St. Louis Cardinals: In June, Opportunity Looms for Cards

After a winning three of four from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the schedule over the next nine games present the St. Louis Cardinals an excellent opportunity.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been presented an opportunity after winning three of four in a dramatic series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The next nine games are against the cellar dwellers of the National League, Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and the San Diego Padres.

In my opinion, the next nine games cannot be overstated in the chase for the  Wild Card or even the NL-Central.  The Cardinal’s schedule will not present another opportunity like this for the rest of the season.

After meeting the Padres on June 11-13, the Cardinals will face in succession over the next 19 games, the Cubs, Phillies, Brewers, Indians, Braves, and Diamondbacks.  All are considered division contenders or at least Wild Card contenders.

The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t been able to take advantage of schedule opportunities during the first two months of the season.  After winning five in a row vs the White Sox and Cubs to start the month of May, the Cardinals proceeded to lose 5 of their next 8.  This included 3 of 4 against the struggling Chicago White Sox and 2 of 4 against the Nationals League West cellar dweller San Diego Padres.

During the rest of the month of May, Cards only managed to go 7-7, although against stiffer competition.  Nevertheless, the  stretch against the White Sox and Padres, seem to set a tone for the rest of the month and demonstrated the inconsistency thus far of the Cardinals for the 2018 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ often anemic offense, the struggles of the bullpen, and the DL list have been the story of 2018.  However, hope looms after the weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Carlos Martinez and Yadier Molina are expected to return to the Cardinals lineup during the upcoming  series against the Miami Marlins.  Molina’s return should give the Cardinals a boost offensively and defensively, as well in the clubhouse.  Martinez’s return to the rotation should booster an already strong rotation.

The resurgence of Matt Carpenter and the dramatic improvement of Yairo Munoz at the plate, gives the Cardinals offense a lift going into the rest of June.  Add in Harrison Bader‘s all round play and evidence that Dexter Fowler is coming out of a two month slump, also adds optimism heading into the next nine games.

Marcell Ozuna‘s expected power contribution to the offense has shown up in the last seven  games.  Ozuna has a slash line of .353/.476/.706, with 2 HR and 5 RBI with only one strikeout during that stretch.

The next games are critical for the St. Louis Cardinals.  They need to win at least 6 of 9 against the Marlins, Reds, and Padres before heading into late June and early July.  If the Cardinals, fail to take advantage of this part of the schedule, then they could find themselves in a deep hole going into the  All Star break.

Next: MLB Draft day 1

Opportunity looms for the St. Louis Cardinals, let’s hope they take advantage of it.  Let us know your thoughts on the next nine games.  Thanks for reading.