Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Cardinals

 

I personally think it's kinda funny that the Cardinals haven't made the playoffs since being embarrassed by a wild card Phillies team. Now they know what it feels like I guess.

As the Oli Marmol era traipses on in St. Louis, and as John Mozeliak continues to prove that he has no idea what the hell he's doing up there, the standard seems to slip more and more for Cardinals baseball every year. This year, they couldn't even get a great season, or a trade, for Nolan Arenado. Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese continued to disappoint when given golden opportunities. The starting pitching wilted, with even surefire successes like Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley letting them down and needing to be dealt. And even surging seasons, like those Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan and Ivan Herrera had, were cut short by injuries. This team finished in fourth place this year, behind three far superior competitors. And they only stayed ahead of the Pirates because, while Mozeliak can be misguided, he's not a complete trashfire of an executive like Bob Nutting is. 

Though, granted, he did give away Sonny Gray to Boston in exchange for a guy named Richard Fitts, so...perhaps it's closer than I'd like to admit. Boston may have been too cruel for Dick Fitts. We'll see if he fits in St. Louis, I suppose.

Lars Nootbaar, for the second year in a row really, settled into quiet, slightly-above-average mediocrity. In 135 games this year, Nootbaar hit .234 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs. The Cardinals' once-stellar battery of young outfielders is down to just him, Burleson and Victor Scott. And we're already hearing that Burleson might be on the block.

2026 Prediction: Traded midyear, and is a HUGE help for a competitor. 

Miles Mikolas may have had a shaky couple years after his MLB return, but since 2022 he's made 30+ starts a season and has been a reliable backbone for these Cardinals staffs. Now, granted, since 2023's season ended the quality hasn't exactly been sky high, but he's still capable of putting in the work. This year was an improvement over the putrid 2024, with a 4.84 ERA and 100 Ks in 31 starts. 

2026 Prediction: Ideally he retires but part of me thinks he's gonna try for one more go at this, and another part of me thinks the Cardinals will be the one that bites.

In the meantime, the Cards had a surge, finally, from former Rays top prospect Matthew Liberatore. They'd been waiting on prime stats from Liberatore for a while, and he gave them some in May, with a 2.97 ERA and 28 Ks in 6 starts. The rest of the year kind of diluted things, as he finished off with a 8-12 record and a 4.22 ERA. Still, it seemed like a decent enough start, despite a really rough July-August stretch.

2026 Prediction: An improvement, and a needed strong season considering the amount of question marks that are about to flood this rotation.

The Cardinals gave another rotation shot to Andre Pallante, and he started 31 games for them, pitching 162 innings. They weren't great innings though, as he went 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA and a -1.2 WAR. The fa fact that the Cardinals haven't cut Pallante yet means they're really worried about their rotation situation.

2026 Prediction:There's gotta be SOMEBODY that relegates this guy to the pen, right? Tink Hence? Tekoah Toby? Brycen Mautz? I'd rather try them out than keep Pallante up there if he's gonna be this crappy.

Pedro Pages was the designated backup catcher this year, and with Ivan Herrera hurt for a while, Pages got plenty of time to start. He hit .230 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs, but was much better behind the plate. The key is DHing Herrera and keeping Pages in at catcher, this way you get Herrera's power bat and Pages's occasional contact bat.

2026 Prediction: More of the same, with a slight offensive uptick.

At the very least, the St. Louis bullpen showed some serious staying power, though not the guys I thought. Going into this year I figured it'd be more favoring John King and Ryan Fernandez, but they both struggled this year. Kyle Leahy had room to thrust into high gear though, with a 3.07 ERA, a 1.5 WAR and 80 Ks. His 88 innings were the most of any reliever in St. Louis, and he was a worthy pace-setter this year.

2026 Prediction: Tries to close, isn't great at it, makes up for it in the eighth.

Similarly, Jojo Romero continued his excellent run with the Cardinals with another strong year, including a 2.07 ERA and a 1.7 WAR, taking 8 saves in place of Helsley after his trade. 

