St. Louis Cardinals: Opening Day Game Grades

Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is greeted by first baseman Matt Holliday (7) after Molina scored a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is greeted by first baseman Matt Holliday (7) after Molina scored a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is greeted by first baseman Matt Holliday (7) after Molina scored a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is greeted by first baseman Matt Holliday (7) after Molina scored a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Opening Day was a struggle for the St. Louis Cardinals, as they were outmatched in just about every way by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was some kind of distraught. After all, it was opening day, the St. Louis Cardinals were opening in Pittsburgh, and I had to referee intramural flag football games all day…

I followed along as close as I could on twitter while the game was live. Thanks to all the crazy space-age technology we have in 2016 (MLB.TV), I watched the entire game last night.

While most of what I read on twitter were overreactions (as is pretty much always the case on opening day) there were definitely some troubling themes popping up that have to be corrected if this team expects to be successful this year.

Since we are just .006% of the way through the 162-game regular season schedule, I think that there is plenty of time for improvement.

Cardinal fans that are in a panicked frenzy, I understand and feel some of those same concerns.

Just understand that things can shift quickly in baseball. After all, the Cardinals could win the next two and take the series in Pittsburgh. That twitter panic from yesterday would look pretty silly in that scenario.

Anyhow, I’m going to provide some quick grades for yesterday’s performance on a standard A,B,C,D,F scale.

Let’s talk offense.

Next: Offensive woes...