Good morning, Viva El Birdos!
This is one of those days where I have time to write something for my Saturday post but I’m struggling with what to write.
There are several things I’m interested in. Sem Robberse’s season in AAA. Some real scouting on Tink Hence. Digging deeper into the rotation, which feels like it might be heading in a frightening direction. Alec Burleson.
Those are all Wednesday topics. Research topics. Multi-day, multi-hour commitments.
I don’t have that kind of time today. I have a few moments before heading to lunch. Tomorrow, I have to help host a conference up in St. Louis; there’s some prep work I have to do for that soon. I have meetings this afternoon. I’m busy but not busy enough to flake out and give you all an open thread. I just can’t give you much in terms of real content.
So, what do I write about?
Maybe the most interesting thing I can give you is a rundown of my current attitude toward the Cardinals.
They just won two of three on the road against the Angels. The Angels are pretty terrible, so that’s not a very impressive feat. Except, for this Cardinals team, it kind of was. After a lengthy stretch of stumbling and bumbling, it feels noteworthy that this team went out to LA, got their offense going a little, and won a few games.
While there, we got to see the Cardinals play the kind of games that we expected from them all season. Entering the season, most of us had pretty strong trust in the offense. This team should hit. It still should hit. We had some legitimate questions about the rotation. This team was, by design, oriented around getting innings from the rotation but not much more. Put it together, and we all imagined a fair share of 10-5 or 7-6 wins from the 2024 Cardinals. And more than a few 7-2 losses. That’s what we saw.
The Angels series was not impressive but it was normal. Normal, for this team, is a welcome change! “As expected” would be refreshing considering how strange things have been so far. And it could make a difference going forward.
Normal 2024 Cardinals baseball for the next four and a half months might be enough to help this club climb back to .500. I’m still not willing to talk playoffs, but if the team is at .500 by, say, the All-Star break, there is always some hope that something unexpected and good could happen late in the season.
Plus, there’s the trade deadline. This team has some unspent off-season capital and could make an acquisition or two to push .500 into a Wild Card appearance. They just have to get there first and that’s not easy task.
Maybe you can feel what I mean about my current attitude toward the Cardinals.
Are the Cardinals good?
Are they bad?
Are they neither?
Am I excited to watch? Should I just give up?
Right now, I’m just holding my breath. I’m waiting to see which way this falls. Because the next few weeks might decide this team’s future and the Angels series has me more optimistic than I’ve been.
It’s foolish, I know. Winning two of three games in pretty ugly fashion against one of the worst teams in baseball shouldn’t inspire any confidence. But it has.
Why? The answer should be obvious, shouldn’t it?
I want the Cardinals to win. I want to write about how good they are. I want to talk about the good news. I want to watch a team that wins. I want to make the playoffs. I want to find success in the playoffs.
And even though I haven’t predicted any of those things to happen with this roster, I still want it. I’ll still take it. I can be realistic and somewhat subjective. And I can always hope I’m wrong.
Baseball is supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be painful. When even a glimmer of fun is out there, I’ll reach out for it.
So, I’m holding my breath. Afraid to get overly critical. Afraid to get overly optimistic. Waiting for the Cardinals to make it clear which way this thing is going to go.
And we should find out pretty soon.
Let’s talk schedule.
The Cardinals have already played one game since I started writing this. Friday night against the Red Sox. They either won or lost. You all, me too, are either waking up with a little bit more optimism or a little bit more pessimism.
Either way, there are still two games remaining in this series. Two more games that can be wins or losses. They need the wins.
After the Sox, the NL East theme continues with the Baltimore Orioles. Their birds are much better than our birds. The Orioles are 27-14 and playing good baseball. At least the Cardinals get them at home.
Then the Cubs come in for a vital three-game set before the club leaves town again on a challenging road trip.
That makes this homestand critical. 9 home games. 3 against a division foe. 3 against one of the better teams in the game. 3 against a .500 club.
If the Cardinals somehow manage to go 6-3 during the homestand – that’s taking two series and losing the other – the Cardinals would be 24-28 heading into a long road trip against the Reds, Phillies, and Houston.
That’s still not great. That’s still pretty bad. But it is better. There’s no quick turnaround here, but a week of good baseball would put them in a position to more manageably climb back toward expectations. The Cardinals would only have to play 4 games over .500 for their next 44 games to be at .500 at the All-Star break.
That’s doable. 24-20 is just a .545 winning percentage. Hardly exceptional.
But it starts with winning at home. And it probably needs to start now or the path will only get harder for them.
So, I hold my breath. How long can I do it? Not much longer!
The 2024 Cardinals can’t save their season over the next few weeks. They could tank it completely, though. Let’s hope it’s the former.
Happy Saturday, Viva El Birdos. Go Cardinals.
