A promising offensive prospect cratering back to Earth has become the St. Louis Cards version of Anchorman's pancake breakfast. Two of the Red Birds' outfielders showed signs of being long-term solutions a season ago, and so far this year neither seems to know that the lockout is over.
Last year, O'Reilly finished with 34 homers and 80 RBIs in 141 games, good for ninth in all of baseball, and his.560 batting average was good for ninth in all of baseball. It gets fans very hot and very bothered when you combine it with his thirst-inducing biceps. I'm not talking about St. Louis-sweat when you step outside in the summer heat.
Those dreams are less erotic now that O He is struggling to replicate his power numbers because he is seeing less fastballs this year. His.333 percentage is not in the top 10 or even the top 100.
I wouldn't describe Carlson's season as lust-worthy. He hit.266 with 18 homers and 65 runs scored in 23 games, but he wasn't setting anyone's loins ablaze. If not for Nolan Arenado's Player of the Month performance in April, St. Louis would be a bigger topic.
You get a total decrease of.235 when you add up the batting averages from this year to last year. The cumulative decrease in averages is higher than what the three players are currently hitting. There is no current iteration of this team that is able to overcome the hitting issues that have plagued them for years.
Since entering the league save for the 2020 season, DeJong's batting average has dropped in each of his six seasons.
St. Louis is tied for fifth in run differential despite having the 17th best offense in the MLB. If you are a fan of theCardinals, you know the feeling of hopelessness that immediately sets in when you see an opposing pitcher dealing.
Arenado and Goldschmidt are both great hitters, but they need support in the lineup. It could be that karma is catching up to the Cards for all those years of Red Devil Magic, or it could be an issue with development.
Maybe, O , and Carlson are mired in more minor slumps. They are part of a trend of good-yet-stagnating talent that has become the norm for St. Louis. I mentioned O , Carlson, and DeJong, but they never reached the peak promised by GM John Mozeliak. After he was traded away, Grichuk had two of his most productive seasons. I'll give St. Louis a pass on Aledmys because he wasn't a staple in Houston's lineup. He played in 29 fewer games and had 83 fewer plate appearances than DeJong, but he still had as many runs as the guy who replaced him at shortstop.
Any offensive production from Tommy Edman and Harrison Bader is a bonus. Fans have been waiting for the next Albert Pujols for years and have been restlessly checking their watches. Re-signing the past-his-prime free agent is not what anyone had in mind, nor is it going to fill the need. The addition of the designated hitter to the NL has shown a brighter spotlight on the team's deficiencies.
I will skip the pitching portion of the piece because their downfalls have largely been due to injury. If you are looking for a solution, it is most likely not coming from Marmol. It's not his fault that the team keeps hiring from within and ignoring what's going on with its own hitters, who are nosediving after being scouted for a year or two.
Is hitting coach Jeff Albert, who was retained from fired-manager Mike Shildt's staff, just pressing play/pause on the game tape and telling his players to keep their eye on the ball? It would explain a lot.
The acquisitions of Goldschmidt and Arenado were great, and he should be applauded for that. St. Louis can't expect to win a title by taking advantage of disorganized organizations and they can't win by throwing money at free agents.
I know it's early, but there's still plenty of time for Carlson and O Brien to break out of their slumps. Champ Kind took issue with Ron Burgundy skipping out on a few flapjacks, but I don't think Cardinal fans would take issue with that.
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