I was wrong.
Generally (not always – but generally), I try to put a bit more thought behind my opinions on the Cardinals before I type them out and publish them here.
Why?
Not sure. Maybe all the other sites will have a massive server outage that we will avoid and everyone will be forced to look at The CD? Maybe 1 of our three readers is John Mozeliak?
Who knows.
But I can tell you that on WhatsApp threads or texts/calls, I’m probably a bit more reactionary. The Cardinals first two weeks were brutal. And I was squarely in ‘if you tell me it’s early one more time… (fill in the blank)’ camp.
Turns out while 9-10 is a below average record, it’s more than enough for the Cardinals to be right on the precipice of a playoff spot. Even more surprising, if you look at the totality of what’s unfolding in the National League so far- the Cardinals are in a pretty damn good spot.
Let’s peek at the standings:
I’ve highlighted the Cardinals main competition for the NL Wild Card coming into the season.
(I’m aware that the Cardinals are only 1.5 games back of the Cubs whereas they were 3.5 games back of the Cubs on APR 24 of 2016. If you want to believe that the Cardinals are closing the gap on the Cubs for the division race, I laud your optimism and choose to disagree.)
Giants:
- Best player injured in ATV accident
- Worst start in franchise history
- Have columnists producing spicy takes
Mets:
- Once again, injuries piling up
- Daniel Murphy is breaking their spirit
- All blast, no bloop, says New York Times
They stand at 6-13 and 8-11 respectively. They are both looking up at the Cardinals in the standings.
Pirates:
- Cornerstone player suspended 80 games for PED usage
- Aren’t sweating the small stuff
- Get the Cubs who are hungry for some payback
Dodgers:
- Having some off nights with the bullpen
- Also battling injuries
- Kenta Maeda struggling
The Cardinals big issues have been light hitting, sub-par defense and a leaky bullpen. Not exactly small things, but things that have shown signs of improving over the past week. Feel free to click any of those 12 links above. I think you’ll find that you’d take the Cardinals current maladies over any of those other teams.
More good news?
The Cardinals next five opponents have a combined 40-53 record. #stlcards
— Rodney Knuppel (@KnuppelRodney) April 24, 2017
Barring some sort of catastrophes in Washington and Chicago, the Nationals and Cubs will be in the ’17 postseason. But that leaves 4 more spots.
Colorado, Arizona, Miami, Cincinnati and Philadelphia are off to decent-enough starts where you can’t dismiss their chances, but history tells us that a quick break from the gate is just that. Sustained success would be a moderate (Arizona) to huge (Philly) surprise, while the Cardinals have a team full of players that have produced wins in the past. Not saying any of them can’t break through; just saying I like the Cardinals chances against all of them.
So…
Baseball’s worst team is coming to town. The Cardinals are close to .500. The awful start doesn’t appear to have done any long-term damage to their playoff hopes. And – all things considered – they seem to be in a pretty good spot in the NL through the first 3 weeks of the season.
Feels good to be wrong.
Photo: Eleventh Floor Provisions
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