All opening day starters are No. 1 in the rotation, but not all No. 1s are aces. That is another level of starter, one forged through seasons of success and often asserted in October. Think Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens or, more recently, Justin Verlander or Ƶ native Max Scherzer. Chris Carpenter won a Cy Young Award as one for the Cardinals; Adam Wainwright compiled the bulk of his 200 career wins as one.
The name has meaning — an ace is a win — and can be applied too casually. Order in rotation does not an ace make.
“How many true No. 1s are there?” a former National League executive asked at the ballpark a season ago. “It’s less than 30.”
The Post-Dispatch asked the Cardinals’ five starters what traits they believe an ace must have and who from their careers or their youth personifies ace.
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1. Unyielding
“He’s got to be durable because he’s going to be out there a lot, and he’s got to win. You’ve got to win ballgames. Whether you’re having a bad day or you’re just keeping your team in there — a five-run, six-run game or a tight 1-0 game and you’re winning that game. If this is the moniker you want to take, you’ve got to find ways to win.”
Personal examples: Greg Maddux (Hall of Fame), Roger Clemens (retired)
— Miles Mikolas, RHP
2. Fierce rebounder
“The guy who just doesn’t have bad ones in a row. The rebound ones after going four innings and you just know the dude is going to go out there and throw seven, eight, nine innings the next time. The bad ones don’t phase him.”
Personal examples: Luis Castillo (Reds), Pablo Lopez (Twins)
— Sonny Gray, RHP
3. Stuff
“Strikeouts and innings. They’re going deep into games, and they’re striking out guys. I think an ace is someone you want to pitch two to three times in a playoff series.”
Personal examples: Scherzer (Rangers), Jacob deGrom (Rangers), Gerrit Cole (Yankees)
— Steven Matz, LHP
4. Accountability
“The No. 1 thing when you know they’re elite guys is they show up every five days and they are in the seventh inning, and they don’t want to ever come out of the game. They want to win or lose the game and not turn it over to anybody else. They are not OK with people picking up the slack for them. If I didn’t finish the game, I didn’t do my job.”
Personal examples: Former Cardinals teammates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, CC Sabathia (retired)
— Lance Lynn, RHP
5. Playoff presence
“When you get to the playoffs, he’s the guy on the mound who the other team doesn’t want to see, and he’s the guy on the mound who you think, ‘This is a win.’ When he takes the mound, you could feel it — the team confidence is different. Maybe he’s nasty. Maybe he’s rolling. An ace holds that roll; his momentum rolls a little longer. On his day, the team is very confident.”
Personal examples: Zack Wheeler (Phillies)
— Kyle Gibson, RHP
This article is part of the Ƶ Cardinals season preview section, which will be in print on Sunday, March 24.