2026 Prediction: Carries most of the closing duties and gets 25 saves out of it.

The Cardinals have been very careful on using Michael McGreevy, as they only kept him up when they needed his talents in the majors. They honestly could have kept him up all year, he was clearly ready, but apparently they wanted to see if Andre Pallante was gonna turn around at all. McGreevy mostly impressed in 16 starts, despite a 4.47 ERA. He went 8-4 with 58 Ks. 

2026 Prediction: Breakout year, begins to inherit the rotation.

Coming Tomorrow- A handful of Cubs that finally went to October.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Cardinals

 

It's kind of wild to me that, despite the numerous elements of this Cardinals team that continued to disappoint this year, and despite this being the second year in a row where they didn't make the playoffs despite having, fundamentally, the team to do so, the Cardinals finished in 2nd place, and over .500. In a division where the Reds went in competitive and the Pirates sparked fire midyear, the Cardinals still finished ahead of them. 

Granted, the Cardinals and Cubs tied for second, but the Cardinals will take the formality. It's enough to say it was at least an improvement, and that means management can keep Oli Marmol and continue the current path of mediocrity.

And I have to stress, this is good for me. I'm enjoying the Cardinals not being competitive. This, the Patriots and the Cowboys at the same time? This is great! But you get the sense that this could be avoided if everyone, including ownership, was on the same page. And they're not. So we got this Cardinals team that is simultaneously too past their prime to make an impact and too inexperienced to factor into anything. Having a rotation of guys over 35 and an outfield of guys under 25 is really pulling things in two different directions, and hopefully this team picks a side going forward.

It's been clear that since winning the MVP, Paul Goldschmidt has backed off of his prime offensive material, and 2024 was the biggest taste of mediocrity yet for the future Hall of Fame corner infield. For the first time since his rookie year, the 36-year-old had a bWAR figure below ten, just a measly 3. This year he hit .245 with 22 homers and 65 RBIs, and ended with a 1.3 WAR, a new career low for a full season. In fairness, he has been at this for a while, and he did have ten or so years where he was one of the best pure hitters in baseball, including the majority of his 30s to this point. So after everything he's given the Cardinals, he didn't owe them much else in the final year of his contract. But it does feel like a disappointment still.

2025 Prediction: Gee, Paul Goldschmidt is a couple years away from retirement and his old team might have an opening at 1st base. I wonder what's gonna happen!

I think I'm mostly impressed that the Cardinals' Miles Mikolas experiment, which began with a signing out of Japan in 2018, has lasted this long. True, there was an injury break in the middle, but Mikolas has persisted as a staple of the team's rotations even stretching into 2024. Now, granted, Mikolas is now 36 and is very much the product of multiple surgeries, but he still started 32 games this season. Granted, he went 10-11 with a 5.35 ERA, plus a -0.2 WAR, but he still ate innings and struck out 122. I think they just needed reliable arms this year, and for one of the guys in their 30s to be that must have helped considering how many weren't.

2025 Prediction: He's got one more year left on the contract, but does he have anything left in the tank for it? Maybe a little?

For the second consecutive season, despite the idea that he might finally do so, Jordan Walker just didn't happen. The Cardinals' hopes are high for this guy, he has all the potential, but it's just not happening at an MLB level yet. In 51 games he hit .201 with 33 hits, 5 homers, 20 RBIs and 50 strikeouts. Bringing up Victor Scott II was just as problematic, as Scott is doing the same high-strikeout/no-payoff stuff as Walker right now.

2025 Prediction: Walker will be 23. I say something finally happens this year, though not at full power yet. 

Thanks to a midyear injury to Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera went from backup to everyday backstop, and it went alright for him. The 24-year-old hit .301 with 69 hits, 27 RBIs and 5 homers in 72 games, making him one of the most important contact hitters on the team. Unfortunately his defense isn't great. And with Contreras moving to 1st base next year, Herrera being the primary backstop might mean the years of exemplary defense behind the plate in St. Louis may be coming to an end.

2025 Prediction: Maybe not AS useful as a contact hitter, but still a key part of this team. I don't think he'll be the primary catcher all year though. They're gonna get somebody at this rate.

