It has been encouraging to see the offense win in different ways this season, whether it\u2019s a late inning or extra inning comeback\u2026 the team cobbling together runs with small-ball tactics, and just edging out the other team; or, just scoring a lot overall. However you want to frame it, this team has just been a lot more FUN. Even if they\u2019re not super good (yet?).<\/p>\n
The Cardinals scored 22 runs vs the Rays, then only scored 7 runs vs the Mets (and somehow still won the series). Vs the Tigers they scored 11 runs, which is sort of more normal (but lost the series). And now they are scoring 6.5 runs vs the Nationals in the first two games of the series, feeling a bit more like the beginning to the season.<\/p>\n
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Before the season began I expected that the team would be in a lot of close games\u2026 so far, 6 of their 11 games have been relative nailbiters, close ones! Only one game I would describe as a big loss, where Detroit defeated the Cardinals 11-6 this last Saturday. Other than that, it\u2019s been pretty exciting except when we got shut out by the Tigers the day before.<\/p>\n
The season is still very very early, but it feels like a lot has happened already. Which has made this season a lot more interesting than the past 3, so far. The Cardinals have a chance to score another 6 or 7 runs tomorrow vs old teammate Miles Mikolas. I would think maybe more than that! But baseball is a weird sport.<\/p>\n
Despite their winning record, admittedly, only 1 game over .500\u2026 the Cardinals are the only team in the NL Central with a negative run differential. It\u2019s too early to worry about that, though. The Reds are tied for first with a +1 run differential. Meanwhile their counterpart the Brewers have an equally absurd run differential, going the other way, of +29, already. The Reds are on a 5 game winning streak, by the way.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals so far can beat an over .500 team. They are better at home than on the road, so far. Probably no surprise there. Looking around the NL, the East seems much like the Central, good teams happening in both divisions, while the Dodgers are the only team from the West that seems dangerous (so far).<\/p>\n
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Did anyone have Jordan Walker as a top 10 MLB hitter by xwOBA? If you did, you\u2019re a genius! so far at least. So what the heck is Walker good at this year and why is there such a difference? He hits the ball harder than just about anybody, he\u2019s the hardest hitting batter in the NL. Only Ben Rice of the Yankees is hitting the ball harder than Jordan Walker.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more important than that? Walker is actually connecting with the ball! His statcast Adjusted Exit Velocity leads the majors, while his whiff % isn\u2019t a total liability. His whiff % is essentially the same as the other hard hitters, Fernando Tatis Jr is a comparison here.<\/p>\n
Another difference from last year: Jordan Walker is actually swinging the bat! He swings almost half the time. That is far more aggressive so far than what we have become used to seeing. He seems less confused, less lost at the plate.<\/p>\n
Where are the Cardinals in team exit velocity? Right next to the Brewers, who have had a really good offense so far. Their barrel % is actually slightly ahead of the Brewers. Their hard hit % is superior to Milwaukee though. So far. Only the Cubs are hitting the ball harder than the Cardinals in the NL Central.<\/p>\n
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Have the Cardinals been lucky or unlucky? According to expected batting average, they are underperforming what they can do. That team .222 BA becomes .240, which would be quite the improvement. This may be a pretty mediocre offense at the end of the day, but they have a lot of fight to them, and maybe some unlocked power.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the team we are playing now just has a better offense. The Nationals impressive offense so far might very well be for real. Good news! The Cubs offense xBA is actually looking like they might be a bit of a mirage. The Cubs have one of the worst expected team batting average in MLB.<\/p>\n
So far some of my hunches seem pretty true. But I don\u2019t think I expected the Cubs to be in last place at this point. It\u2019s meaningless, but still\u2026 fun. The youth movement is in full effect. The Cubs are kinda old. You cannot quantify what hasn\u2019t happened yet.<\/p>\n
Pitching\u2026 what teams are getting hit the hardest? The Nationals, Brewers, Astros, Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, Tigers, White Sox, and Cubs. Marmol said the strength was going to be the pitching, but we are getting hit HARD. But not nearly as bad as the Nationals and Brewers. In the xwOBA department, ironically enough, we are the worst except for the Nationals. The Brewers improve by a lot in this area.<\/p>\n
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That said teams have been barreling up more against the Brewers and Cubs than against the Cardinals. Has this season seemed intense, though? That\u2019s because other teams are getting on base at a .366 clip against St Louis. The Nationals have given up 100 hits so far, and the Cardinals have given up 99 hits!<\/p>\n
