![]() That puts pressure on the Redbirds to make up for missed opportunities over the final 68 games. And I sincerely believe that the Cardinals came up short in the first half and should have more victories in their pocket as they prepare to resume play Friday. That said, I feel compelled to include other considerations that reaffirm my position on this. There are other models – most notably the respected Clay Davenport’s third-order winning percentage – that put the Cardinals where they should be in actual wins and losses. Instead, the Cards went into the All-Star break with a 50-44 record (.532.)īased on their run differential, the Brewers should be 49-44 and 4.5 games behind the Cardinals in the standings. ![]() I say the Cardinals underachieved because they should have a 54-40 record (.574) based on run differential and other underlying factors. The baseball bosses played a significant role in the underachieving first half. It would be ridiculous to give the Cardinals’ front office a pass on this. They’ve been the result of self-inflicted mistakes caused by poor free-agent signings or neglect, and the same applies to the insufficient depth to protect a shaky rotation. McFarland and Aaron Brooks – but that’s no excuse, either. Sure, the Cardinals had some glaring bullpen weaknesses in the form of Nick Wittgren, Drew VerHagen, T.J. I want to talk about management’s role in this. Big bleeping deal.Ĭ) As for being tired … well, let’s pipe down because the other 29 MLB teams were fatigued at the break. Twenty-three MLB teams have played at least 92 games, only two fewer than St. And while it’s true that the Cardinals are one of five MLB teams tied for the most games played (94) that’s only two games more than the MLB average (92). Louis schedule was the 11th-easiest in the first half based on the winning percentage of their opponents. But the Cardinal excuse-making machine conveniently missed a few things:Ī) In terms of days missed on the IL, the Cards have endured less injury trauma than 23 teams.ī) The St. I wrote about this recently, so pardon my redundancy. I’m sure the Cardinals would push back on the view that they were underachievers over their first 94 games of the season. If the Cardinals play up to their potential and maximize their strengths, they should prevail in the NL Central. Here’s that opinion: The Cardinals underachieved in the first half, and should have been a first-place team at the All-Star break. I intentionally left out a relevant opinion because I wanted to save it for today’s follow-up analysis. In yesterday’s column, I explained why I believe the Cardinals will overtake Milwaukee and win the NL Central.
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