The Cardinals have responded to losing the ace of their staff by posting an MLB best 33-17 record.
The Cardinals have responded to their first 3 game losing streak of 2015 by winning 6 of their past 7 games.
The Cardinals responded to the news of their 1B Matt Adams missing the next 4 months and LF Matt Holliday missing most of the Dodgers series by taking 2 of 3 games. The same Dodgers team that is 29-20, good for 1st place in the NL West.
I have to imagine that the rest of the NL Central has moved on from head scratching into full on awe.
The Cubs are playing plus .500 ball into June for the first time in years, yet find themselves closer to 10 games out than in 1st place. The Pirates are 8-2 in their last 10 games, but still are 7 games out the NL Central lead.
Seven! There haven’t even been any June games played yet!
More good news? The Brewers haul their dumpster fire to St. Louis this week for 3 games as the Cardinals try to push towards the 20 games over .500 mark.
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The Cardinals have put themselves in a superb position.
To miss the playoffs in 2015, it’s going to take sub .500 ball the rest of the season, which given the number of games left against the Brewers and Reds in the division, seems highly unlikely.
While the Cubs/Pirates and other NL teams have to spend maximum effort grappling for the chance at October baseball, the Cardinals will have the opportunity to do everything possible to set themselves up for postseason success.
The team needs a 1B. The team needs a SP.
Yes, and they’ll probably acquire these pieces sometime in the next 2 months. But they don’t have to panic. They don’t have to negotiate with teams in a position of weakness. If a deal takes a bit longer to figure out, the Cardinals have afforded themselves that luxury.
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Friends, it’s officially June.
And the Cardinals are off to one of their best starts in their 100+ year history. All the while doing it without an outsized contribution from anyone on the team, losing their best prospect before the season and their best pitcher during it.
Enjoy.
Photo: MLB.com
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