So. You start the season with an outfield arrangement of Dylan Carlson, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott. You've got to send two of them down, and Nootbaar will be back at some point, plus Brendan Donovan can play left. So you're missing a piece that can stay in place. So...it's wild that the Cardinals not only went with former Reds castoff Michael Siani, but that he actually worked out for them. Siani made the CF spot his own, and in 124 games provided some of the best defense of the OF unit [yes, even better than Noot], despite some middling offensive results. Siani got hurt with 2 months to go, and thus the team had to call on Walker again, but it's nice to know he'll be an option for the Cards going forward.

2024 Prediction: Siani's gonna chase a gold glove next year, and perhaps be the OF anchor the team's always needed. He'll hit .250 in addition.

The Phillies, it's clear, won their side of the trade that brought Edmundo Sosa to their bench, but it's important to note that the Cardinals' return, reliever JoJo Romero, has also been pretty nice for them. Romero peaked midyear, but still finished with a 3.36 ERA and a 7-3 record in 65 appearances. Generally, the Cardinals' bullpen was pretty strong this year, and if Romero sticks around they could build something.

2025 Prediction: Not quite as consistent but will be on call for the whole season.

You'd probably have needed ample knowledge of baseball reference dot com to know that up until 2023, the longest tenured Tampa Bay Ray was not Brandon Lowe but, rather, reliever Andrew Kittredge, who capped off seven seasons with the club last year. In Tampa, that's the equivalent of a 20-year career. Kittredge had been hurt since his ASG season in 2021, and was traded due to those diminishing returns. But the Cardinals put Kittredge to good use, as he had his fullest season to date, and clearly his best since 2021. In 75 appearances, Kittredge had a 2.80 ERA with 67 Ks. With the exception of Matthew Liberatore, who started a few games, Kittredge got the most use of any Cardinals reliever this year.

2025 Prediction: It'd be really nice if Kittredge got 2 straight consistent, healthy seasons...but this is the 2020s, and he's 35. So probably a step or so down.

Andre Pallante has been an integral swingman for the last few years of Cardinals baseball, going from an impressive fifth starter in 2022 to a strong longman reliever last year. This year, Pallante, like in 2022, started in the pen and got to start 20 games as the options lessened. Despite an 8-8 record he had a 3.68 ERA and 94 Ks, and kept at it as the workload increased in the final months of the year,

2025 Prediction: Gets to start from the jump and provides consistency throughout, even if he's not the flashiest pitcher out there.

2024 marked Matt Carpenter's return to the Cardinals, after a wild couple years DHing for New York and San Diego. I have no idea what happened to bring on Carpenter's June 2022, but it may not happen again, as Carpenter's back to low average stuff as a depth bat. In 59 games, he hit .234 with 4 homers and 15 RBIs. 

2025 Prediction: I assume he hangs it up but he could still be convinced he has something left and sign somewhere he can play regularly.

Speaking of low risk veteran pickups, Brandon Crawford played for the Cardinals this year, in a tenure that will really only be good to freak out Giants fans by reminding them of its existence. Not only was Crawford battling an exceptional Masyn Winn performance for SS starts, but he's 37 and doesn't really have his strongest stuff anymore. In 28 games he hit .169 and was below average in the infield, meaning he was let go mid year.

2025 Prediction: Retirement.

And because there was a definite chance of creeping into the wild card race, the Cardinals made deals at the deadline, including being a part of the blockbuster that brought Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech, ultimately, their rings. But for a while it looked like the Cardinals got the better end of the deal, getting Erick Fedde, one of the biggest assets the White Sox had in the first half. Ultimately, once he got to St. Louis, the magic wore off for Fedde, as he went 2-5 with a 3.72 ERA in 10 starts. Not that this was a bad run, but compared to his 4.7 WAR first half with Chicago it was ultimately forgettable.

2025 Prediction: Fedde will be the Cardinals' best starter next year. He may not get the whole season to savor it, but he'll find whatever he had in Chicago again.

And though he ended the season with Kansas City, Tommy Pham did return to St. Louis for a month as part of the blockbuster deal. The idea was to bring back an old favorite and get him back to the playoffs, and while Pham had been strong with the White Sox, he only hit .206 with 12 RBIs and 2 homers in 23 games for the Cardinals. His big highlight was hitting a grand slam in his first at-bat of the season for St. Louis. He never got back to that feeling on that side of Missouri, and had a much better fall for the Royals.

