Grading the St. Louis Cardinals 3-3 start..

Opening week of the 2015 season has come and gone and many fans are concerned with our hometown baseball team. That’s right folks, the St. Louis Cardinals are in 3rd place after only 6 games. Sound the alarm, the Chicago Cubs at 4-2 are currently in 1st place in the NL Central and the world is over as we know it.

In all due seriousness, it is a 162 game season, so that is where I will use practical judgment, grading the St. Louis Cardinals 3-3 start. Adam Wainwright got his fourth career Opening day start for the Redbirds and needless to say, he wasnt at his best.

That however, is not all on him as he had some shaky defense behind him at times from the likes of Kolten Wong, who committed multiple errors and Jason Heyward, the right field defensive stallwart who barely misplayed a ball that could have otherwise been a spectacular catch.

To coincide with that, the offense didn’t bail Wainwright out when opportunities presented themselves, collectively going 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position, while stranding 12 runners.

Wong is a great competitor and is growing before our very eyes, taking initiative and responsibility for the loss which shows great signs of maturity. “I’m going to take the blame on this loss because it’s probably my loss,” Wong said afterward. “I take pride in defense. I think it’s something that has to bring me down to help me realize that I still need to continue to work.”

Looking at the numbers, the Cardinals have scored 22 runs in 6 games thus far which is close to 4 runs per game, amongst the fewest in the big leagues after one week.

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On the other hand, they have only given up 18 runs as a team which ranks tied for second in all of baseball which is where most expect them to be with a starting rotation and bullpen as good as theirs.

In fact, just last season the St. Louis Cardinals were seventh in runs allowed in the Majors and 22nd in runs scored, yet finished tied for 5th with a 90-72 record en route to a trip to the NLCS and within 3 games of their fifth World Series appearance in 11 years.

That alone is impressive and in due time, I expect the club’s batting with runners in scoring position to execute better, maybe not to the record-setting performance of the 2013 team but be much-improved, with the the defense fielding more efficiently and the pitching being amongst the best in MLB over the remaining 156 games. Thanks for reading!

Apr 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) and St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (7) celebrate after scoring on a 2 run double by St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta (not pictured) against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

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