St. Louis Cardinals: Five story lines for the Cardinals in the weeks ahead

For some reason, consistent baseball is something to which the St. Louis Cardinals seem allergic. As weird as that sounds, it’s the simple truth.

From Yadier Molina being thrown out by a mile while trying to score on a passed ball, to Carlos Martinez failing to get a win after throwing nine innings of shutout baseball, there have been numerous head scratching moments in only forty-four games for the St. Louis Cardinals.

There have been promising moments. Matt Carpenter homered in three straight games, Mike Leake is poised to win the NL Cy Young, and the glimmer of Magneuris Sierra.

The negatives have still outweighed the positives. A stretch of dominant starting pitching during the last week couldn’t even help the Cardinals who sit at a 23-22 record. Jon Heyman, a top MLB writer, even said the St. Louis Cardinals have the best rotation in the MLB at the moment.

#STLCards rotation is easily best in MLB right now (wacha, c-mart, lynn, leake, waino). they are a bigger threat than given credit for.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 26, 2017

The inconsistent offense, shaky bullpen, and/or managerial decisions are all reasonable factors for the roller coaster start. Beginning the season 3-9 and then rattling off eight-of-nine, the Cardinals seemed ready to break out of mediocrity.

Except that didn’t happen and the St. Louis Cardinals seem to be back at square one. Dating back to last year the Cardinals have played sloppy baseball and veered away from what some people would call the ‘Cardinal Way.’

So, what is to come for the St. Louis Cardinals? Can they right the ship in the weeks ahead? Will they make changes to have a more consistent offense? Will management make changes to positively affect the bullpen? AND, will Matheny make smarter decisions as manager?

All of these questions should and will lead to many, many things about which to write. Pundits will likely be abundant in the coming weeks with articles galore either in favor of or against the St. Louis Cardinals. Cardinals Nation would be wise to consider what is to come.

Putting everything aside, therefore, let’s look at some possible Cardinals storylines in the weeks ahead.

For some reason, consistent baseball is something to which the St. Louis Cardinals seem allergic. As weird as that sounds, it’s the simple truth.

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