2025 Prediction: A new, unique team will be added to Pham's bingo card to join the other nine he's already played for. My pick: Pittsburgh. 

Coming Tomorrow- As close as the Cardinals got this year, the Cubs got closer. But, for the second year in a row, the postseason was too far. 

Miles from Contention

 

Only 4 teams have a worse record than the Cardinals right now. I don't know if the penance for Ryan Howard's achilles was having the Phillies come back and cause an even more painful quality drop, but if so I'm so happy about it. I was getting used to being alright with the Cardinals, but if this is the norm for them going forward, that's incredible. 

This team is never gonna be the absolute worst in the league because, at the end of the day, they're still gonna have people like Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Miles Mikolas playing for them. Goldy and Arenado have played for dire-looking teams in their prime, but have usually propelled them beyond true awfulness. That's really what those three have been doing so far. Goldy's still putting up prime numbers, he's still hitting .289 with 37 RBIs and 13 homers. Arenado is still pulling ASG votes, and leads the team in RBIs with 49. Mikolas, after a shaky start, is still giving a lot to this team, eating innings with an ERA around 4. 

What's alarming about this team is that nobody on it has an ERA lower than 3.50. The collective ERA is 4.48, 9th-highest in baseball. I did not expect the Dodgers' team ERA to be higher than theirs, even with the Cardinals this bad. Other teams are just getting the best of this team's pitching, especially their bullpen, and I did not expect this at all going into the season. Not that people like Giovanny Gallegos and Chris Stratton are bad, they're just not as ironclad as they were last year. And that's really how you'd describe a lot of this team, just not as strong as the 2022 squad, which is funny when you remember how they went out last year. 

You also just have players with great skillsets hampered by their own faults. So many players on this team, including Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson and Juan Yepez, are great hitters that are terrible defensively. Walker's hitting .302 but thanks to his defense he has a negative WAR. Even Brendan Donovan's having a disappointing defensive year. I know they're trying to build a youth movement but they need to be a bit more multi-dimensional than this.

Granted, their schedule is getting slightly easier now. They took 2 from the Mets, they took 2 from the Nats, and they play the Cubs next. But then they get to play the Astros, and while I'd prefer neither of them win those, it's more likely the Astros take those just on account of their talent. I don't see the Cardinals' luck changing anytime soon, because the wins are still small margins of victory.

I'm...a little sad about how far this Cardinals have fallen, but at the same time, I don't have to hear about them dominating another division, so I still win, I guess.

Coming Tonight: The Yankees gave him up for someone who hasn't pitched yet this year. So the A's have to be happy about that.

Miles From First

 The Cardinals and Brewers are still going back and forth on who gets to be in first, as they have for the past few years. I honestly think this has been one of the most underrated battles in the game right now, because this has been since like 2018, these teams going back and forth. 2018 the Brewers take it, then 2019 the Cardinals make it to the NLCS, then it's been mostly the Brewers getting slightly further the last few years. And now here we are. Neck and neck, even play.

Although...if we're being honest, the Cardinals are the better team. By a large margin.

...but yeah, let's SEE WHO WINS I guess.

Realistically, these teams are kind of even because they're using different strategies. Brewers have the more pitching energy and defense, Cardinals have the more organizational depth and hitting energy. And it's gonna be a matter of which is bigger, and...I still think it'll be St. Louis, but I might be wrong.

What I can say about this Cardinals team is that there's so many incredible seasons happening here that it'd be odd if they DIDN'T make the postseason. Miles Mikolas is having his best season in years, fully healthy and confident. He has a 2.64 ERA with 69 Ks in 14 games, and he's even more consistent than Adam Wainwright, who, let's be clear, is also having a really damn good season. With so many injuries to this pitching staff, and Jack Flaherty, who just got back, in sort of meh condition right now, it's good to have people like Mikolas, Wainwright and Dakota Hudson who can eat innings and hold things down. I worry about the overall rotation depth, as they're doing some bullpen games and throwing in Andre Pallante, but the group they have has definitely been working. 

And then the lineup is just ridiculous at this point. What does Tommy Edman have, a 4.3 WAR right now? It's June. Lord almighty, this guy's good at baseball. And he's not even a marquee guy like Goldschmidt or Arenado. They just sort of have him around for contact, and this is how well he's playing. My gosh. And to have the entirety of Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan and Juan Yepez playing well in a year where big rookie prospects have disappointed in Detroit and Baltimore? It just proves how good this team's farm system is.

