St. Louis Cardinals: Five Spring Training Concerns

Mar 6, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; A detail shot of a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap and glove during a spring training game against the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; A detail shot of a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap and glove during a spring training game against the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
1 of 6
Mar 6, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny (22) walks to the dugout before a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny (22) walks to the dugout before a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals are just 7-10 in Grapefruit League play with a number of questions to be addressed ahead of Opening Day.

No, I’m not going to sit here and try and spin up some explanation for why a current six-game slide and 7-10 overall mark in Spring Training action should be reason to panic.

I mean, the Cubs and Pirates are both 6-13 this spring. Last year’s World Series champion Kansas City Royals are 10-13.

There are far too many factors in play to make any sort of meaningful judgement about a club based on wins and losses in Spring Training.

With that said, there are some questions for the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals, and the answers to those questions haven’t been all that positive.

Again, it should be reiterated that this is Spring Training we are talking about. Anything that has happened so far should be taken with a grain of salt. There’s no way of telling how Spring Training issues/performances will carry over to the regular season.

With that said, I’m going to go ahead and air my list of five concerns for 2016, starting (of course) with the shortstop situation.

Next: Shortstop.

Schedule