Cardinals: Paper cuts, missed opportunities, other Opening Day Reactions

The pitching got very unlucky but still needs strikeout stuff

If you look at the box score, it looks like the Cardinals’ pitching was awful today. In reality, though, the Cardinals experienced death by a thousand paper cuts, mostly pitching well but continuously getting beat by blood singles and ground balls that found their way through the infield.

That’s not how most games go.

If the Cardinals’ had gotten beaten around by hard-hit balls, extra-base hits, giving up a ton of walks, or huge blasts from the Blue Jays thumpers, I would be writing a letter to John Mozeliak myself to say they need pitching ASAP. In all reality, I was pleasantly surprised by the way the club navigated the Blue Jays lineup, and felt like they could have easily given up three or four fewer runs.

Would you believe the Cardinals’ pitching staff struck out more batters than the Blue Jays today? The Cardinals got eleven Blue Jays out on strikes Thursday, while Toronto pitchers sat down just six Cardinals via the strikeout. The problem for St. Louis is nothing new though – they need to find a way to strike out guys in big spots, such as when runners are in scoring position. The Blue Jays put so many balls in play today, and when you do that, good things tend to happen. Jordan Walker was taken advantage of in right field today, misplaying a few balls and making some bad decisions with his throws into third base and home.

Had Mikolas not experienced the level of “unluck” he had today and gotten through more than 3.2 innings, the bullpen would have had a lot less strain on it. Covering 5 and 2/3 innings in a game is no small task, and the bullpen handled the job well for the most part, experiencing a lot of the same “soft-contact” issues.

Here’s the rub. Three of your best relievers, Andre Pallante, Jordan Hicks, and Ryan Helsley, combined to face nineteen Blue Jays, striking out just one of them. You cannot get by the late innings in today’s game without finding a way to generate swings and misses.

Missed opportunities cost the team runs and gave the Blue Jays more chances to score.

It’s hard to fault the Cardinals; offense in a game where they put up nine runs, but one could point to a 3-15 performance with runners in scoring position as one way the club could have put the Blue Jays away rather than giving them chances to regain the lead.

Honestly, what was most frustrating to me was Andrew Knizner’s pop-up on a bunt attempt in the bottom of the 8th inning. After Willson Contreras exited the game with a right knee contusion, Knizner came up and attempted to move Arenado to third on a bunt, but failed to do so. You cannot make mistakes like that in big spots like that, and it will further fans' concerns over Knizner’s value to this team.

Walker’s defense today reinforced concerns from many about whether or not he would be ready to manage the responsibilities required of a Major League outfielder. It’s one game, and maybe first-game jitters got the best of him, but you can argue he helped contribute to a few of the Blue Jays runs today as well.

You can’t beat yourself when facing contending teams like the Blue Jays, and unfortunately, the Cardinals did a bit of that today.

Adam Wainwright is going to be sorely missed

Standing in the stadium Sunday, everyone expected something to celebrate Adam Wainwright as he took the field with his teammates during pre-game ceremonies. No one expected the Cardinal legend to take his budding music career to the next level.

Following the Canadian National Anthem, Wainwright was introduced as the U.S. National Anthem singer for the day and had an all-time great performance in front of the home faithful.

You can check out the performance here.

You can just seen the shock and awe on his teammates faces, and just how much Wainwright means to this team and this city. Wainwright is starting the year on the injured list, but let's hope he is able to return soon and turn in one last magical season in St. Louis.