Nick Yahl, Fri, 29 May 2015 14:28:00 GMT

Former Cardinals pitcher Andy Benes joined the guys on The Morning After to discuss potential trade targets, the Cardinal rotation, and the difficulty for Adam Wainwright to avoid being a distraction.

Here are some of the questions from the interview. You can catch the entire interview by visiting the link at the bottom.

Matt Adams likely is going to have surgery today likely out for the season. Mark Reynolds is the next man up, which obviously affects the Cardinals bench, what do yout think they should do?

“That is obviously a huge blow and one of the things I saw when they signed Reynolds is man this guy is going to really strengthen the bench. Before they didn’t have the depth like some of the other teams had coming off the bench. Your starting eight on the field are really important and if you can’t mix in those pieces off the bench it makes it really hard. Reynolds hasn’t been an everyday guy this year. He’s more of a big bat taht’s going to strike out some, but you put him in a position where he’s going to play everyday and that’s a huge blow to the bench.”

“Another thing I’ll go ahead and say is I think when we lost Wainwright people were say you’re losing a lot of innings. You’re losing a lot more than just innings. I talked to Joe Madden a little bit when they were in town, when they put Jon Lester at the top of their rotation, all of the sudden, he’s a number one bonified guy and everyone slots in the right spot. When you don’t have that guy it’s really hard because there’s so much more mentally to being that number one guy when everyone’s looking t you, maybe not as much in the regular season, but in the post season. Losing him [Wainwright] there’s not that comfortability from the other guys who haven’t been in that position mentally to carry that kind of weight.”

Is Wacha too young to be that guy?

“From just being around him, he seems to be beyond his years when it comes to maturity, but the number one is usually more established. You look at Los Angeles with Clayton Kershaw and it takes a lot off of Zack Greinke not having to be that guy. So far the Cardinals I don’t know who that guy will be, there are a lot of candidates. Lance Lynn has been pehnomanal in St. Louis. Wacha down the road I think will be that guy. None of them have been in that role and it’s a tough role. Mentally you carry more weight and emotionally it’s tougher.”

Do you think the Cardinals should go out and get a guy like Cole Hamels so that the rest of the starters can fall into line?

“The Cardinals have psoitined themselves well the past 15 years to be in a position to trade guys at the deadline like Shelby Miller to try and add a piece, but you have to keep those guys coming. It was great to look at it when we could say “we got like seven or eight guys waiting in the wings that are all top rated prospects.” The majority of those guys are now out of that fold and we have maybe a guy like Marco Gonzles, but we don’t have the four or five that we used to have. That’s why scouting is so important to replenish because it gives you the opportunity to go for it. Not all teams are as fortunate as the Caridnals, who have drafted and scouted so well. They can go out and get a guy when they need it. Would Hamels solidify this rotation? I think so.”

How difficult is it when your in Adam Wainwright’s postion being injured, to not be a distraction to the team?

“It’s really hard. His teammates want to see him. He is a huge part of what’s going on. He’s such a good guy and such a good teammate and it’s important for him to be around.”

Listen to the full interview below:

Andy Benes joins The Morning After