Wilson, pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery. One researcher on pitching mechanics named Chris O’Leary labeled pitchers who begin to turn their shoulders with the pitching arm forearm in a horizontal position (rather than vertical) and with their elbow above their shoulders at the moment their front heel plants as having an "Inverted W."

Wainwright has heard the theories on how the Inverted W can lead to injuries, but he says for every pitcher with the Inverted delivery who struggled with injury you can find one with the same mechanics who did not have medical issues.

"Let me tell you the cause of Tommy John surgery, it’s throwing a baseball," Wainwright said adamantly. "People used to hurt their elbows all the time back in the day. They just didn’t have surgeries, so they’d retire.

"This game puts a lot of pressure on your joints and ligaments. That’s why it is so important that we keep our shoulders and our [scapulas] strong and our leg muscles strong and our hips flexible and all these things so that we can stay away from injury as much as possible. But to say that you could stop someone from getting hurt with a perfect throwing motion is absolutely ridiculous."

People will occasionally ask him if he is aware of how he throws the ball. He answers, and gives insight into why so many pitchers are unwilling to change their mechanics, with a question.

"The St. Louis Cardinals are paying me a lot of money to throw the ball like I throw the ball. What do you think they would say if I came in with completely different mechanics the next year? They would be so scared out of their brains that they would be wasting money on me."

One solution to catching injury before surgery is needed could be the use of ultrasound technology in screening pitchers before, during and after the season. Ultrasounds can move with the elbow and get a good visualization of the ulnar collateral ligament, the ligament repaired in Tommy John surgery. The problem is understanding what the ultrasounds results mean. For example, if doctors find a 20 percent strain, will the ligament rupture in the next year? The next two years? Ever? And even more, the pitcher may have no pain but how would the management view a player tagged with an ultrasound of a partial tear in his tendon?

"Here’s the deal, though," Wainwright said explaining the use of ultrasound technology to monitor pitchers. "When you look at [an ultrasound] when you throw a baseball -- I don’t care if you throw 50 pitches with perfect mechanics, or 100 pitches, or if you throw a baseball all year long -- if you take an ultrasound of something it is always going to look not just right. There’s not one guy on the baseball field that if you take in to get an ultrasound or an MRI on their shoulder or on their elbow that’s not going to look a little whopper-jobbed." (Authors note: Yes, Wainwright has invented a new word, whopper-jobbed.)

Dr. David Crane of Crane Clinic Sports Medicine uses ultrasound for diagnostic as well as therapeutic applications including injection targeting.

"You could argue that the incidence of injury is high enough that screening ought to be considered to be used," Dr. Crane says. "We would like to see athletes before and after throwing and we would also like to see them with no pain and with pain. There are a lot of abnormal tendons [visible] by ultrasound appearance that do not hurt."

Pitchers are getting stronger, throwing harder and faster than ever before. Wainwright says this is because of all the weight training in modern baseball.

"If you look at how strong guys' muscles are getting, the way they are exploding all the time, they didn’t used to throw like that way back in the day," Wainwright said. "There was the occasional flamethrower but for the most part guys weren’t throwing 95 every pitch.... Guys are getting freakishly strong, freakishly fast and it puts more wear and tear and stress on your ligaments and elbows and shoulders."

Everyone has their own theory on how to save the modern pitcher -- flawless mechanics, ultrasound technology, injection therapies such as Platelet Rich Plasma Therapies, pitch counts, biomechanical studies -- but there are no magic pills or straight forward answers right now.

* * * *

After his curveball had lost some of its bite there was one week between starts where Wainwright was preparing to pitch against the San Diego Padres. He was fiddling with the baseball, a habit he does throughout the season, to make sure he had the right grip. Before the Padres game on May 22 he kept thinking it just didn’t feel the same as it did in 2010, when he went 20-10 with a 2.42 ERA. All of a sudden he found his old grip.

"As soon as I found my grip that I used to use it just felt comfortable in my hand," Wainwright said. "I knew I was going to throw strikes with it. There’s a grip that I can find with my curveball that before I throw it I know it is going to be a good pitch and I found it."

He pitched nine shutout innings and the Cardinals won 4-0. His curveball was back to pre-surgery form. Since then Wainwright has a 3.07 ERA and opponents are batting .224 against him with only one home run. He starts again Saturday in Kansas City.

Wainwright says the road from having Tommy John surgery to experiencing a light at the end of the tunnel has been padded by his faith. Baseball has experienced its own miracle as well. Another brilliant pitcher, while not saved from having Tommy John surgery, continues to make that trek back to his previous abilities.

After getting his grip back in the game against the Padres the emotion of it all caught up to him. Wainwright, finally experiencing what he believed would happen all along, became teary-eyed in the locker room after the game.

"It goes back to the way I try to live every day," Wainwright said. "I’m a Christian guy, I follow Jesus and he tells me how to live my life. It is not one of remorse, it’s not one of feeling sorry for myself, it’s how can I get the most out of each and every day? When I pitched that game against San Diego here at Busch it was a moment where I looked back and all of a sudden a whole year’s worth of hard work and trials was all of a sudden rewarded. ... It is not just that God is good in only the great moments, God is good all the time."

Anna McDonald contributes to the SweetSpot blog. Follow her on Twitter here.