I genuinely think they're gonna outlast the Brewers. It won't be easy, and I definitely see the Brewers heating up in a bit, but...with everything the Cardinals are working with, I don't see them not doing something with it.

Coming Tonight: Not often do I see someone play baseball and think to myself 'well now he's just showing off'.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2021: Cardinals

 

I've just resigned myself to the fact that the Cardinals are going to make the playoffs every season regardless of whether or not they deserve to. You all can point out the hypocrisy of me as a Yankee fan saying that about the Cardinals in the comments if you'd like. Or maybe don't because I'm pointing it out right now.

I would call this a very okay year for the Cardinals. The outfield finally works, hot damn. The pitching needed a lot of help. Some of the veterans are failing them. Adam Wainwright isn't. They made the playoffs but got bounced by the Dodgers. It was always gonna be some level of heartbreak.

Perhaps the best year of anybody I didn't customize during the season was from Kwang-Hyun Kim. In his second season in the US, Kim had more of a stronghold on the rotation [due to a lot of injuries], starting 21 games, and walking away with a 3.46 ERA and 80 Ks. Along with Wainwright, he was one of the more consistent starting weapons the Cardinals deployed.

2022 Prediction: A few steps downward with a stronger rotation, but will still be utilized properly.

Matt Carpenter hasn't had a good season since his hair-raising power year in 2018. Ever since he's just been slowly reverting to a normal 30something in the infield. This season, Carpenter's descent into mehness continued with a .169 year in 130 games, mostly off the bench. Only 35 hits and 21 RBIs in that time. The Cardinals have not picked Carpenter up for 2022. Wisely, I might add.

2022 Prediction: If anyone signs him, his role will be extremely limited.

Speaking of limited, after a few years of injuries, Miles Mikolas made something of a return to the mound this season, starting 9 games with a 4.23 ERA. Mikolas needs a full season in order to convince me that he still has his 2018 numbers handy, but in another scattered year for the Cardinals rotation he was something of a letdown.

2022 Prediction: In a make or break season, Mikolas has his best season to date. Or...he breaks something else.

This year's chief relief specialist was Giovanny Gallegos, who fared better than that hitter fella he was traded for with some consistency in middle relief, a 3.02 ERA, 95 Ks and 14 saves in support of Alex Reyes. Not quite as big as his 2019 season, but still something to get behind.

2022 Prediction: More of the same, and perhaps more saves if Reyes gets injured.

The big rookie call-up was this fella by the name of Lars Nootbaar. Prospectors certainly haven't forgotten that name. In 58 games as a right field backup, Nootbaar did alright, hitting .239 with 15 RBIs and 5 homers. The trick is gonna be whether or not he has any room in that outfield, considering how cemented the Bader-O'Neill-Carlson setup seems to be now.

2022 Prediction: In July, the Cardinals are going to make a big move for a starting pitcher. Nootbaar will be the biggest piece of the return. I don't think he has room to become a star in St. Louis. It'll have to happen somewhere else.

And now the trade deadline returns. Jon Lester's deal went similarly to how I think Nootbaar's will go- a starting pitcher in exchange for an outfield prospect that has no room to flourish. Lane Thomas had a bang-up end of the year in Washington, and Lester's last two months...well, they went well enough. Lester's not what he was in Boston or Chicago, and he knows that. But he still went 4-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 40 Ks in 12 games, which isn't bad at all.

2022 Prediction: A low market team will sign him, and he'll retire with dignity.

Even stranger was J.A. Happ's ascent after his subpar Twins run. Upon arriving in St. Louis, Happ reached the heights of his recent successes, and had a 4 ERA with 5 wins and 45 Ks in 11 games. Happ went all of August without allowing more than 2 earned runs in a game, and struck out 8 Pirates in 6 innings in an August 21st loss. 

2022 Prediction: Will be an unexpected threat for a contender. Like Lester, I think he's done after next year. 

Tomorrow, some last summations on a tumultuous Cubs year.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2014 Rangers

 

Just like with the Padres post a few days ago, this tale of some odd 2014 Rangers that Topps didn't have time for has to begin with Miles Mikolas.

