St. Louis Cardinals: Looking at the rest of May

Tito Rivera-Bosques

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

After a near-.500 month of April, the St. Louis Cardinals look to build off their momentum and turn May into a winning month. After going 1-2 in the first series, what can we expect moving forward?

If the month of May is anything like April for the St. Louis Cardinals, then you might want to grab a seat now and hold on. The Cardinals were able to climb out of the season-beginning funk and finish the month of April with a .500 record. It was only a matter of time before the Cardinals picked up the pace, right?

Well after stumbling to a 3-9 record after the first twelve games, the Cardinals managed to reverse the course and go 9-3 over the next twelve. The St. Louis Cardinals will be looking to carry that momentum into May, but will face some stiff competition in the process.

Before jumping into May, it might behoove us to look at April. Here at Redbird Rants we covered things from the April MVP, to complaints about the weather, to complaints about and then praise of Kolten Wong, to suggestions of trading Jedd Gyorko, to comparing Gyorko to Aaron Judge. It was a busy month.

Another thing to consider for May: will it bring weather similar to that of April? Will the St. Louis Cardinals play a full month or will the month be abbreviated by rain? Will the rain affect the starting rotation or help in the face of injuries?

Some other items to consider will be call-ups. Who will ride the shuttle up from Memphis first? Will they come because of need or because of performance? Will these shuttle-jumps come in May or will they be forced to wait until later?

Here is what the schedule for May looks like:

The St. Louis Cardinals face the Brewers, Cubs, Red Sox, Rockies, Dodgers, Giants, Braves, and Marlins all in the month of May. Four of the teams this month have a winning record, while the others are either at .500 or worse. Of the teams listed, only the Cubs and the surprising Rockies are leading their respective divisions.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers: May 1-4 (Home)

The Cardinals and Brewers split the first two games of the series. The Cardinals should have actually won both games if it weren’t for bullpen issues. However, the Cardinals had a chance to win the series on Thursday night with Adam Wainwright on the mound. His opponent was Chase Anderson.

Game three of the series was postponed due to rain and Game four looked to potentially suffer the same fate. The weather cooperated and fans finally saw the Cardinals play. No one in Cardinals Nation could manage forty-eight hours without St. Louis Cardinals baseball.

I know this is a couple days late, but I did expect the Cardinals to win and finish this series with a 2-1 record. The Cardinals were playing with a ton of momentum, especially from players like Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko. The outcome was not as anyone wanted.

Unfortunately, the St. Louis Cardinals were not able to support Waino (and neither did he himself either). Add the ineptitude at the plate with Waino’s inconsistency and toss in a massive helping of injuries to Stephen Piscotty and Dexter Fowler and you have yourself the loss that was on Thursday night.

Boo, hiss!

Cardinals May Record: 2-2

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves: May 5-7 (Away)

The Cardinals make their first trip to Atlanta’s new stadium, Sun Trust Park, for the first weekend series in May. This should be a good opportunity for a team like the Cardinals to get a sweep and rack up some wins in a row. The starting pitching match ups lend well to the Cardinals chances too.

Lance Lynn vs. Mike Foltynewicz

Mike Leake vs. Julio Tehran

Michael Wacha vs. R. A. Dickey

All three Cardinals pitchers are coming off great Aprils, especially Mike Leave who I named the team’s MVP in April. if they can continue the success from April, there is no excuse for the Cardinals not to get the three game sweep in Atlanta. However, there is on thing to look for in this series.

Aledmys Diaz has been struggling at the plate. After a hot start, Diaz has shown the beginnings of what looks like a possible Sophomore Slump. Is it time to move him down the order and replace with red hot Kolten Wong? Now that a month of games have been played, you make the move. Come on 22.

Some other questions that are now being faced by the St. Louis Cardinals will be whether the injuries to Piscotty and Fowler will affect the Cards’ abilities to sweep this series. Will the birds on the bat be able to call-up reinforcements strong enough to hold off the injuries? Or is it simpler than that with those already on the squad?

