Pick Up, Dust Off and Start Over

Some of you may be able to tell by now, some of you may have no idea how I feel. I'm not the President of the Mike Matheny fan club. I don't hold any of the offices in it, I don't belong to the club and most days, I feel like starting a club with the opposite focus.

I thought the introduction of a Quality Control Coach (which sounds made up and I'm not entirely convinced it isn't) would help many of our team's issues. A job description of sorts stated that defense and bullpen management were two of the bigger issues the quality control coach would focus on.

Our bullpen has some greatness out there. Bowman is the only one showing all of his greatness currently, but I'm certain second week bounce backs are in store for everyone out there. Soco has actually been doing really well, as expected, with his first hiccup not happening until today.

Bullpen stats: Bowman 0.00 ERA, 1 hit, .111 BA against, 2 SO, 0 BB, 2.2 IP
                     Soco 3.00 ERA, 1 ER, 3 hits, .250 BA against, 1 SO, 1 BB, 3.0 IP
                     Seigrist 4.50 ERA, 1 ER, 2 hits, .250 BA against, 1 SO, 2 BB, 2.0 IP
                     Broxton 9.00 ERA, 2 ER, 2 hits, .286 BA against, 2 SO, 2 BB, 2.0 IP
                     Oh 13.50 ERA, 4 ER, 4 hits, .333 BA against, 2 SO, 1 BB, 2.2 IP
                     Cecil 18.00 ERA, 4 ER, 4 hits, .364 BA against, 2 SO, 2 BB, 2.0 IP

As you can tell, some have had a better first week than others. Out of the hits allowed, only Bowman and Soco gave up 0 home runs this week. They are doing well and there's no reason to think they won't continue. Given history, there's no reason to think everyone else won't bounce back this week. Broxton isn't necessarily a dominant force, but his highest season ERA was 5.93, so there's no real reason to think a 9er would stay around. The other Quality Control Coach task to tackle is the bullpen. Clearly some of the pitchers are having issues and I sincerely hope that Shildt is meeting with Derek Lilliquist and each pitcher often to work through issues as they see fit. Maybe extra work is needed...clearly Oh is used to pitching more than once a week and he prefers it that way. I'll also throw in some possible jetlag/travel/WBC issues for Oh. For Cecil, I'll throw in some first week with the new team jitters. Broxton is kind of doing his thing and I'm not sure much can be done about that. Seigrist will be fine. He does give up a home run occasionally, but is solid for the most part. Whatever needs to be worked on is now also under the umbrella of Quality Control Coach job tasks, and I plan on seeing the results of that work as the season goes further. I'm choosing to believe this can only help Matheny. Our bullpen, based on their stats historically, is a strength of this team and I'm not doubting it being a strength going forward.

Again, as far as Shildt is concerned, how has Matheny been allowed to write 6 different lineups in 6 days, returning to a bad habit from last season? As you've seen, many are playing different positions on the daily. Fowler, Carpenter and Molina have all stayed put and everyone else has either moved or been benched on and off throughout the week. And as happened last year, the defense has suffered due to the constant changes, namely in left field. Our infield has looked pretty sharp aside from Carp on Opening Day and Peralta today (and most days due to his lack of range/Greg Garcia like abilities). In the outfield, Dex has been solid. Grich has been too for the most part, but playing out of position has lead to a couple miscues. Adams is a mess in left field that hopefully will be changed when Piscotty is fully healthy again.

I wonder why defensive miscues/misplays/issues haven't seemed to concern Shildt thus far. Why is Adams allowed to be in LF as a starter in a non-emergency situation? Why doesn't Greg Garcia start when his defense is there? Why does Kolten sit when facing a right handed pitcher? Grichuk moving all around isn't helping him cement his grip on left field. Diaz is doing wonderfully so far, but the communication with a steady partner at 2B would only help. Peralta is more a liability than any kind of strength defensively, so is there a need to play him over others? Overall, there isn't much to complain about as far as errors, misplays, etc. but things could definitely be better with more consistency.

Clearly our lineup is struggling at the plate a smidgen. Diaz is doing fantastic (no sophomore slump so far here!), Grich is hitting decently, Molina is hitting well, and Jose and Fryer have done well in very limited time. Beyond that, we have many guys struggling to get to .200 or to stay at .200, including our OBP guys at the top, Carp and Dex. As a whole the team has struck out 51 times in 6 games, only 4 by a pitcher at the plate. They've walked 31 times, 10 of which came from guys who spent the majority of this week on the bench. Do I think all of these issues stay around? No. Our team is full of very good hitters and honestly seems much more balanced than last year, where they tried to mash their way to a win every day and if that didn't work, they lost. I have every belief this teams turns the offense around fairly quickly. First week jitters are out of the way. The first Cubs series is in the rear view mirror. The first rookie LHP experience is behind them. I'm thinking a much more realistic second week is in store for our Cards! The ship will be righted. The players will return to form this week and all will be right in the Cardinals universe again.

My overall caution though, even though I'm still crazily optimistic for our team, is to stop saying such sentiments as "calm down. it's only the first week" or "it's just one game/one series" or "we have 1** games to go." Fans as well as the players spread those sentiments with every loss, every series loss, every glance at the losing home record, every look at the standing last year. In the end, we lost by ONE game. We've all heard their interviews...they're devastated that ONE loss decided they would not play in the postseason. As the standings are now, we are 2-4 on the season, dropping both series at home, heading into the second week of play looking up at 3 teams in our own division, only a half game up on the Brewers. It won't stay that way. We are definitely capable of much better and will show that as the games roll on. All I ask is that the sentiments of "it's only 1 game" stop. After 2016, it's never just 1 game.

We all need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again. Fresh week. Optimistic eyes. All while remembering every game matters. As always, I believe in this team like crazy and think they will have a great year. My love runs deep. GO CARDS!!!!