After another listless year with San Diego, Mikolas made his way to Arlington, where they had some starting spots open [as we'll see]. In 10 starts, Mikolas had a 6.44 ERA, and only 2 wins. These would be the numbers that would bring Mikolas over to Japan, where he'd revitalize his career. 

Another starter the Rangers tried in 2014 was Joe Saunders, who we just talked about with some super numbers for the 2012 Orioles. In 2013, Saunders' year in Seattle, his numbers plummeted down to earth, and by 2014 he was going from minor league deal to minor league deal. Saunders got 8 games with the Rangers, and similarly struggled, with a 6.13 ERA, a WHIP over 2, and no wins with 5 losses. He would return to Baltimore to attempt to recover, but it would not work. 

After splitting 2013 between Houston and Kansas City, the heavily depleted bat of once-strong Carlos Pena made it back to Texas, where he began his career in the late 90s. Pena's numbers were a lot different now, and he'd be playing as a DH rather than a corner infielder. In 18 games, his last ones in the majors, he'd hit .136 with one more home run. After the cut, that'd be it for the former Rays all-star.

Biggest flex of any of these? Kevin Kouzmanoff, who made his first MLB action since 2011 for the Rangers in 2014. The former Padres prospect may not have been as hot and blog-beloved as he was in 2009 or so, but he surprised everyone by hitting .362 with 10 RBIs and 2 homers in 13 games. He was hidden behind starters for the stretch, but as a backup who was thought to be out of commission, he performed like a champ. Sadly, these were Kouz's last career numbers, but man did he go out hot.

Tomorrow, we go back to 2011 for some Rays.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2012 Padres

 

In 2012, the Padres were one of those consistent bottom feeder teams that could never really get anything done, and this was only a few years removed from a playoff push. The low-budget core of Chase Headley, Yonder Alonso, Will Venable and Everth Cabrera kept them afloat for a few years, but things didn't really get cracking til Machado came aboard.

Still, 2012 featured some unfamiliar developments that Topps didn't bother to depict. The one above might be the biggest deal, considering that Topps seems to think that Miles Mikolas' rookie year was in 2018 [then again, what the hell does ANYONE know about what qualifies as a rookie?]. Before Japan, Miles Mikolas got his start with the Padres, and made his debut in 2012. It was in time for the rookie cutoff and the Update cutoff, but, you know...reliever. In 25 games, Mikolas had a 3.62 ERA with 23 Ks, not too bad.  These would be his best pre-Japan numbers, as we'll discuss in a few days. 

Also slightly pre-relevance was Ernesto Frieri, who had spent a few years kicking around as a relief piece in San Diego, and fairly well too. 2012 was looking to be another strong year for him as a Padre, as he had a 2.31 ERA in 11 games. In early May, Frieri was traded to Anaheim for Alexi Amarista, a trade that would benefit both sides, and would lead to Frieri taking the ninth in LA and nearly making an All Star team. 

 

Now we get to some stranger ones. Like, these next two are people who most baseball fans thought had stopped playing before 2012. Kip Wells was an innings-eater for years, being a standout for the White Sox before being a loss-heavy option for Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Colorado and Texas. After a few botched spring training tryouts, including one that would have been a return to Chicago, Wells was picked up by the starting-pitching-starved Padres, and got to start 7 last games. Surprisingly he did sort of alright, with a 4.58 ERA, 2 wins and 19 Ks. Yes, it was still a negative WAR, but it wasn't as bad as some of his loss-heavy numbers. 

Another starting option the Padres called upon midseason was Jeff Suppan, who was 37, and had last pitched for St. Louis in 2010 [and rather well, too]. Still, his waning numbers had scared off the Giants and Royals before, and so the Padres were slightly wary, but needed an innings guy. In 6 starts, Suppan went 2-3 with a 5.28 ERA and 18 earned runs. Like Wells, the veteran mentality didn't work here. Suppan, like Wells, would call it a career after being cut. 

Tomorrow, quite a few customs for the 2012 Phillies. 

