Miraculously, well into their rebuilding period, the Cardinals have managed a 2nd place team and a working, relatively stable lineup schematic with proven young stars and a plan for upward momentum. Just...don't look at the pitching.
It's wild that so many pieces of this team have come together to work now, rather than at any point before. Having Jordan Walker, J.J. Wetherholt, Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera all hitting, and all hitting well, gives this team so much more to say than the last few years of transitional shrugging. Before, getting Burleson or Gorman or Carlson to do anything was asking for a lot. And now this lineup actually feels intimidating. Wetherholt's a genuinely great MLB infield option, with 7 homers and 18 RBIs in his rookie season. Burleson's putting together a strong campaign himself, hitting .269 with 28 RBIs already. Jordan Walker's already hit 10 homers and finally figured out how to fix his swing. The offensive production that was tricky before is coming so much more naturally now because this team is younger and has more urgency. Getting Arenado out of there was honestly the best plan.
But...that doesn't really carry over to the rotation, because getting rid of Sonny Gray, Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas just makes this an anonymous, unreliable group of misfits. At least the Nationals have some young guys they can rely on. What do the Cards have?? Michael McGreevy's got a 2.52 ERA but he's mostly a ground ball pitcher. Same with Andre Pallante. Matthew Liberatore was supposed to be the ace but he's got a 4.50 ERA. The idea is to keep runs down but the Cards are honestly a team just barely outscoring their opponents because the starting squad just isn't much at all. Having a good bullpen helps a little, as O'Brien, Romero and Graceffo have been good, but so many of the guys that were so reliable last year [Kyle Leahy and Matt Svanson mostly] are seriously burned out. So it just seems imbalanced, impractical and unsustainable.
The real question is whether the hitting is good enough, and the depth is strong enough, to build off this. Cause if not, there's a possibility Burleson could be dealt midyear, pushing the rebuild back a tad. The fact that they're enough of a force to be on the brink of competition is scary, especially for NL Central competitors, but the next few weeks will probably show how real they are. Especially as the Brewers and Reds balance themselves out a bit more.
Still...if this team can compete without pitching, it'd be pretty insane. Like I can't even remember the last time the Cardinals didn't have any pitching. The 90s I guess..
Coming Tonight: Oh you know...that guy everyone really likes. Guess he's not past his prime after all.
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