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St. Louis Cardinals: The Good, Bad and Ugly from Pittsburgh
By Landon Clapp
The Good: The “Super Bullpen” Looks Strong
With Michael Wacha and Mike Leake both failing to make it out of the 5th inning, the Cardinal bullpen got extensive use this series.
Even without the services of Jordan Walden, the unit was good for 11 2/3 innings against the Buccos. In allowing just three earned runs, the group has posted a 15/7 K/BB ratio.
The Pirates hit just .175 against the Cardinal pen, and that includes the fact that Seth Maness gave up five base hits. Take those away, and the BAA drops to .057.
Matt Bowman, Jonathan Broxton, Seung-Hwan Oh, Trevor Rosenthal, and Kevin Siegrist combined to strike out 14 without allowing a run.
With that group of five, the Cardinals look to be in good shape protecting leads from the sixth inning on. That alone is reason for optimism in this 2016 season.
You have to figure that the starters are going to be much better their second time out. The offense might be mediocre to subpar, but their RISP and power numbers are going to get better than they were in Pittsburgh.
If not, Bowman gives you a lot of confidence in middle innings situations after his performance last night.
It’s going to be “run prevention or die” all season long. The Cards have the arms down in the pen to get that done, so long as they get SOMETHING from starting pitching as well as the bats.
Next: The Bad: Thunder-less Bats