St. Louis Cardinals record not a great predictor

It’s too early to tell whether or not the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-4 record will be a good predictor of how the team will do throughout the rest of the season. After all, nobody would have even considered that the Kentucky Wildcats or Connecticut Huskies would have played each other in Monday night’s NCAA championship game when both teams struggled to finish out the regular season.
Apr 7, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig (21) hits a one run single off of Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Trevor Bell (not pictured) during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Reds 5-3. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, the Cards own a 5-4 record but they did lose some very close games to start the season. With Michael Wacha pitching against the Cincinnati Reds, the team lost 1-0 on the road.

The Cardinals could improve in hitting this season. The Cardinals are hitting .215 this season. Worse, after leading the majors with runners in scoring position last season, the team his hitting only .181 this season. For the Cards to contend, both of the these numbers have to increase.

The power has got to start showing, too. Only three players on the roster have hit home runs. Unfortunately, the cleanup hitter is not really cleaning up at all. The 4 spot in the lineup has a whopping four hits in only 35 at-bats. Making things worse, neither Allen Craig or Jhonny Peralta are producing early this season. Between the two of them, they only have FIVE hits in 60 at-bats.

Some positive news is that Kolten Wong is really starting to show what he can do at the big league level. We saw it in the minors but it was lacking when he was promoted in August 2013.

The team has got to start scoring runs. An average of 3.2 runs per game will not cut it.

Another thing: no more three-steal games with Yadier Molina sitting behind the plate!

A month from now, things could very well be different.