I think things will cool off some vs the Cardinals pitching. It will have to, to sustain any kind of success. Cardinals starting rotation pitching is barely above replacement level so far. Hopefully that will change. And the bullpen\u2026 you know it\u2019s been bad. Only the Royals, Cubs, Astros, and Nationals have had worse bullpen performance.<\/p>\n
Bullpen bright spots? Riley O\u2019Brien and JoJo Romero. George Soriano seems like he will be fine (xERA backs this up, at least). But, that makes it only 3 of 9 bullpen arms used so far that can be seen in a positive light.<\/p>\n
As for the rotation, Dustin May has been an experiment gone horribly wrong, the opposite of what I expected. He certainly could turn it around any start now, but it\u2019s not looking good. Richard Fitts is chomping at the bit in AAA with really good ERA and good FIP numbers (albeit less encouraging xFIP). How long will it take to move May out of the rotation if this continues?<\/p>\n
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Kyle Leahy also hasn\u2019t been too great, but not nearly as bad as Dustin May so far. He seems a serviceable 5th arm for the rotation, at least. On the bright side, Liberatore leads the rotation with his bright and shiny 1.64 ERA, Pallante has been walking a tightrope with a 1.80 ERA, and McGreevy is leading the rotation in FIP while maintaining a 2.53 ERA. So the rotation numbers are obviously being bogged down by Dustin May\u2019s performances so far.<\/p>\n
Still, this is all rather meaningless\u2026 May is not the worst by xFIP in the Cardinals rotation\u2026 that dubious award goes to Andre Pallante. Outside of Liberatore and McGreevy, the whole rotation is walking too many batters, and Liberatore could probably improve there some as well.<\/p>\n
Our \u201cgood\u201d pitchers Liberatore, McGreevy, and Pallante all have BABIP against numbers that will most definitely be rising. Leahy\u2019s might come down some, and May\u2019s is just absolutely horrendous; batters are teeing off against him. Will that improve? I certainly hope so! I was hoping he might be a stealthy pickup by Bloom but dude looks like toast.<\/p>\n
Just like last week in my April Fool\u2019s post, these numbers are not stable. It\u2019s impossible to draw any conclusions whatsoever right now. But, I think, it was still fun to look at. I hope you enjoyed it too. This team is young and competitive\u2026 so far. So good? Maybe not! But absolutely entertaining.<\/p>\n
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1985<\/p>\n
The first WrestleMania happens. It was Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs Mr Wonderful and Rowdy Roddy Piper in a tag team match as the headlining event. \u201cNew Coke\u201d debuted and was such a failure Old Coca-Cola came back within 3 months. The first Nintendo Entertainment System was released in North America as the NES. The world population grew to 4,830,979,000. I entered my 10th year on earth at the end of \u201885.<\/p>\n
Back To The Future dominated at the box office, as did Rambo II and Rocky IV. As a kid, I was most into the Goonies. In the underground, The Stuff was one of the most entertaining things I saw back then! It\u2019s like if cool whip took over everything. Later in life, it resembled the gray goo theory of self-replicating nanotech machines growing exponentially. Check out The Stuff!<\/p>\n
One of the most entertaining horror movies ever, Fright Night, was released in 1985\u2026 my brother and I almost wore out the VHS tape of that vampire flick! I still enjoy it to this day, which cannot be said for a lot of the 80s video stuff I was into back then. I watched the movie Runaway Train with my dad and thought, hey, that was no fun.<\/p>\n
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Peewee Herman started taking over the airwaves. The movie Peewee\u2019s Big Adventure was released, which lead to a lot of fun tv watching later on. There were of course, plenty of other good movies that year, but I\u2019m running out of time here\u2026<\/p>\n
In baseball this of course was a very good year for St Louis, the Cardinals going to the World Series and experiencing a heartbreaking loss due to a botched umpire call<\/a>\u2026 but I prefer to remember Willie McGee batting .353 and Vince Coleman stealing 110 stolen bases in the regular season. Vince Coleman won rookie of the year and Willie McGee was the NL MVP! Willie and Ozzie both got gold gloves. Tony Larussa was the White Sox manager back then, but he was learning\u2026 while Whitey Herzog won manager of the year in the NL.<\/p>\n Rod Carew reached 3,000 hits in 1985, but Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb\u2019s all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit. At the time, only 16 players had over 3,000 hits. The Cardinals of course lost a tough 7 game World Series to the other Missouri team, the Kansas City Royals, in 1985.