St. Louis Cardinals: Memphis Provides Pressure For Success

Thank you, Atlanta, for allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to find their winning ways.  Having now opened the season 3-3, or .500 ball, the Cardinals may have found what it takes to put together a win with this team, but could the real pressure come from Memphis?

A volcano erupts when enough pressure is applied below the surface to heat the molten lava enough for it to push through the volcano’s opening.  While the beginning of the season saw lackluster performance from the St. Louis Cardinals in the first three games, Memphis started their season with good-to-great performances.

Could we attribute some of the Cardinals recent success (small sample theatre) to the pressure from below the surface?  Could Memphis’ stellar starts be attributable to the big birds’ recent performance?  Do you think the powers-that-be are taking note of the performers NOT appearing with the word “Cardinals” across their chest?

If you aren’t aware of what I am alluding to, Memphis started its season this past Thursday.  Deck McGuire submitted a strong showing.  He was followed by J.C. Sulbaran and then Jeremy Hefner.  These three starting pitchers worked 15.1 innings in their starts and amassed a combined 1.79 ERA.

Looking at the Cardinals’ first three starters- Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, and Mike Leake– who worked 14.2 innings in their first three starts and amassed a combined 7.04 ERA.  Granted this comparison does not take into account the opponents- Colorado Spring Sky Sox against Memphis versus Pittsburgh Pirates against St. Louis- yet the comparison is still strong.

After these first three games, did the Cardinals start feeling the pressure from Memphis?  Oh, one more thing before moving on, the Memphis bullpen following Sunday’s day game, had not surrendered a run in three consecutive games.  Yes, St. Louis’ pen seems strong too but yet another example of the below-the-surface pressure.

Looking at the offense, the first three games of the Cardinals season saw a great deal of frustration.  For a recap of my own frustration, I recommend that you jump over and read my bored article.

During the first three games of the Memphis season, players like Jonathan Rodriquez and Mike Ohlman were hitting home runs.  Others like Jacob Wilson, Nick Martini, Anthony Garcia, Alex Mejia, Matthew Williams, and Carlos Peguero were dinging doubles.

All of this while the Cardinals had Matt Carpenter sitting with a .091 batting average and Matt Holliday sitting with a .100 batting average.  Was the pressure felt?

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Fast-forward to the Atlanta series- albeit against a team on the ropes- and St. Louis seemed to find its swagger.  Right?  In the series players showed up, pitching performed, and, most importantly, the bats came alive.  After scoring only seven runs in the first three games, the Cardinals rebounded by plating a total of 31 runs in the Atlanta series.  31 runs!!

All-in-all, the Cardinals have plated (if I’m doing the math correctly) 38 runs on the season through six games.  The Memphis Redbirds- the below-the-surface pressure- have scored 13 runs through four games.  Like the Cardinals, the Memphis Redbirds have split the season thus far and are sitting at .500 baseball (2-2 on the young season).

While it is likely a stretch to imagine that, at this point, the performance of the baby birds (which always sounds derogative to me) had any influence on the performance of the St. Louis Cardinals, I find myself compelled with the idea.  Quite honestly too, the more that I think about it, the more I find myself believing that it is possible.

Next: Takeaways From Atlanta Series

All conjecture aside, whether the Memphis Redbirds influenced or failed to influence the Cardinals performance, it is great to see both clubs win.  Let’s hope for more of this in the future and, if the pressure is true, then let us all hope the pressure remains such that the Cardinals continue to erupt!