Musings from an Optimistic Redbird Fan – 2013

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Spring – The St. Louis Cardinals have played 12 games and are currently 7-5. During that time, Shane Robinson is the leading hitter (with at least 10 at bats) with a .500 batting average. Others that have been hot this spring are: Allen Craig .467, Pete Kozma .429, Matt Adams .400, Daniel Descalso .360 and Yadier Molina .333. Those that have not yet gotten into an offensive groove are: Rob Johnson .071, Ryan Jackson .143, Ty Wigginton .154, Ronnie Cedeneo .167. If you’re curious, spring sensation Oscar Tavares is hitting .300 and leads the team with 9 runs batted in.

Who Plays Shortstop? – It seems like for the past few springs, the Cards have been hit with an unforeseen or unexpected health issue with one of their key players. This year it was Chris Carpenter and Raphael Furcal. As terrible as it is that Carp will miss the season, we have the pitching depth to deal with it. Not so at shortstop; and we may ultimately feel the sting of that throughout the season. And what’s frustrating is the reasoning as to why Furcal didn’t have surgery last year. I think it may be time for the Redbirds to re-evaluate their medical crew or at least go to different doctors for that “second” opinion. So, now that we know for sure Furcal is out, my guess is that Kozma will get the initial nod at shortstop if he continues to do well in spring. Other possibilities are Descalso, Cedeneo and Jackson; we should know in the coming weeks.

Cards sign Craig to extension – The Cardinals have signed Craig to a five year contract worth $31 million over 5 years. On the final year of his contract in 2017, he will get $11 million and an option for $13 million in 2018. Craig is one of the best hitters, clutch and otherwise, in the major leagues. Let’s hope they also take care of business with Adam Wainwright.

Thanks for reading.