So much
was made about the Cardinals blockbuster trade last season which sent Colby
Rasmus to the Blue Jays for a complete makeover of the Cardinals pitching staff
which was in desperate need of help. It
is not difficult to understand why this trade is received so much publicity and
eventual credit for the fortunes of the team.
The Cardinals traded away the jewel of their minor league system in
exchange for a group of pitchers including only one that would be under club
control beyond the end of that season.
It was a gutsy move for the present on a team which was at the time
watching its present chances flushing down the toilet. It was the kind of trade that was going to
make John Mozeliak either the hero or goat of the season, but there was another
trade that was equally important to the Cardinals’ chances last season.
Even
later in the season, when hope seemed perilously close to being lost, the
Cardinals traded young minor league outfielder Alex Castellanos for Rafael
Furcal, and not long after that the team caught fire. To say that Furcal was the reason that the
Cardinals won the World Series is a stretch.
There were periods when his light hitting made fans almost wish that
they had their opening day shortstop, Ryan Theriot’s bat back in the
lineup. Defensively, though, there was
no more important move than acquiring Rafael Furcal. For a pitching staff which under the tutelage
of Dave Duncan had always adopted a pitch to contact strategy, having a
shortstop who was better served to play second base as a result of both his
range and his ability to make the routine play like Theriot simply would not
due. Furcal gave them the defensive stability
which allowed the pitching staff to use their strengths. Without this defensive stability, there is
little chance that the Cardinals would have been the eventual World Champions.
This
season, Furcal has been even more important to the success of the St. Louis
Cardinals. After a brutal spring which
made everyone question his signing, Furcal started the season off on a
tear. He batted .315 in April and not by
coincidence, the Cardinals were 14-8 during the month. Furcal seemed to always be on base in the
beginning of the Cardinals season, and he only got better. The Cardinal shortstop ended May with a .349
batting average even though he tailed off considerably in the latter half of
the month. So far, in June, Furcal is
only hitting .145 which has corresponded with a 6-8 record.
While
Furcal’s defense has been as steady as ever, it is his offense that the
Cardinals were reliant on in the beginning months of the season, and it was
largely due to this offensive output that the Cardinals found themselves in
first place for much of the beginning of the season. In fact, in Cardinal wins this season, Furcal
is batting.351 with a .390 on base percentage, but in losses, he has hit only
.227 with a .295 OBP. While it is
anecdotal that the Cardinals players would bat better in wins than losses,
these extreme splits show just how important the Cardinals lead off batter has
been to their success this season. There
is little doubt as to why their offense has been having so much more difficulty
scoring runs lately.
The
Cardinals won earlier this season with an all-around team where everyone
contributed to their success. They had a
high powered offense as well as solid pitching from both starters and
relievers. Recently, the Cardinals have
been struggling so much to see their substantial lead in the central division
turn into a four game deficit and a record that seems destined to hover around
the .500 mark. While the Cardinal
pitching staff has been able to improve, the offense has continued to
struggle. Unfortunately, there is no quick
fix for the offense, but getting Rafael Furcal to find his way on base more
consistently may be precisely what the team needs if it is going to find its
way back into first place.
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