St. Louis Cardinals: Memphis is having more fun than the Cardinals

The Memphis Redbirds are out-performing the St. Louis Cardinals and are clearly having more fun.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a problem: they aren’t winning, aren’t hitting, aren’t pitching, and aren’t having fun (clearly). Okay, so those are more than one problem. To make matters worse, the AAA team seems to be experiencing the exact opposite outcomes.

I’ve written plenty of times already about how the coaching staff in Memphis eclipse the staff in St. Louis so I won’t even entertain that here. If you haven’t read those pieces, you can jump here and catch a few of them.

Let me say that I still believe the Memphis staff would help the St. Louis Cardinals win additional games and would eliminate the problems that are listed above. That would mean firing Mike Matheny and his staff. And that needs to happen whether his staff gets replaced by the Memphis staff or not.

Where the St. Louis Cardinals missed the postseason in 2017 entirely, the Memphis Redbirds won the Pacific Coast League Championship even though they lost in the finals. This “winning way” is continuing this season.

The Memphis Redbirds just completed a three-game sweep of the AAA team in Alburqueque. At the same time, the St. Louis Cardinals have dropped their last three games (two against the last-place Padres and one against the media-darling Cubs).

The St. Louis Cardinals are five games back of the division-leading Cubs with a record of 36-31. These five games over .500 just aren’t cutting it. At the same time, the Memphis Redbirds are sitting in first place in the PCL American Conference with a record of 41-27. If you are keeping score at home, the Redbirds’ record has them 14 games over .500.

As it relates to batting average, Memphis has four players with averages north of .300. These include Andrew Knizner, Tyler O’Neill, Patrick Wisdom, and Oscar Mercado. The St. Louis Cardinals have only one player over .300 in the form of Jose Martinez.

The St. Louis Cardinals have the advantage in home run counts with six batters having slammed greater than five home runs. These are Yadier Molina (6), Paul DeJong (8), Marcell Ozuna (9), Matt Carpenter (9), Tommy Pham (10), and Martinez (10).

The Memphis Redbirds have only five players with home run counts north of five. These are Mercado (6), Adolis Garcia (7), Rangel Ravelo (7), Patrick Wisdom (8), and Tyler O’Neill (15).

On the pitching side of things, Memphis has four starting pitchers who have sub-.300 ERAs. These are Jack Flaherty (5 starts, 2.27 ERA), John Gant (8 starts, 1.65 ERA), Daniel Poncedeleon (11 starts, 2.41 ERA), and Dakota Hudson (12 starts, 2.18 ERA).

The St. Louis Cardinals have three starting pitchers with sub-.300 ERAs. Oh, and one of these appears on the list above as well in the way of Flaherty (8 MLB starts, 2.96 ERA). The others are Miles Mikolas (13 starts, 2.43 ERA), and Carlos Martinez (10 starts, 2.50 ERA).

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As it relates to aggregate pitching statistics, the Memphis Redbirds have pitched 596.2 innings, carry a team 3.41 ERA, and have allowed 259 runs (226 earned) which places them second-best in least runs allowed in the PCL. The St. Louis Cardinals have pitched 612.1 innings, carry a team 3.72 ERA, and have allowed 276 runs (253 earned) which places them tied for ninth in the National League.

The St. Louis Cardinals are tied with the first-place in the NL-East, Atlanta Braves in runs allowed.

Bottom line, the Memphis Redbirds are having a better June than are the St. Louis Cardinals. In June, the Redbirds have won seven of the 13 games played. The St. Louis Cardinals have won six of the 13 games they have played this month. Many would think that one game wouldn’t make that big of a difference, but it does.

I have attended a number of the Memphis Redbirds games and I can tell you that this club is having a good time winning their seven games. While I have not attended any St. Louis Cardinals games, the television broadcast doesn’t really show me a team having fun.

Changes need to be made such that the St. Louis Cardinals are having fun and winning.

Next: Five player rumors

The Cardinals could learn much from the Memphis Redbirds. I doubt they will until real change arrives. If you are frustrated watching the Cardinals, make plans to watch the Redbirds!