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The London Series was a mixed bag for the St. Louis Cardinals, at best.
Saturday's game was a complete embarrassment. The Cardinals were on an international stage, facing off against their biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs, and were blown out 9-1. Adam Wainwright's issues on the mound this season were magnified, and the team couldn't overcome another terribly pitched game.
Honestly, the beginning of Sunday's game looked like a continuation of that. The Cardinals quickly fell down 4-0 on the heels of multiple errors and a shaky start from Matthew Liberatore. The team pulled things together and clawed their way back to a massive 7-5 victory over the Cubs.
The Cardinals now sit at 32-45, 8.5 games back of the first-place Cincinnati Reds. Again, no one saw this kind of start coming from St. Louis. It's been horrible. And I still cannot grasp how they got to this place.
While I was very optimistic about this season, and no one was this pessimistic, many did see the cracks in this team heading into the season. Different media outlets and fans were clamoring for changes to be made this offseason, and outside of Willson Contreras, there was little "added" to this team. Instead, they saw future Hall of Famers Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina walk out the door, hoping their youth movement would cover in their absence.
What changes could the club have made this offseason to improve this ball club?