St. Louis Cardinals: The (losing) “Cardinals Way” needs to go

Spring Training is a time when experimentation is key but losing without impact cannot be expected or tolerated for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The great St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa once opined that Spring Training win-loss records mattered not and he wasn’t wrong in this statement. That said, the St. Louis Cardinals under La Russa always found ways of rebounding from Spring Training and plugging ahead into the regular season.

Then came the regime of Mike Matheny. Matheny seems to have embodied the same La Russa mentality. This- in my opinion- is a major mistake. Let me tell you why.

First, I agree that Spring Training games are where an organization can experiment with their young guys to see just what they have in store. Likewise, Spring Training games are the places in which the expected starters get to stretch their muscles before they take on the challenge of playing nine innings almost every single day.

Those two items will inherently lead to the likelihood of lesser wins than losses but should not detract from the driving force for the regular season. Moreover, a qualified manager will work with his club to make sure that the energy level and focus remains pure and direct throughout the experimentation spring.

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This energy level and dedication was never in question under La Russa; at least not in my humble opinion. Like him or dislike him, I could never argue with his drive and passion. I cannot- in good conscience- say the same thing for Matheny.

La Russa did hold things close to the vest but would also fight vehemently for his squad and never appeared to have any trouble hitting opening day with fire and passion. Matheny, on the other hand, has yet to show me the ability to inspire his team to ignore the record of Spring Training such that they hit opening day on fire.

I feel confident in this statement about Matheny having watched the St. Louis Cardinals limp into the regular season dragging with them a losing record from Spring. I am admittedly ignoring Matheny’s first two seasons since he inherited a winning squad.

So here’s the deal then: the St. Louis Cardinals must find a way to win in Spring Training and must take that winning way into the regular season. OR… Mike Matheny needs to find ways of inspiring his team to win in spite of or ignoring the happenings of Spring.

I can easily excuse the first week of Spring Training games but, come that final week of Spring, the St. Louis Cardinals need to either win or show winning behaviors when the regulars have extended into regular playing time and the squad has undergone cuts to the minor league camp.

Next: Pros and cons of a 6-man rotation

I’m not one without hope since we just started Spring Training games this week, but if the St. Louis Cardinals are losing at the back of Spring and IF Matheny remains stoic throughout, then clearly SOMETHING needs to change.