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St Louis Cardinals: Needs for Patience and Urgency
By Paul Layton
The St. Louis Cardinals have a lot of needs for 2016, there is clearly a need for both patience and urgency.
Some call for immediate change to fix the St Louis Cardinals after the early NLDS exit. I’m not in that camp. Not only did we win 100 games, but the Cardinals were 4 games over .500 against the Pirates and Cubs (21-17). Those teams happened to hold the second and third best MLB records in the regular season of 2015.
The lesson? Playoffs surprise almost every year. The Phillies were left dumbfounded by the 2011 NLDS outcome. How about the Nationals getting stunned in the 2012 NLDS? Injuries, streaks, and the bounce of the ball make or break a series. Change just one of the unlucky barrage of soft hits or errors in the second inning of the 2015 NLDS game 2 and maybe the Cardinals go on to win the World Series.
Let’s not change too much of the winningest team in baseball because we lost three games to the Cubs in October. These things happen almost annually in all sports. Instead let’s learn, grow and improve where it makes sense. Proven winning stability trumps in this situation and change invites unforeseen risks.
Next: Matt Adams: Injury masks production