Regardless of currently unanswered questions, I think the Cardinals sweep the three games against the Braves.

Cardinals May Record: 5-2

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins: May 8-10 (Away)

The Cardinals continue their Southeast trip and head down to Miami for three games against the Marlins. I like the pitching matchups in favor of the Cardinals, but the Marlins are playing some decent baseball. Anchored by Giancarlo Stanton, the Marlins are putting up runs with the likes of Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.

Carlos Martinez vs. Adam Conley

Adam Wainwright vs. Dan Straily

Lance Lynn vs. Tom Koehler

If the Cardinals want to have a successful series against the Marlins, pitching has to be on point. a team like the Marlins can score many runs in a short amount of time. There is one thing I’m looking forward to in this series: the key matchup of Martinez vs. Stanton. Power arm vs. Power bat=exciting stuff.

Another thing to look for is the Cardinals offense. Each Marlins starter has an ERA above four. So there is a chance the Cardinals could score a lot of runs to help their pitchers out. The closer by committee approach has peaked my interest enough to where it could be a factor in this series.

One final thing is that Wainwright will need to be right if he hopes to right his ship in this series. I think the Cardinals will win two of the three and that Waino’s start will be the one game that suffers the loss. I hope I’m wrong but the way things are going on both sides seem to indicate to me that this is a likely outcome.

Cardinals May Record: 7-3

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs (Home)

Here is where the Cardinals start to roll the dice. You don’t expect a series in May to be that big of a factor, but this one against the Cubs is extremely important. Put aside what I have predicted the Cardinals to do, the fact remains that they sit a game and a half back against the Cubs. These are the series you have to win.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the pitching matchups:

Mike Leake vs. Brett Anderson

Michael Wacha vs. Jon Lester

Carlos Martinez vs. Jake Arrieta

Boy, these two teams match up well. With the way Leake has been pitching this year, you can put a safe bet that the Cardinals can/will take the first game. The next two games I’m not so sure about. Wacha has had some struggle lately with command, but so has Lester.

Both Lester and Wacha are capable of having a big game, but some one has to lose. Game two will likely come down to a bullpen battle. At this moment, I have more faith in the Cubs bullpen than I do the Cardinals. Hopefully, I am wrong.

Game three of the series is going to have every bit of a playoff feel to it in May. The Cubs best pitcher versus the Cardinals best pitcher. Unfortunately, Arrieta has dominated the Cardinals, most notably Matt Carpenter. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. If Martinez can have the same game as Opening Day, then I give the Cards a chance.

One thing to look for in this series is how the pitching staff handles Kris Bryant. Remember that to begin the season, Kris Bryant went 0-13 with 6 strike outs against the Cardinals. I’m not expecting that to be the case this time, but what a story it would be if the Cardinals continued to shut him down. If they can, the Cardinals might pull two games out of this series.

Another thing to keep an eye on will be whether or not Piscotty or Fowler (or anyone else by this point) will be on the disabled list or returning from it. Should Piscotty or Fowler land on the DL due to their removals from Thursday night’s game, then this series could be the first time that they can return. Will this play a factor?

Unfortunately, I think the Cubs will find a way to sneak two games out.

Cardinals May Record: 8-5

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox: May 16 &17 (Home)

Boston comes into town right after the Cubs for two games. The other two will be played in Boston on August 15 and 16. While this series might not be as critical as the Cubs, it could serve as a measuring stick against one of the better teams in the American League.

Currently Boston sits in third place in the East Division, behind New York and Baltimore. Their lineup is as good as any in the American League, although some have suggested that the absence of David Ortiz hurts them a bit. In my eyes, the Red Sox are a dangerous team and if the Cardinals are not careful, they could find themselves in the midst of a losing streak of three or more games.

Pitching will be the key against the Red Sox. Given how many good hitters their lineup possess, starting pitching will be very important leading up to the 7th, 8th and 9th, inning. On the flip side, Boston has several question marks in the starting rotation. So much so that there isn’t a projected starter even listed for the first of the two games.

