Ask a Cardinals fan what they thought about this past weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds and you’re going to find out about their personality real quick.
If they start off with ‘2 of 3 in a series on the road is always a good thing’ or ‘damn did Wacha and Martinez look good’ then you’re probably dealing with a positive person.
You more negative friends might already be warming up the Matheny quips.
The Cardinals are 3-2 on the young season without the benefit of playing in front of a home crowd. They’ve won two games in a row against a team that started out the season 4-0. But there have also been multiple moments to take pause.
Let’s examine.
The Good:
+ Wacha was dealing on Saturday. If you want to sign me up for 162 Wacha versus Cueto games where innings take about 5 minutes, I think I’d be on board. 6 1/3 innings in 76 pitches! Pretty much a perfect first start.
+ Carlos Martinez has electric stuff. Getting through 6 innings with 8 strikeouts and 2 ER? This is a 5th starter with top of the rotation potential. Sick.
+ Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta are banging home runners when they get the chance. They have 5 and 4 RBIs respectively and are both over .300 for the season.
+ The Cardinals have been behind in all but 1 of their games, but have won 3 of 5. Having the ability to come back is a good thing to develop a knack for early in the year.
The Not So Good:
– Randy Choate. He’s been brought in twice and failed to get the left handed hitter out twice. The Cardinals are going to have to start searching for another LOOGY if Choate can’t start shutting the door on his opportunities.
– Yadi doesn’t look right. He’s been ran on 4 times with none caught. He’s 3/17 at the plate with 6 strikeouts. He’s got one of the best eyes in baseball, but he’s been fooled badly more times by pitches in one week than I can remember in a month. I can’t put my figure on it exactly – maybe he’s just off to a slow start – but he’s not looking part of the all-world player we all know he is.
– Most all of Mike Matheny’s moves this season have made sense on some level (like having LH Choate face LH Votto instead of keeping Maness in to walk Votto, load the bases and face Todd Frazier), but at least a few have kind of blown up (like Choate walking Votto anyway, then having to bring in another arm to try and escape the inning, but Matt Belisle giving up the hit).
Needless to say, people are already edgy…
theres a commercial running on local stl tv where mike matheny gets beat by an 8 yr old in chess
it couldnt be much more accurate than that
— marc goone 🍅 (@marcgoone) April 12, 2015
It’s a long season, friends.
The Cardinals took a draw and then won a series on the road, both in the division. The rotation just completed their first full turn. And all of the games have been damn entertaining (sans that 2nd Cubs game).
Everything is OK. The Cardinals are good.
Yes, there are some areas to keep an eye on. But let’s wait until after the home opener to freak out.
Photo: KSDK
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