St. Louis Cardinals: Two Month Review

After tonight, the St. Louis Cardinals will have played two months worth of baseball. What have we learned about this team so far?

In two months time, we have learned a lot about this St. Louis Cardinals’ team. Many would tell you that this is exactly what they expected – an average team that shows flashes of being really good but not great. However, I want to explore what we know about this team so far.

Surprisingly Potent but Inconsistent Offense

If you would have told me on April 3 that the Cardinals would be sitting in the top ten in the MLB in all three slash categories (AVG, OBP, SLG), I would have gladly taken it. Especially considering they are in the top five in OBP and SLG.

Unfortunately, this has been inconsistent. More often than not, we see the Cardinals score six runs plus in their victories. However, it is just as common to see the team score 1-3 runs in their losses.

While the offense has been largely inconsistent, there have been some pleasant surprises. Matt Adams is sporting a 147 wRC+ with 15 extra base-hits (6 Homers and 9 Doubles), Aledmys Diaz has surpassed all expectations (even mine) with a fantastic slash of .328/.361/.539 with 23 extra base-hits (7 Homers, 15 Doubles, 1 Triple).

However, Randal Grichuk is one of the players I expected to break out this season and to this day Grichuk is hitting .225 with a 91 wRC+ despite his 10 extra base-hits (7 Homers, 8 Doubles, 2 Triples). While Grichuk is having a bit of bad luck with his BABIP, this performance needs to get better.

Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday are rounding into their normal form and could be cogs in helping the team become more consistent offensively. With the return of Jhonny Peralta and the potential arrival of Tommy Pham things could get even better.

However, it won’t change the need for the offense to be more consistent to challenge for a playoff spot this year.

Next: Rotation Not Immune to Inconsistencies