What usually happens on here is that I get really mad when the Cardinals sneak into the playoffs without deserving it. Well, now the opposite has happened. The Cardinals are absolutely dominating, doing so many things right, looking like a playoff threat...and I think I'm still mad.
The Cardinals now are falling into the Astros category of making so many good organizational moves that it makes me mad. How the hell are you supposed to beat that in a playoff scenario? Not only is the team really good now, but 7 of their top players are homegrown younger players, and 5 of them are under 25.
This season you are seeing Brendan Donovan, Andre Pallante, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson inherit this team, and the handoff is going pretty damned well. Nootbaar has come into his own this year, not only being fantastic defensively but hitting 8 homers. Gorman has 13 homers and 33 RBIs, and although he and Donovan are blocked from starting positions thanks to people like Paul DeJong and, rightfully, Nolan Arenado, they're great depth pieces that can go in whenever and pave the way for their own tenures. Pallate, though he's been phased out of starting thanks to Quintana and Montgomery, is still an excellent, versatile pitching piece with a 2.96 ERA.
And then Dylan Carlson, who had a strong rookie season last year, has worked his way up to some impressive sophomore numbers. Though he only has 8 homers and 39 RBIs, Carlson is still an asset in the outfield, and with Harrison Bader gone, having him, Nootbaar and Tyler O'Neill as an outfield schematic still makes sure that there aren't going to be a ton of errors back there. Carlson's also just 23, and already has some great experience under his belt. The fact that this team can bring people up in their early 20s and let them develop in the majors instead of keeping them in the minors for too long [which, admittedly, they were guilty of with Tommy Pham], is a good sign for the next decade of Cardinals baseball.
Beyond that, the Cardinals have two solid MVP candidates in Goldschmidt and Arenado [I don't see any universe where Goldy doesn't get it, though], an incredible [and regrettable] trade deadline acquisition in Jordan Montgomery, and dammit Albert might get to 700. I know I view the Cardinals from a very Yankee-centric lens, but Albert going for 700 as Judge chases Ruth is pretty damn cool.
I may not like this team as much as I did when they were scrappy competitors underneath Milwaukee, but I respect a lot of what this team is doing, and I hope they do as well as they can without having to face one of my teams and risk making me mad all winter.
Coming Tonight: On a rotation with a Cy Young candidate, a future Hall of Famer having one last classic season, and a scary talent back from the IL, a similarly impressive talent lays low and provides his services.
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