Since April 28th, when the Cardinals were just 14-13, they have gone 14-8. There was some talks of 'look at them streaking a bit', but...aside from a few losses, it doesn't tell me that much is different. They're 8 games over .500, but for a team that's that statistically thriving it's a very commonplace run of things. Not a lot of double digit wins, not a lot of double digit losses, not a lot of blowouts. Just sort of pedaling fast enough, staying in second and avoiding the Cubs as they plummet back downwards. I can't really tell you too much about this team's full season prospects right now, cause they're GOOD...but there's still limitations.
Like...we've gotta be honest with ourselves, this rotation is far too mediocre for the amount of wins this team has. Other than Michael McGreevy, none of them are really doing anything. Kyle Leahy's evened out with more innings even after a rough start, but May's struggling, Liberatore gets lit up more often than not, and Andre Pallante is, again, inoffensive if nothing else. Bullpen's not much better, it's really the Gordon Graceffo show with a lot of okay showings from the rest. Riley O'Brien has 13 saves and a 3.13 ERA, I guess that counts as good this season. I dunno, I haven't really heard much about good closing pitching this year apart from Mason Miller. I guess that's good? Maybe?
Either way none of it matters because this offense has been crazy. I can say with the pitching 'yeah, this isn't really second place material', but I can't say that about the lineup. It took YEARS, but Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, J.J. Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn and Nathan Church represent a very strong young core. And YOUNG is the key word, as the whole lineup's under 28. Bryan Torres had a huge moment earlier today, and he's a 28 year old rookie. A rookie...who is older than the entire rest of the lineup. Imagine that. Unlike some other teams, 'young' doesn't mean 'inexperienced' here, and Winn, Burelson and Herrera feel like vets.
Burleson in particular is handling the power numbers handily, with 7 homers and 34 RBIs, plus 54 hits and 12 doubles, with a .290 average. He just feels surer of himself than he has in prior years, and his bat is that much more valuable on a team without a Goldschmidt or an Arenado. The same can honestly be said for Jordan Walker, who FINALLY works as a proven power hitter, with 13 homers and 35 RBIs. Imagine if he just keeps doing this consistently? After all that time struggling to? That'd be the twist ending of the century. My one worry is the lack of real depth with this lineup, as we're finding out now that Church is hurt and the nearest fill-in is Thomas Saggese and his .159 average. There's more immediate pitching depth than hitting depth, which is helpful considering the lack of pitching identity, but you're gonna need both to leg a full season out.
The Cardinals do have enough hitting to keep them in second, but the Cubs aren't gonna sink forever, which should indicate that they're not gonna CRUISE forever. Works both ways.
Coming Tomorrow- Beyond Mike Trout, there is him, trying to build a bridge to the next chapter. We'll see if he lasts long enough to get that to happen.
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