When I
saw how the St. Louis Cardinal’s schedule measured up for the first 30 games, I
could not help but have some optimism.
With 27 out of 28 of the first Cardinals games being against the
National League Central Division, I knew that St. Louis would have an
opportunity to put some distance between them and the rest of their division. I know it sounds silly to think about a 28
game stretch as being so pivotal at the very beginning of a season that is
filled with 162 games, but after last year’s razor thin margin of victory for
the National League Wild Card, it is impossible not to hope for a quick start
from the Cards this season.
I looked
at this early stretch as a positive for a few reasons. For one, it seems like the Cardinals are
always finding success at the beginnings of a new season. I cannot count the number of Aprils when it
looks like the Cardinals are out to be dominant division winners only to see
them fade as the heat of summer almost seems to be too much. This same thing happened last year, as a team
that found its way into first place early in the year hit a decline that only a
magical September run could save. In
addition to the recent history of fast starts, the Cardinals seemed to have
less chance for the injuries that come with having an aging team at the end of
a long season. It felt like if the
Cardinals could avoid a few injuries to key players, they could get out to a
quick start.
Much to
my horror, the injuries decided to come early this year. The lineup went from having Albert Pujols
manning first base every day suddenly found itself trying to tread water with
Matt Carpenter there after the early injury to Lance Berkman. It is not difficult to comprehend the drop
off this represented from last year in a position that is supposed to offer
power in a lineup. The pitching staff that
we all seemed to hope would be able to tread water for long enough to get their
co-ace, Chris Carpenter back also had to deal with the early ineffectiveness of
Adam Wainwright who suffered his worse career start against the Cubs on Opening
Day. With all these things going wrong,
it would not be difficult to imagine a repeat of 2007 when the perfect storm of
injuries, ineffectiveness, and comfort struck down the defending World Champion
Cardinals.
Surprisingly
enough, though, the Cardinals have more than tread water as they wait around
for their big first baseman and World Series saving pitcher. While I did see the possibility for a fast
start in the beginning of the 2012 season, I never anticipated that these
successes would be made possible by the easy velocity of Lance Lynn as he made
pitching in the major leagues look like an enjoyable and easy experience or a
lineup that seemed to be incapable of doing anything wrong for much of the
beginning of this season. Now, with the
return of Berkman looming and the already seamless transition of Allan Craig’s
bat into the middle of the order, the rest of this season looks bright for
these Cardinals. I know that there will
still be rough patches. Pitchers like
Lohse, Westbrook, and Lynn cannot maintain their torrid pace through the
National League Central Division, and the possibility of Beltran making it
through an entire season while swinging the bat as if he were the young
powerful man who roamed the outfield in Kansas City like a gazelle is unlikely. There is no doubt that this season will be
less easy for this version of the Cardinals, but it is tough not to sit back
and enjoy the ride right now.
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