Keith Law and I gathered for Tuesday’s Baseball Today podcast in which we took a closer look at Monday’s games and previewed what should be an exciting Tuesday night as well!

1. Chicago White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy shut out the Athletics on Monday, and he used a different repertoire than we’re used to.

2. The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a seemingly great start, but remove Matt Kemp from this offense and it’s not special. We discuss outfielder Andre Ethier and prospect Alex Castellanos.

3. Jair Jurrjens pitched badly against the Dodgers on Monday and got demoted to Triple-A. What’s his future, and how do the Braves compensate?

4. Our emailers have questions about Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer and how the Mets, Padres and Nationals seek their first no-hitters!

5. Our look at Tuesday’s pitchers centers on Josh Johnson, Yu Darvish and Adam Wainwright.

So download and listen to Tuesday’s Baseball Today podcast, because Aubrey Huff played second base the other day and we think it’s funny.

The season is young, but never too young to raise a few issues we've seen so far. Here are 10:

1. Yu Darvish's control
In Japan, Darvish was known not only for his terrific stuff but his ability to throw it with precision. In 2011, he walked just 36 batters in 232 innings. Through three starts with the Rangers he's walked 13 in 17.2 innings. I've watched all three of those starts and there's no denying his ability, with good movement on his fastball and a sharp-breaking curve. The command hasn't been there, however, and I do see some Dice-K syndrome: Nibbling at the corners, not pitching inside, not trusting the quality of his stuff. It's early and I do think he'll be fine in the long run, but there is at least a little reason to doubt he'll be the No. 1 many projected.

2. Adam Wainwright
Wainwright has had a tough start this season as he dropped to 0-3, 9.88 after a five-inning outing against the Reds on Thursday. He gave up fourth-inning home runs to Brandon Phillips and Ryan Ludwick, giving him five home runs allowed in just 13.2 innings. One positive sign is that he has 14 strikeouts, an indication that the stuff is still there. From the heat map below, we have his curveball location in 2012 on the left versus 2010, when batters hit just .170 against it. He's only thrown it 45 times so far, but it appears the command in that lower quadrant of the strike zone isn't quite there yet.

3. Marlins' defense
I was worried about Miami's defense before the season and so far that's a legitimate concern, as entering Thursday the Marlins ranked 29th in Defensive Runs Saved at minus-13 runs (only the Rockies ranked worse). The biggest holes so far? Jose Reyes is at minus-6 runs and Hanley Ramirez is at minus-2. Factor in Logan Morrison's plodding defense in left, Emilio Bonifacio's inexperience in center and Giancarlo Stanton's testy knee and this could be a season-long issue.

4. Angels' plate discipline
Entering Thursday's games, the Angels ranked 27th in the majors in walk percentage, ahead of just the Pirates, Royals and Phillies. The Angels also ranked second behind in the Phillies in percentage of pitches outside the strike zone they've swung at (33.1 percent). No matter how many home runs you hit, it's difficult to string together some rallies without drawing a few walks. The major culprits: Kendrys Morales (no walks in 42 plate appearances), Peter Bourjos (no walks in 32 PAs) and Vernon Wells (one walk in 47 PAs).

5. Tampa Bay's bullpen
As bad as Boston's bullpen has been (6.63 ERA), Tampa's has struggled even more with an 8.64 ERA. The Rays pieced together a decent pen a year ago from the likes of Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta, Juan Cruz and others. That pen benefited from having to throw the fewest innings in the majors. With Farnsworth on the DL, Fernando Rodney has been getting the save opportunities and he's done the job, but the rest of the pen has been shaky. Of concern: While Boston's relievers have 31 strikeouts and 12 walks, Tampa's have 26 strikeouts against 20 walks.

6. Josh Johnson
For all the concern over Tim Lincecum's drop in velocity and unsightly 10.54 ERA, the ace pitcher I'd be most worried about is Johnson. While Lincecum has 16 strikeouts and four walks in 13.2 innings, Johnson doesn't have any positives on his ledger: 16.2 IP, 28 H, 6 BB, 8 SO. Both have been burned by high BABIPs (.444 for Johnson) and Johnson hasn't allowed a home run, but the low strikeout rate is a big concern and his fastball velocity is also. Like Wainwright, Johnson is coming off an injury, but you have to hope the shoulder is OK.

7. Phillies' lineup
No surprise here with the absence of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, but it doesn't help that Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino have combined for just one home run. Even when Howard and Utley return, the Phillies will need a lot more production from Rollins and Victorino.

8. Scott Rolen
The Reds were counting on Rolen to hit cleanup, but Dusty Baker has already moved him out of that spot after his .171 start through 13 games. Considering his long injury history and struggles in 2011, the end of the line may be approaching for the 37-year-old third baseman. The Reds may eventually have to turn to Todd Frazier, but his minor league track record suggests bench player, not starting third baseman on a playoff team.

9. Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham
The White Sox have a solid rotation, a solid bullpen and ... well, they'll need offense and they were counting on these two infielders to improve from 2011. But Morel is hitting .103 with 18 strikeouts in 39 at-bats and Beckham is hitting .152 with 12 strikeouts in 33 at-bats. Neither has homered.

10. Kids running out on the field
What kind of example is this for the adults?

PHOTO OF THE DAY
Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.