LAS VEGAS — In their past 420 games, a stretch that reaches all the way back deep into that golden season of 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a grand total of ZERO games started and won by a lefthanded pitcher.

Since Mark Mulder won his start on June 15, 2006, the Cardinals have trotted out Mike Maroth, Randy Keisler, Jaime Garcia and Mulder (a few times) to make starts. That group has made 15 starts total in the past two seasons; two starts from two different lefties in 2008. And they have not produced a victory. Not Maroth in seven starts. Not Mulder in his four memorable tries.

Nada.

Albert Pujols has as many wins for the Cardinals as the lefty starters.

And he had a bad elbow.

Earlier this offseason, about the time the Cardinals made the obvious move to not exercise Mulder’s option for the 2009 season, a baseball exec said it would be wise for the club to add a lefthanded starter to the rotation “because you can really use one in that division.” The National League Central, the theory went, is a division where a lefthander gives the rotation a valuable and different look. Lefties, the implication was, can thrive there. I asked Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan if he shared that opinion and he said … not exactly.

“You wouldn’t mind having a lefty in the rotation, of course,” Duncan said. “But you don’t need to force yourself to get one.”

As the Cardinals look at adding a starting pitcher via free agency, the short list of pitchers they have considered or approached include a handful of lefty starters: Randy Wolf, Andy Pettitte and Oliver Perez. Either one would add that different look to a rotation that has been righthand-dominant for more than two seasons. But does it offer a tangible advantage in the NL Central. Duncan made the point that with Prince Fielder and Adam Dunn in the division the past couple years a team can be exposed if it doesn’t have a lefty specialist (enter: Trever Miller).

When it comes to starters the numbers aren’t as convincing, though they are intriguing.

Below are the club numbers against lefthanded pitchers, how they rank in the National League and whether the average is up or down or equal to their overall average:

TEAM … BA vs. LHP … OBP vs. LHP … SLG vs. LHP … W-L vs. LHP

Cubs … .288 (1) down … .366 (1) down … .442 (4) equal … 31-16

Astros … .271 (5) down … .333 (11) down … .418 (9) down … 26-20

Brewers … .269 (6) down … .348 (5) up … .458 (2) down … 33-20

Cardinals … .269 (7) down … .343 (6) up … .410 (10) down … 27-29

Reds … .257 (11) down … .336 (9) up … .410 (7) up … 30-25

Pirates … .250 (13) down … .320 (13) equal … .395 (12) up … 14-28

Scanning the rotations in the division for lefties, it is possible to pull out three examples and see if they do perform better in the NL Central than outside of baseball’s largest division. There are many variables here. They face these hitters more often. They know them better; the hitters know them better. But there is also gravity to picking apart the numbers. The NL Central had some of the best teams in the National League this past season and the ballparks run the spectrum from Cincinnati’s homer-happy pavilion to Busch Stadium and PNC Park.

I took three lefties from the division and made a quick audit of their numbers against NL Central teams and their numbers against the rest of baseball in 2008:

TED LILLY, CUBS

• vs. NL Central … 8-5, 4.18 ERA in 112 innings
• vs. the rest … 9-4, 3.98 ERA in 92 2/3 innings

WANDY RODRIGUEZ, HOUSTON

• vs. NL Central … 4-4, 2.89 ERA in 65 1/3 innings
• vs. the rest … 5-3, 4.13 ERA in 72 innings

PAUL MAHOLM, PITTSBURGH

• vs. NL Central … 5-2, 3.04 ERA in 71 innings
• vs. the rest … 4-7, 4.06 ERA in 135 1/3 innings

Maybe it’s Maholm and that Pirates rotation that answers the question on whether a lefthanded starter does thrive — or if one is needed, is beneficial — in the NL Central. They could, when all parts are healthy and pitching well, have four lefties in their rotation: Phil Dumatrait, Maholm, Tom Gorzelanny and Zach Duke. You can see where that has gotten the Pirates.

No need to check the stats. Check the standings.

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