<\/p>\n Suggested Listening<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Tom Waits \u2013 \u2018Rain Dogs\u2019<\/a> honestly I wasn\u2019t expecting two Tom Waits albums to get my album of the year back in the 80s, but this, in addition to \u2018Swordfishtrombone\u2019, are both perfect albums. That just so happen to be from the 80s. They both sound timeless, though, could be from the 70s, 80s, 90s, onward.<\/p>\n Meat Puppets \u2013 \u2018Up On The Sun\u2019<\/a> I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for this album, it\u2019s sloppy virtuosity is just so weird to me, and it references several genres that I\u2019m not even into, but something about it always piques my interest, maybe its overall positivity? I\u2019m not sure what it is but I love it.<\/p>\n Cecil Taylor \u2013 \u2018Winged Serpent\u2019<\/a> just an utterly fantastic free jazz album, if you\u2019re into that kind of thing.<\/p>\n The Ex \u2013 \u2018Pokeherrie\u2019<\/a> The Ex are known for being an improvisational punk band, that are super tight for being so, and can pull it off live\u2026 this album I hadn\u2019t heard before, and I thought it was rather impressive. Words fail to describe it, as I have yet to fully absorb its sonic world\u2026 but it\u2019s real good.<\/p>\n Dead Can Dance \u2013 \u2018Spleen and Ideal\u2019<\/a> this one really caught my ear too, something about it\u2026 you\u2019d have to hear it. Ahead of their time.<\/p>\n Killing Joke \u2013 \u2018Night Time\u2019<\/a> it is sort of odd hearing Killing Joke come up with a new wave adjacent album, but they outdid many a new wave band here. Maybe a little more rocking than that genre, but it certainly reminds me of it more than any other Killing Joke album. The track \u201cLove Like Blood\u201d is just top-notch.<\/p>\n Oingo Boingo \u2013 \u2018Dead Man\u2019s Party\u2019<\/a> mandatory 80\u2019s listening! Danny Elfman doesn\u2019t disappoint here. Masterpiece.<\/p>\n Kate Bush \u2013 \u2018Hounds of Love\u2019<\/a> probably my favorite Kate Bush album, but I haven\u2019t decided yet. I like it better than the ones before, at least\u2026 she\u2019s honed her sound at this point.<\/p>\n The Jesus and Mary Chain \u2013 \u2018Psychocandy\u2019<\/a> proto-shoegaze! one of my favorite genres of music. Raw and rocking goodness, which hadn\u2019t been heard before in such a way.<\/p>\n The Cure \u2013 \u2018The Head on the Door\u2019<\/a> similar to Kate Bush, this is my favorite Cure album, so far, in their discography. I feel like they really had gelled into something interesting by this point. That said, I\u2019m not a big Cure fan, so take it with a few grains of salt. I do like them, just not exactly my thing. This one did the trick, though. The guitarist tends to be my favorite thing about this band.<\/p>\n Amebix \u2013 \u2018Arise!\u2019<\/a> more crazy apocalyptic crustpunk sounds from Amebix! A band I had heard of but didn\u2019t know that I needed in my life. More groundbreaking sounds the world hadn\u2019t heard before. I liked their first one more, but this one is almost as good.<\/p>\n Prefab Sprout \u2013 \u2018Steve Mcqueen\u2019<\/a> I wasn\u2019t sure where to put this one, since it\u2019s not as good as their album before, but it\u2019s still composed and recorded so well\u2026 I am still getting into this one; maybe it\u2019s more of a grower.<\/p>\n Tears For Fears \u2013 \u2018Songs From The Big Chair\u2019<\/a> this album hit the world HARD back in 1985, and it\u2019s still so good. Fun fact: I saw this listed as a prog rock album on wikipedia! I can kinda hear it\u2026 kinda. Top tier pop.<\/p>\n Faith No More \u2013 \u2018We Care A Lot\u2019<\/a> the big debut from Faith No More, a genius level band! The late Chuck Mosely was the singer back then, a narcoleptic man that would eventually be replaced by singing legend Mike Patton\u2026 We Care A Lot was an album I didn\u2019t listen to much even though I had it on tape, but it has age pretty well, imo. Another fun fact\u2026 Courtney Love auditioned to be singer of Faith No More, but Chuck Mosely beat her out.<\/p>\n Skinny Puppy \u2013 \u2018Bites\u2019<\/a> Skinny Puppy was just starting out here, but they were breaking new ground still. Perhaps their most straight-up industrial goth dance album. The instrumental track \u201cTomorrow\u201d is a standout in their catalog. \u201cFalling\u201d is another super cool song.<\/p>\n The Fall \u2013 \u2018This Nation\u2019s Saving Grace\u2019<\/a> another band where I wasn\u2019t that into the releases prior in their catalog, but this one I think is pretty fun! Still getting to know the album, but it still beats out a ton of other 80s stuff, it just sounds interesting for the times\u2026<\/p>\n Dire Straits \u2013 \u2018Brothers In Arms\u2019<\/a> I almost left this off the list, but it\u2019s a masterpiece, and I had to include it, even though it\u2019s not really my cup of tea. The opening track \u201cSo Far Away\u201d fits perfectly in this article where I mentioned the Cardinals \u201cso far\u201d so many times\u2026 the meaning of this season is so far away! \u2026and \u201cMoney For Nothing\u201d and \u201cWalk of Life\u201d are also a big part of my 80s life soundtrack.<\/p>\n Special proto-thrash version of the Honorable Mention section! Raw crazy thrash metal for you, plus a proto death metal album with the guitarist of Primus\u2026 check it out!<\/p>\n