The St. Louis Cardinals head into the second half of the season in third place in the National League Central (48-46), with key players struggling all season long (see: Dexter Fowler), and most notably, a new manager.
Last Saturday, following yet another embarrassing loss at home to the Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals’ upper management made the decision to fire Mike Matheny after nearly seven seasons as manager. Hitting Coach John Mabry an Assistant Hitting Coach Bill Mueller were fired as well, and bench coach Mike Shildt took over as interim manager.
While the new managerial positions will be welcomed in time, there is one glaring issue: management wasn’t the ONLY reason the Cardinals have been struggling in recent years.
The first is lack of production by “star” players on the team. Most notably is Dexter Fowler, who has a measly .176 average (7 home runs, 26 RBI’s, and only 42 hits) over the course of 74 games. Matt Carpenter meanwhile, who also hovered around the “Mendoza line” throughout much of the season, recently surged his way to a .263 average. And Marcell Ozuna, while having been pretty productive at the plate, has been a liability in the outfield.
On the whole, the Cardinals fielding in general, once known to be the best in baseball, has been absolutely porous, last in errors(77), which is 40 more than the first-place Colorado Rockies (only 37 errors).
Also, putting runners in scoring position has been a big hindrance for the Cardinals: they are dead last in extra base-hits (last in both doubles and triples), and in the bottom ten in stolen bases.
Lastly, there’s the pitching. While their starters have been solid for the most part this season, the bullpen has been mediocre at best. Overall, the Cardinals are 24th in bullpen ERA and opponents’ average (.259). The emergence of Jordan Hicks as the rookie heater and Bud Norris as a solid closer have been welcomed additions for the team.
Many will also point fingers at Michael Girsch and John Mozeliak regarding a lot of their recent moves, for better or worse. The management criticism goes all the way up to the DeWitt’s, believing that more than just the manager should have been fired as well.
The second half of the 2018 season is only a few days away. Even with Matheny fired, there’s work to be done within the organization to make a playoff push. And to truly be the St. Louis Cardinals.