Don't tell Cardinals fans, but their team is resilient and amazing ...
I know, I know. Just had to get this out before the postseason.
Hello. If you're a Cardinals fan, you don't need to read this. Just a bunch of baseball fans talking about baseball. Nothing to see here. Congratulations on your team. Looks like a real humdinger of a roster there, and I'm sure you're excited about the postseason. Best of luck!
The rest of us will just be here. Talking about baseball. Without you. Not because we're going to talk about the Cardinals, but because you have better things to do, and also you don't want me to stare at you, silent and motionless, until you get uncomfortable and make up an excuse to leave.
OK.
I ...
I think we're alone.
Just you, me, and fans of the other 29 teams. I didn't want to exclude them, but I have a confession to make: I'm overcome with awe and respect for the Cardinals this year.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, they'll hear you. They don't need to find us here, commiserating and showing respect. Tomorrow, I'll write an article about how the Cardinals are overrated and overhyped, and how they're likely to be doomed in the postseason. Not necessarily because I believe it, but because I like angry comments sections and Internet quarrels. And I don't like praising the Cardinals. I grew up hating them, and it's not like that's an easy switch to flip when they don't stop winning. They're so quiet and efficient, and their quiet efficiency makes you hate them even more. It's great that they got wrapped up in some weird espionage scandal, but can't they pee in just one pool?
And, of course, they're good again. Like always. But have you really looked at their team? Other than the weaponized virus the Rangers have had to deal with over the last two years, I'm not sure if anything compares in baseball.
Start with the passing of Oscar Taveras last October. For the rest of the article, we'll be talking about shoulder strains and ankle injuries, and those aren't very important in the big picture. They're a little frivolous, really. The senseless death of Taveras was real-life bullying its way into the sport, which is supposed to be a real-life safe zone. No other team had to deal with the loss of that much hope and promise, and hopefully no team will have to deal with it ever again, even if that's a na�ve wish.
Everything that follows was standard baseball stuff, but there was sure a lot of it. Adam Wainwright looked absolutely gassed in the postseason last year, pitching backwards, curveball-first, because he wasn't sure if his fastball would go where he wanted, as fast as he wanted. He made it through, though, and he looked amazing ... until he blew out his ankle, of all things. Take the clear ace off every team and replay the the season, see how they do. I read Moneyball twice, so I know what I'm talking about, and I'm pretty sure those teams would be worse. The Cardinals shook off the loss of their #1 pitcher, then they won 100 games.
Then Matt Adams went down, which isn't going to compare to Wainwright, but it's still a team losing its starting first baseman indefinitely, without a clearly defined backup plan. Matt Reynolds came highly recommended from the temp agency, and he did what he normally does, but it was still a blow to the lineup. Then the Cardinals won 100 games.
They built on the Adams injury, though, constructing a black pit into the abyss for their remaining outfielders. Matt Holliday is getting older and stiffer, so maybe it's not a surprise that he missed chunks of the season, but that doesn't mean it didn't hamper the Cardinals significantly. His replacement, Randal Grichuk, then stepped in and became a Rookie of the Year candidate until he fell into the black pit. When he came back, he couldn't throw. That is not hyperbole. The headline from that article:
Cubs take advantage of Randal Grichuk's sore arm, Cardinals win anyway
Yeah, pretty much. The Cardinals played 36 games against the second- and third-best teams in the National League. Then they won 100 games. (Or they will, at least. I know they're at 99 with five games left. They'll win at least one of them.)
Grichuk's injury opened a door for Stephen Piscotty, a legitimate-if-unheralded prospect, and of course he did super. And of course he got hurt, in a horrific injury on Monday night that you don't want to watch. Between Grichuk and Piscotty, Jon Jay got hurt, then Holliday got hurt again, which meant more time for Tommy Pham, who was automatically placed on the roster by the computer when they dipped below 25 players. Pham has been outstanding, of course. And the Cardinals will win 100 games.
Now they're without Yadier Molina, team leader and spiritual icon, blessed catcher and commander of respect, personal representation of all that is pure about ... it's too bad we kicked the Cardinals fans out because I'm sure they'd have more. Molina has a chance to return this season, but it'll be in a limited capacity, just like last postseason. The cynics might note that he's been worth less according to WAR than Melvin Upton this season. A chunk of us, though, wonder if he really is that valuable to his team. He's certainly valuable, though. No one disputes that, and now he's gone, replaced by a five-year veteran who has offered negative WAR totals in each of those five seasons.
They lost Lance Lynn for a couple starts and Jaime Garcia for a couple different stretches, but that's normal long-season stuff. Now they're without Carlos Martinez for the rest of the season, though, a loss which would absolutely devastate 75 percent of the teams in the league right before the postseason. The Cardinals at this time last year had Wainwright, Shelby Miller, and Martinez. They're without all three now, and yet the rotation is still holding up remarkably well. They'll have a clearly defined four-man rotation for the postseason, with a competent long man out of the bullpen. And they'll win 100 games.
The adaptability, the depth, the answer for every single pitfall, an answer to every pitfall at the bottom of the pitfall ... it's something I don't ever remember seeing. The Cardinals should be struggling to stay above .500, bemoaning the loss of their ace, one of their #2 starters, their starting catcher, their first baseman, and a half-dozen different outfielders. And instead, they're here again, threatening to win a championship. Again.
I've watched an injury-befuddled Giants team this year, and the existence of the Cardinals has made it impossible to complain too loudly. Whispers of "but the Cardinals" haunt me and my desire to whine. Watching them adjust and readjust and thrive with whatever's in the pantry ... it fills me with respect and admiration.
Shhhhhhhhhhh, I know, I know. Shhhhhhhhh, I'm sorry.
The postseason is going to be overstuffed with hard-luck teams that deserve a magical October journey to keep them warm for the next couple decades, so let's stop short of suggesting the Cardinals should be sentimental favorites. But look at how good they are. Look at what they've gone through to get here.
The Cardinals, he begrudgingly admitted, are absolutely amazing. Now let's get back to our regularly-scheduled complaining about them existing in the first place.
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SB Nation presents: Meanwhile, the Nationals are a disaster
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