Miles to go Before October

Once again, I am confused as to how THIS is a playoff team, as no one in the starting lineup OR the bench is batting over .290, or that the staff's ace, Miles Mikolas, is having a very okay year leaving the team to rely more on Dakota Hudson and Jack Flaherty (perhaps spreading them a bit too thin), or that their marquee guy Matt Carpenter is being unseated by a guy no one has heard of.

...I'd say that the Cardinals are only winning this division by default, but since that seemed to piss off a bunch of Orioles fans when I did so 5 years ago, I'm not doing it now. Hell, if the 2014 Orioles got to the World Series, the world would be a better place right now.

But we're not talking about the Orioles, we're talking about the 2019 Cardinals, who...unless something goes wrong, or right, and they let the Cubs, who are 4 games behind them, catch up, are going to win the NL Central, in a year where at multiple times the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals have been contending.

And...I'll say this lightly...the Cardinals are the only one who hasn't had things go absolutely haywire internally. The Brewers' pitching exploded midway through the year, and around August they just decided they'd had enough of...competing. The Cubs are a fine team that may still be in the Wild Card race, but their lack of wins away from home, plus the slow dissolution of every starting pitcher except for Yu Darvish, has left them questionable for an NL Central title.

Which leaves the Cardinals. To their credit, they've done a lot to stay on top, as their pitching has improved drastically since April, with Flaherty and Hudson coming into their own, Wainwright having an impressive, classic-Waino season, Carlos Martinez coming into his own as closer, and great relief work from Giovanny Gallegos, John Gant, John Brebbia, Ryan Helsey and Andrew Miller. There's enough good pitching on this team to make up for a lineup that, while still interesting (Goldy, DeJong, Wong and Ozuna are all great), has a few too many weak spots to be taken seriously as a playoff threat.

If the season ended today, the Cards would be seeded third, and would play the Atlanta Braves in a division series. From a statistical standpoint, I can imagine this not going well for them, though since the Cards have a habit of winning when they're not supposed to, it could be close.

Coming Tonight: As the wild card race thickens in the AL, a fringe outfielder emerges as a powerhouse...as does his team.

The Cardinals Are Gonna Be (.500 Miles)

(Music Pun Streak #13- I couldn't resist)

It's June. Now, typically, around June is when the St. Louis Cardinals make their way up the standings for an unfathomable amount of time despite the lack of talent. However...right now, the Cardinals are in third place, 5 games behind the Brewers, in the midst of a dull week. They're a few games over .500, and looking as okay as you can get. However, they might even subscribe to the Tampa Bay Rays sort of 'strange mediocrity'.

Case in point: their top starter hasn't pitched in the MLB since 2014, and not in a cool Lance Lynn way. Miles Mikolas started a handful of games for the 2014 Rangers, did a poor job, and wasn't re-signed, so he decided to spend a few years in Japan, pitching for the Yomiuri Giants. To say this Japanese excursion saved his career is an understatement, averaging a 2.30 ERA over 3 seasons, his best of which coming last year, with an impressive 14-8 record with 187 strikeouts.

So far in 2018, Mikolas has been channeling said 2017 year with St. Louis, with a current record of 8 and 2, with a 2.69 ERA, funnily enough his lowest since 2014, and 77 strikeouts. And in a year where Wainwright and Wacha are injured, and Carlos Martinez' walks are catching up to him, the Cardinals NEED a guy like Miles Mikolas to head up the rotation. He and rookie Jack Flaherty have been putting up the best numbers of the rotation, while Luke Weaver's beginning to catch up.

The sad part is the strength of arms like Mikolas and Flaherty can't really save the general ineptitude of the lineup. Guys like Kolten Wong and Dexter Fowler are batting below .200, and Paul DeJong's out for another 3 or 4 weeks. The guys who are leading the charge either strike out too much, like Matt Carpenter, or aren't in the lineup enough, like Harrison Bader and Jedd Gyorko. Thankfully there are people like Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna who are playing really well, but it's spread a bit too thin. There's too much that's simply 'alright', and all of that is dragging the team down to third.

The Cardinals might make an attempt to take advantage of the Cubs' recent losing skid, but I'm not sure how far they'll get, even with someone like Miles Mikolas.

Coming Tonight- Shortstop for a low-in-the-standings team that's surprisingly over .500