The St. Louis Cardinals lost a series to the San Diego Padres last week. That is embarrassing for a team supposedly chasing down a playoff berth. Oh, I'm sorry, is that too harsh for late August? The days of saying, "Well, it's only April, May or June" are over.
But let's face it, the only reason the Cardinals have a remote shot of October action is due to a severely average division and a Colorado Rockies team taking a swan dive in the second half. The Cardinals currently stand 4.5 games out of first place (thanks for stalling, Cubs) and a full six games out of the second wildcard spot.
Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, there were six different opportunities in August for the Cards to take advantage of a Cubs loss and they did not. That's pitiful.
Let's roll over a few inconvenient truths about this Cardinals team, so we can figure out what is going on.
They are falling painfully flat at home in August
The Cardinals have the best home record in the National League Central Division, but you wouldn't know it by this month's totals. with a home record of 6-9 in August. Losses against the Braves, Padres, and Rays dim the horizon of hope for this Cardinals team. If you can't beat mediocre to bad teams in your own house, what good are you in the playoffs? There are 13 home games left in 2017: how many will the Cardinals win? I am betting on half.
The bullpen isn't picking up the slack left over by the Trevor Rosenthal injury
Whether it's Sam Tuivailala coughing up late inning runs (not closer material, folks), Brett Cecil being bad, or a close game being widened late, the bullpen is losing games for this team at crucial times. Last week in a 12-4 loss to the Padres, three relievers combined to give up eight runs in only three innings. Pathetic.
Michael Wacha is slowly falling apart
In four of his last five starts, the unreliable starter has lasted five innings or less. He has allowed 18 earned runs in just 22.1 August innings. He's reaching the 130 doom inning mark of his career, where he fizzles into oblivion and needs to be rescued by a minor leaguer. The Cardinals saw this coming and did to address it at the deadline. They made zero moves to help an ailing rotation. If the rest of the rotation was thriving, Wacha's downfall would be more disguised. Instead, it's been illuminated.
*Mike Leake can spin seven innings and give up four earned runs, but I don't call that a positive movement on his reliability. Sorry. Not sorry.
Stephen Piscotty is 6-22 since his return from Memphis
That includes one extra base hit and nine strikeouts. I'd like Piscotty to get it right because he is a good kid, has encountered a tough year, and has a long term contract. But he isn't finding it right now and when September callups happen, Harrison Bader, Magneuris Sierra, or Jose Martinez should start getting more starts. Piscotty isn't Allen Craig 2.0, but he's not helping the team. Stitch up the wound. At least the Cardinals stopped hitting him in the middle of the order.
*The Jedd Gyorko injury will only make the infield defense worse, with Matt Carpenter finding more time there and Greg Garcia's bat/glove becoming exposed. Bad timing for a hamstring injury. Expect more runs to be given away.
Lost in the shuffle are Tommy Pham and Paul DeJong having breakout seasons while Kolten Wong experiences a fine resurgence. There are bright lights in this dark tunnel and those can't be forgotten. Wong has put some legitimacy behind his second base standing moving forward. DeJong may be the productive SS the Birds need at the plate and in the field. Pham may not duplicate what he has done this year, but he will make good trade bait in the offseason.
September arrives in a little over two days and this team looks nothing like a playoff team. Their bats fall silent against average pitching; the bullpen caves in easily; the rotation can't give consistent innings after Carlos Martinez, Lance Lynn and Luke Weaver pitch. Yet the Cards will continue to roll Wacha and Leake out there to be pounded every fifth day.
I'm done trying to be sunny about this team. Per Bernie Miklasz of 101.1 ESPN, they have the worst record in the National League since their eight game winning streak. They are too streaky for their own good. The Cardinals refused to take advantage of downfalls in the play of the Cubs and Rockies, and they find themselves looking at a decent climb as the final month begins.
After getting a scent of first place, the Cardinals took a nose dive and did so against the lower half of the league. They could have set themselves up for a great finish if they buried the Pirates and took care of the Padres, but they didn't.
Back in June, the Cardinals promised a busy July and had ideas of catching the Cubs. They held onto Lynn even though they will not re-sign him (according to Michael Girsch's comments at a recent Busch Stadium event), but made no significant moves to prepare this team for a run. They showed fans a great looking shiny convertible with their comments, but the car contained no engine. It went nowhere.
What does the offseason and 2018 look like? I have no clue. There are too many outfielders, not enough proven starters and a defense that probably won't improve. The Cards will finish second in the Giancarlo Stanton trade sweepstakes because if you can grab three million fans in attendance and give off the idea of competing, why overspend for a stud?
As I wrote a few weeks ago, I have no clue what this team's vision is or where their goals lie for the future. They are running to stand still. Instead of putting out a good product worth watching these final six weeks, they have instead provided fans with embarrassing results that I don't see ending anytime soon. If you intend to rebuild, don't tell fans you are chasing a division title. If you intend to chase a division title, don't stand idle while other teams make moves to improve. It's..well, kind of embarrassing.
There is no immediate help on the horizon either. There are no saviors in Memphis. With no offense to Bader, Sierra and/or Jack Flaherty, there are no legitimate producers in the immediate pipeline to flip the table over. It's not like Mike Matheny will play them over Piscotty or Randal Grichuk anyway.
With these Cardinals, what you see is what you get, and it's not that pretty at the moment.