Storyline: The Cardinals have time to right the ship, but a poor home record, an unpredictable lineup, mediocre pitching, and poor play at short are causing problems.
The St. Louis Cardinals appeared to be turning the corner last week. They were on a five-game winning streak, fresh off a road sweep of NL Central rival, Pittsburgh.
How to right the ship? That’s Mike Metheny challenge (photo, archcitysports.com)
The Cards, 35-28 and returning home, were looking forward to playing host to former NL Central foes, Houston and Rangers. But the Cardinals took huge steps backward, dropping all five games of the home stand, dropping their record back to 35-33.
What’s wrong? The Cardinals have been known as “the top dog” in the NL Central over the past decade, winning the division regularly, often with ease. But this season the Cardinals are in unchartered waters, slipping far behind in the division race with the Cubs holding a commanding 12-game lead over the Redbirds (as of June 19).
While it’s true that the Cubbies have dominated the NL so far this season, there are a variety of reasons–not just one–hy the Cards find themselves in a compromising position.
Here’s why I think St. Louis is in a rut.
Not Taking Advantage of Home Field: One of the secrets in winning championships is winning road games and the Cardinals have definitely done that—going an excellent 20-12 when playing away from Busch this year. But the Cards have struggled at home—going 15-21 thus far. Home games are supposed to be a more relaxed environment, playing in front of your own fans. Momentum is easier to sway your way. Even the Reds, the bottom-feeder of the NL Central this season, are cashing in at home with a record around .500. If a team as mediocre as Cincy can do it, then the Cardinals should certainly be able to win at home.
Courtesy: Matt Carpenter (photo, zimbio.com)
Too Much Experimenting: Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny has a situation that some may view as an advantage, while others (like me) see it as a disadvantage. The situation? He has too many hitters, especially infielders. Some of these hitters have become permanent parts of the starting lineup by producing consistently on offense. Matt Carpenter got off to a sluggish start, but has rebounded in a big way, batting a superb .301 with 42 RBIs. Young, but talented, Stephen Piscotty is also batting above the .300 mark. And Rookie of the Year candidate, Aldemys Diaz, is right behind him. As far as the veterans go, Molina and Holiday have continued to produce, and Jhonny Peralta has batted well since coming back from his thumb injury. So that leaves two open spots in Matheny’s lineup card and every game seems to be a different story, as there are simply too many guys. The Cardinals have Matt Adams, Brandon Moss, Tommy Pham, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Ruben Tejada, Jedd Gyorko, Randal Grichuk, and Greg Garica, all scrambling for playing time. They’re all talented players, but the Cardinals’ current setup is not allowing them to get into the flow of each game. It’s getting too late in the season for experimenting to continue. Matheny needs to find a winning formula and then stick with it for the rest of the season. He needs to figure out the guys he wants and trade away the players that he doesn’t need … which brings me to my next point.
Pitching Needs Improvement: In previous years, the pitching staff has been the gem of the Cardinals’ organization. But, man, have things changed! The Cardinals’ best pitcher so far this season is Carlos Martinez, but his stats aren’t exactly jaw-dropping: 7-5 with a 3.17 ERA. Michael Wacha has dropped seven consecutive games. And their aging ace, Adam Wainwright, is not pitching at the levels he usually does. The Birds need to trade away excess hitters for some quality pitchers to beef up the pitching staff. If they don’t do this soon then St. Louis may find themselves out in the cold and the playoff picture come October.
Jhonny Peralta needs to get back in the lineup (photo, FoxSports)
ldemys Diaz’s Horrendous Fielding: Diaz is definitely in the running for NL Rookie of the Year. He has batted near or above .300 all season long. But if only his fielding skills were as good as the pop as in his bat. Diaz has already committed 13 errors, and that’s a big reason why St. Louis is one of the worst defensive teams in baseball this season. With Peralta coming back from his injury, it was thought that Diaz would be moved from shortstop to second, but that didn’t happen, as Diaz is still playing short. The majority of the errors committed by Diaz have been throwing errors, and a move from short to second (where the throws to first aren’t as far) could be just what the doctor ordered for Matheny and the Redbirds. Not only that, but Peralta would be able to return to his natural position at short. St. Louis is one of the best offensive teams in the Majors, but as long as Diaz remains at shortstop, their fielding woes will continue.
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While the Cardinals are in an unfavorable position at this point, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship. But not winning at Busch, having an unnecessary amount of hitters and a mediocre pitching staff, and keeping Aldemys Diaz at shortstop are not recipes for success.