So the good news for the Cardinals is that they will miss Chris Sale and Rick Porcello‘s turn through the rotation. This will open up the opportunity for the Cardinals to pick up some wins, potentially much needed wins.

Adam Wainwright vs. Unknown

Lance Lynn vs. Eduardo Rodriguez

It’s possible to see the Cardinals taking both of these games. Rodriguez is not a stud on the mound, but is capable. However, I am not going to bet against Lynn on that night. Instead I’ll bet on the bullpen losing a lead for Wainwright in the 8th inning and lead to a loss. Even without David Ortiz, the Boston lineup is really good.

Have you seen Andrew Benintendi play? He is a name to watch out for as he is currently slashing .305/.364/.429.

Cardinals May Record: 9-6

St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco: May 19-21 (Home)

Fortunately for the Cardinals, the Giants just don’t seem to have it this year. They sit last in their division. The starting rotation is leaning heavily on Johnny Cueto and an aged Matt Cain. The lineup is also aging as well. Oh yeah, that Madison Bumgarner guy? Out with an injury.

Seems like nothing is going right for the Giants at this time. However, that doesn’t mean they wont show up to play. I don’t know about you, but I feel like every time the Cardinals and Giants play, we lose the series. Maybe it’s the playoff exits, but I just feel like they have our number.

If the Cardinals follow my projected path of wins and losses, my guess is that they will still feel pretty good coming into the series against the Giants. If both teams schedules pan out, the Cardinals will avoid a game against Cueto. Instead they are projected to face Matt Moore in the first game, Jeff Samardzija in the second, and Matt Cain in the third game.

Both Moore and Samardzija have struggled out the gate this year and could be ripe for the picking. Cain has overcome injuries from last year to have a rather impressive beginning to 2017. If the Giants somehow manage to climb out of their early hole in the division, my bet is that Matt Cain is dominating like he did a couple of years ago.

Mike Leake vs. Matt Moore

Michael Wacha vs. Jeff Samardzija

Carlos Martinez vs. Matt Cain

One thing to watch for is the two games against the left-handed pitchers. Why? Because the next opponent the Cardinals face has a certain left-hander who is really good. I only say this because it will be important to see the at-bats they take. Moore and Cain are certainly beatable and Samardzija does not scare me either.

Yet, I still won’t pick the Cardinals to sweep. Those dang Giants will continue to haunt.

Cardinals May Record: 11-7

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: May 23-25 (in LA), 29-31 (in STL)

Remember that certain left-hander I mentioned a second ago? Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to pitch against the Cardinals twice in the two series. I know the Cardinals have had great success in the post season against Kershaw, but I’m not buying that this year. Kershaw looks as good as ever and I don’t expect the Cardinals to receive any favors.

But what about the other games? Unfortunately, the Dodgers have been tinkering with their rotation enough to screw up some projections. The rest of the Dodgers rotation is as followed: Julio Urias, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, and Brandon McCarthy. The Dodgers lost Hyun Jin Ryu to injury recently as well.

Maeda has regressed somewhat and is having an okay year. McCarthy is having a pretty good year so far and has been a nice addition for the Dodgers. Now that Julio Urias is back in the rotation, it gives the Dodgers three left-handed pitchers in five games. So again, I point to handling left-handed pitching for the Cardinals.

How does it play out for the two teams? Until we get further into May, we won’t know the exact match-ups. As it stands now, it looks like Kershaw and Lynn will do battle twice in the span of a week. Now that’s good baseball.

If I had to make a guess, I’m saying the teams split the six games they play each this month.

Cardinals May Record: 14-10

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Colorado Rockies: May 26-28 (Away)

Sandwiched between the two Dodgers series are the Rockies, who sit atop the NL West Division. One of the most surprising teams in baseball has been able to stay hot and I’m sure will look to continue it success late into May. That is if the Cardinals have anything to say about it.