20 Questions About The Cardinals Answered

April 22, 2014; New York, NY, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (7) catches a fly ball at the wall from the bat of New York Mets left fielder Chris Young (not pictured) in the 5th inning at Citi Field. Image Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

For today’s post I thought I would tackle a lot of the questions that Cardinal fans are asking themselves. For a team as good as this team is and should be there do seem to be a lot of question marks so far. Let’s dive in.

Where is the Cardinal’s offense these days?
Aiding with the search for a missing airplane near Malaysia.

Will any of the bullpen’s main relievers (Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist) survive the season if their current workloads continue?
No, and someone’s arm may fall off before July if things do not change.

Is it just me or is the manager really in love with the double switch?
It is not just you. I happen to like Mike Matheny, and think he is growing as a manager, but sometimes he gets a little too caught up in the chess match of baseball. It is like he just can’t stand to not use it.

You say that things are still early, so when it is time to freak out over some of the slow starts by some of the Cardinal players?
You are fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. Show some self-respect. We do not “freak out.” Having said that, when we get to 100 at bats it is time to begin to get concerned.

What if someone told you that Yadier Molina or Adam Wainwright suffered a major injury and is out for the rest of the year?
Then feel free to freak out.

Is it too soon to start talking about this being the year for Adam Wainwright to win the Cy Young?
Yes, it is April for crying out loud. Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. He deserves to win at least one, but let’s at least wait until we get past the All-Star break before we start talking awards.

Speaking of Wainwright, I know he only has twelve at bats, but he is batting .417, when does Matheny use him as a pinch hitter?
Let’s not get carried away, that would be crazy. What is that you say, Daniel Descalso and Shane Robinson have combined for three hits in their first thirty-six at bats? Maybe he should get a shot.

Wasn’t Jhonny Peralta supposed to bring solid offense to the shortstop position?
Yes, and no doubt he will eventually. For the moment, try not to spend too much time longing for Pete Kozma’s .217 batting average from last year.

How much does this team need Jason Motte back and healthy?
On a scale of 1 to 10 around 12.4.

Shelby Miller has issued the third most walks in all of baseball, could this be contributing to his sluggish start?
Without walks Miller’s season looks totally different right now. This makes me hopeful that there is something that can be solved as the season goes along for him.

By most defensive metrics the Cardinals are one of the five worst defensive teams in baseball, wasn’t the defense supposed to be better this year?
Yes it was. Of course we are all supposed to be driving flying cars now too.

Trevor Rosenthal has six saves in six save opportunities, why is everyone worried about him?
Rosenthal’s incredible velocity has dropped slightly and in 10.1 innings of work he has allowed 13 baserunners. If you just have to worry about someone Rosey would be a good choice.

Is there a reason to have relievers on the roster that the manager is unwilling to use?
No. The team would be better off just loading up the bench with bats and trying to score ten runs a game.

What happened to Kolten Wong? Wasn’t he on this team?
Wong is still on this team, but he is a rookie and he is fighting through typical rookie issues. He is batting .154 against lefties, and .158 away from Busch Stadium. I remain highly optimistic about Wong, but there will be growing pains.

I saw that Albert Pujols just hit his five hundredth home run. This was a little bittersweet for me as a Cards fan, how did you feel?
Cardinals fans had a front row seat for the best years of one of the best players in the recent history of baseball. He left, and we are better off using that money for Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Allen Craig. Be happy for Albert people.

Peter Bourjos is batting .190 and seems to be losing at bats to Jon Jay, was that trade a bust?
Again its April, nothing is a bust yet, besides David Freese is batting .136 in Anaheim. Things could be worse.

What is going on with Matt Carpenter?
For one thing he is striking out a lot more frequently than he did in 2013. At his current rate Carpenter will come close to doubling his 98 strikeouts from last year. What is really troubling to me is that the statistics (z-swing%) show that he is swinging at fewer strikes. Carpenter has a good eye at the plate so this is all a little puzzling.

Why is this team only consistent at scoring runs for Lance Lynn?
There are a number of different reasons that have been proposed, but I personally lean toward his being the one pitcher that is blackmailing just about every hitter.

Recently Matt Holliday, much maligned for his defense over the last few years, caught a home run ball headed over the fence, what does this mean?
It is a sign of the Apocalypse. It is the fourth bowl, or maybe it is the sixth seal in the book of Revelation, look it up.

Should we be concerned about Milwaukee running away with the division while the Cardinals sort  out their issues?
No, unless they start earning credit for sausage races, in that case all bets are off. The Clydesdales are cool and all, but there is no way St. Louis can compete with sausage races.