The 2nd half of the season picked up immediately where the first half left off...with the Cardinals being inexplicably amazing at everything.
Tonight, they face the Mets, and while the game's not finished yet (as of press time), they're leading, and it's looking like they're gonna pull out. And I'm banking on this because they're the St. Louis Cardinals. They don't even have a great team this season and they're still playing well. Even without Carpenter, and with a still-not-especially-great Jason Heyward, they're the #1 team in the NL. And I can't explain why this is.
As I've said once or twice, I do think their 2011 squad, or their incarnation with Daniel Decalsco, David Freese, Allen Craig and all of those guys, is far more superior to this version. True, a lot of the same players are there, and Jhonny Peralta is an improvement over Rafael Furcal, but right now they are without Matt Adams and Jon Jay, and with Mark Reynolds and Peter Bourjos, and the aforementioned Heyward.
The pitching staff, in my opinion, isn't as good as the one in 2011. There are a lot more question marks. Right now Jaime Garcia is hurt (which I didn't know until I started the post), and John Lackey, who is being touted as the unofficial ace in the absence of Wainwright, is doing...serviceably, if not amazing. Sure, Wacha and Martinez and Lynn are doing great, but there isn't the certainty they had with Carpenter, Wainwright, Lohse and Garcia back in the day.
I know they're probably going to win more games, and they do have a lot of great points, but I think that they don't have everything they need to be a postseason team. Maybe one or two more pieces. And it would be nice if one of them wasn't Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto.
Coming Tomorrow: A Red Sox second year player who came within inches of an All Star nod this year.
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