These are the top 10 Cardinals of the 2010s

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals have had All-Stars, Gold Glove winners and postseason heroes this decade. Some have retired, some have moved on to other teams and some are still in a Cardinals jersey.

Earlier, we looked at the top 10 games of the 2010s. Next up are some of the players who made those games so special.

Here are the top 10 Cardinals players of the decade:

1) Yadier Molina
Seasons (this decade): 2010-19
A potential future Hall of Famer, Molina, who has played for St.Louis since 2004, could be placed on the all-time Cardinals list. But for this project, let’s just look at his decade. Over the past 10 years, Molina has a 31.9 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. Of his nine All-Star appearances, eight of them came this decade, including six consecutive appearances from 2010-16. Seven of his nine Gold Gloves came this decade. The 37-year-old catcher slashed .287/.336/.424 with a .760 OPS over this decade, and he’s averaged a 37% caught stealing percentage over the 10 years. In the six postseason appearances the Cardinals have made this decade, Molina hit .254/.317/.634 across them, including batting .393 in the 2012 NL Championship Series.

2) Matt Carpenter
Seasons: 2011-19
Carpenter debuted in 2011, but his real impact this decade began in '12. He finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting that year after slashing .295/.365/.463. In 2013, Carpenter’s first of three All-Star years, he led the Majors in runs (126), hits (199) and doubles (55) and finished fourth in NL MVP Award voting. Over his nine years in the Majors this decade, Carpenter has a 26.7 WAR, hitting .269/.372/.462 with 148 home runs and a .835 OPS. He’s had his share of postseason moments, like when he bested Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS: An eight-pitch at-bat in the seventh inning ended with a three-run double and a St. Louis lead. Carpenter is also the only Cardinal -- and second Major Leaguer -- to hit three home runs and two doubles in a single game, which he did on July 20, 2018, against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

3) Adam Wainwright
Seasons: 2010-19
A three-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and a Silver Slugger Award winner, Wainwright -- a Cardinal since 2006 -- has become the standard for St. Louis pitching. In 2013, Wainwright led the Majors in innings (241 2/3), games started (34) and complete games (five), while leading the NL with 19 wins. His 2.94 ERA that year led to his second-place NL Cy Young Award finish -- one of three times this decade that he finished in the top three. Wainwright finished second in 2010 and third in '14, which was also the year that he started the All-Star Game. Despite missing the entire 2011 season with elbow injury and parts of the '15, ’17 and ’18 seasons with injuries, Wainwright had a 23.2 WAR this decade with a 3.48 ERA and a .620 winning percentage. The right-hander more than made his mark as a Cardinal, and when he and Molina retire, they’ll go into the Cardinals Hall of Fame together shortly after.

4) Matt Holliday
Seasons: 2010-16
Holliday spent seven years this decade with the Cardinals (along with 2009), and in 919 games, he had a 20.9 WAR and hit .288/.377/.486 with a .863 OPS, 561 RBIs and 143 home runs. The outfielder was a four-time All-Star in St. Louis and had three top-15 finishes in NL MVP Award voting. After signing with the Cardinals in 2010, Holliday hit .312/.390/.532 with a .922 OPS. He finished 12th in NL MVP Award voting that year and won a Silver Slugger Award. Holliday gave the Cardinals six 20-homer seasons and four 90-RBI seasons. Among his postseason moments, Holliday hit a massive two-run homer in the Cardinals' 2-1 win in Game 4 of the 2013 NLDS to send the series back to St. Louis. And the end of Holliday’s career with the Cardinals couldn’t have been scripted better: After coming off the injured list for the proper sendoff, he hit a pinch-hit home run in his second-to-last at-bat on Sept. 30, 2017.

5) Kolten Wong
Seasons: 2013-19
Wong’s best season this decade -- and of his career -- was 2019, when the second baseman won a Gold Glove while hitting .285/.361/.423 in 148 games. Wong broke into the Majors in 2013, and he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2014. Over his seven seasons with the Cardinals, Wong has a 15.6 WAR and has slashed .260/.332/.388 with a .720 OPS. He has 265 RBIs in 799 games, as well as 83 stolen bases. His highlight reel of stellar defensive plays includes many from this year, like when his over-the-shoulder grab in shallow right field ended Wainwright’s eighth scoreless innings against the Cubs on June 2.

6) Lance Lynn
Seasons: 2011-17
Lynn debuted with the Cardinals in 2011 out of the bullpen and earned his spot in the rotation in 2012 while also making the All-Star Game that year. In his seven seasons, Lynn had a 14.6 WAR and gave the Cardinals five years of 175-plus innings and four years of 30-plus starts. He had a .605 winning percentage (72-47) and a 3.38 ERA over 183 games (161 starts) and 977 2/3 innings in St. Louis. Always relying on his fastball and known for his toughness and durability, Lynn had a 3.43 ERA in 33 starts in 2017, a year removed from Tommy John surgery.

7) Carlos Martínez
Seasons: 2013-19
Martínez has dealt with his share of injuries over the years, but that hasn’t stopped him from finding new ways to help the Cardinals. The right-hander worked mostly out of the bullpen in 2013-14 before moving to the rotation for 2015-2017 -- making the All-Star Game all three years -- and half of '18. In '19, he was used strictly out of the bullpen and became the Cardinals' closer halfway through the season. With a 14.3 WAR over seven years, Martínez also has a 3.36 ERA in 253 games (118 starts), a 23.4% strikeout rate and 31 saves over 864 2/3 innings.

8) Albert Pujols
Seasons: 2010-11
Pujols, who spent 11 seasons with the Cardinals, only played two years with the club this decade, yet his 12.8 WAR is still top five among hitters in the 2010s. In 306 games from 2010-11, Pujols hit .305/.391/.569 and had a .959 OPS with 79 home runs and 217 RBIs. He was an All-Star in 2010 and led the league in home runs (42) and RBIs (118). He finished second in NL MVP Award voting that year, as well as won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award at first base. Perhaps Pujols’ greatest moment over his last two years in St. Louis was his three-homer game in Game 3 of the 2011 World Series. Pujols is one of four Major League players to hit three home runs in a World Series game, along with Babe Ruth (who did it twice), Reggie Jackson and Pablo Sandoval.

9) Michael Wacha
Seasons: 2013-19
Wacha burst into the Majors in 2013, less than a year after he was drafted, and immediately made an impact. In Game 4 of the NLDS against the Pirates, the rookie threw 7 1/3 spectacular innings of one-hit ball. He had a no-hitter going into the eighth, and his outing forced the series back to St. Louis for Game 5. Wacha was named the MVP of the 2013 NLCS. Over his seven seasons in St. Louis this decade, Wacha had an 8.1 WAR mark and a 3.91 ERA over 867 2/3 innings and 165 games (151 starts). He was an All-Star in 2015, when he had a 3.38 ERA in 30 starts. He has yet to complete one, but Wacha has carried a no-hitter through at least seven innings three times.

10) Allen Craig
Seasons: 2010-14
The last two spots were tough to decide, and there were plenty of players worthy, but Craig cracks the list because of his production in the 2011 and '12 postseasons. Over five years with St. Louis, Craig had a 6.5 WAR and hit .291/.343/.460 with 57 home runs and 291 RBIs in 469 games. He was an All-Star in 2013. In the 2011 NLCS against Milwaukee, Craig had a 1.125 OPS and hit .375/.375/.750 over five games, then he hit .263/.417/.737 with three home runs and five RBIs in the seven-game World Series. In Game 7, Craig hit a solo homer that gave the Cardinals the lead in the third inning, and he robbed Nelson Cruz of a homer in the sixth with a leaping catch at the wall.