Damaged Armor

I'll start with me. My armor is damaged. I do the usual repairs and maintenance...duct tape, super glue, safety pins, bubble wrap. None of it ever keeps damage completely away from heart, but it's good to know I can lessen the damage of the hit, patch it up, and try again.

My armor took a few hits during Adam Wainwright's start last Sunday. It was his third start of the season and things weren't going necessarily well. I will not write specifics, but will simply say it was my least favorite night watching the games with twitter people. Alternatively, it was one of the best. While there were those truly being their worst, some of the best messaged me to make sure I was alright. My armor took a lot of hits that night, but some wonderful people provided all the duct tape, super glue, safety pins and bubble wrap I needed to repair the damage. A good friend of mine reminded me essentially not to even take the hits in the first place. I do my best every day to try to heed his advice.

While a long introduction, this leads into the damaged armor of our team. We have a full spectrum of damage to much of our armor, both of the physical and mental variety. Dex is hurting with a nagging heel issue. Siegrist is showing slower velocity and experiencing shoulder issues. Peralta is on the DL with a "respiratory infection." Moving on to the mental approach of the game, we have Piscotty, Grich, Diaz, Fowler, Carp and Adams all having problems at the plate. Lastly, we have Carlos working on mechanics and command, as well as having a newfound issue getting through the first inning of games unscathed.

Our offense is struggling to put more than 2 runs on the board per game. Our numbers with runners in scoring position are abysmal. Situational hitting is practically non-existent. I'm not sure how to work on this beyond more practice, focus and work. I never doubt the work ethic is there, but I always question the coaching involved at these times. Ability, talent, skill, strong work ethic...these players all have those qualities in abundance. However, it's a concern to have well over half of the starting players hitting 250 or below, strikeouts piling up and seemingly all concept of situational hitting having flown back south to Florida.

Defensively, we're not winning any trophies. I don't know if they would even give us participation trophies for our efforts thus far. Numbers aren't pretty and the eye test fails as well. I sometimes close my eyes when throws to a base happen and during Saturday's run down, when all 25 men seemed to be throwing and catching the ball.

I mentioned Saturday night after Matt Adams pinch hit that Matheny broke him. I've written at length about Adams and his struggles. For the Cardinals, he has only played close to a full season once...in 2014 he played in 142 games. This year Matheny decided to give him opportunities in left field, which only hurt his chances of success further. We have a left fielder (who was simultaneously affected by this experiment) and behind our starting left fielder, we have a back up outfielder. Adams was put into opportunities that displayed defensive weaknesses, and it's possible he took that lowered lack of confidence to the plate as the struggles piled up there. The reason to put him in left field was supposedly because "the bat plays." It has now reached a point where his biggest strength in years past, pinch hitting, has soured...he is making unproductive outs almost every time now. His career, especially in 2017, has been colossally mismanaged. At 28 and in the best shape of his life, he is warming the bench, not even getting opportunities at his actual position of first base when an injury occurred to Carpenter. He didn't forget how to play baseball, but mentally he is in the midst of a perfect storm of lack of confidence, questioning his role, trying to stay prepared and probably wondering what he did in a former life to deserve this treatment. I am well aware that he needs to play well to secure a role, but he is getting no help in that department and it is painful to watch.

On his Instagram this morning, Carlos posted a picture of himself on the mound and listed a bunch of zipped lip, thinking, sad face emojis as the caption. If you have followed him on Instagram, you would know this is the complete opposite of his usual shirtless, smiling, singing Instagram stories. He has always been joyful on there, so to see his frustration out there for the world to see, even if only expressed through emojis, it did nothing to calm my concerns for him. He is working through a lot right now and I hope he leans on his mentors and teammates in the clubhouse to help him through everything.

Mental hits are measured by the play as much as physical hits. I firmly believe that if each player knew his spot on the team and was allowed to work through issues that arise, our team would be firing on all cylinders. Grichuk is going to have strikeouts, but last night he went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and made a great catch in the outfield. The key to his success is being allowed to play every day, without worry of being replaced in the lineup at any given time. Kolten runs much the same way, and while he is finding himself at the plate, I worry he will still be on an up and down rollercoaster type trip in and out of the lineup, stopping his traction. Carlos is going through something that was visible to many fans over the past few starts. Adam was visibly upset in his outing last Sunday, clearly still working through things. Piscotty is in the midst of a swing over haul that some feel is involving too much mental focus, making him lack consistency instead of taking off at the plate...leading to infamous Earmuff moments with his colorful language choice.

As a team, we've taken a lot of hits to the armor over these first 3 weeks of the season. It's difficult to be looking up from 5th (4th after a Pirates loss, at least until results of today's games!) at the division rivals. While our pitching has largely kept us afloat, being a stabilizing force for the most part, we need to figure out how to fix things offensively and defensively. The players need to gain their confidence back and believe they can get the job done. They need to duct tape, safety pin, super glue and bubble wrap their armor and get on the field. It's high time to be playing their best baseball. When all armor is repaired, they need to be running out onto the field, knowing they can make the catches, make the plays and then run out of the dugout ready to bat when ready. They have to stay strong in the face of any adversity and maneuver their way skillfully through mixed messages, showing a confident, steady approach to their games.

Wins do help the positive vibes, but this team is still very much a work in progress. They honestly have to face more managerial disastrophes than the every day baseball player, and they need to do their best to overcome the decisions that put a roadblock up on their path to success. Armor fixed, game face on...let's go Cards!!