The St. Louis Cardinals: 4th Best in NL

Bad Cama at Busch last night. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Cards have recently proven that they are inferior to the Braves, Pirates, and Dodgers.  They have also demonstrated that management may have prematurely trusted prospects instead of using them to get a needed vet.

Since the All-Star break, the Birds on the Bat have looked awful against premier opponents, and their record shows it.  It does not matter how badly the Cubbies get beat down at Busch this weekend.  What counts is the following series versus Pittsburgh after a needed day off.  Although STL faces the Bucs three more times after next week, the standings could be totally different then.

The Cardinals should be out for blood on Tuesday after being embarrassed in western Pennsylvania during the final week of July.  But how will they do that?  Starting a tired rotation that has been mismanaged by Mike Matheny (who makes excuses) and an offense that is miles from consistant.

The Cardinals are 21-28 versus teams that are above .500.  That is hardly a recipe for a ball club that can make a run in October.  This looks more like the make-up of a team that is destined for a second one game playoff, or worse.

Of course there is the possibility that the Birdinals will return to form and prove that they were not overachieving in early 2013. Or maybe Mo has a trick in his bow-tie, and will land the missing player that many fans hoped for last month.

However, it seems like we are waiting for a flight that might not come until after 2013.  By then, the talent that was hoarded this year will have had more time to develop, and would have experienced a collapse or an early post-season defeat.

On the optimistic side, the defense is standing strong with the fewest errors in the National League, lefty Sam Freeman pitched like a beast last night, and Yadier Molina‘s return is on the horizon.  What a difference an MVP caliber star like Yadi will make, hopefully.

Go Birds!