ST. LOUIS — It is the first week of June and this is a sentence that might be shocking to someone who hasn’t paid attention to Major League Baseball this season: The St. Louis Cardinals have the worst record in the National League. That’s right. Worst than the Cincinnati Reds, worse than the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, who swept the Cards this weekend, and even worse than the Washington Nationals, but only by one loss.
Still, seeing the Cardinals in the NL Central basement this far into a season is shocking. It’s a rare sight for even a casual baseball fan, and after this weekend, Cards fans may be panicking.
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Host JD Hafron of the Locked On Cardinals opened his show by saying, “The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most consistent franchises in the history of baseball, one of the most winning franchises in the history of baseball, are currently the worst team in the National League.” He exclaimed, “What has happened?” Hafron called the year “a disaster so far.”
The disaster worsened this past weekend in Pittsburgh when the Cardinals were swept in a three-game series against their division rivals. Heading into the series, there were questions about the Pirates because, while they may be only a half-game out of first place in the division, they had a losing record in May, they were inconsistent, and it looked like the Cardinals could give them some trouble. Instead, the Pirates swept the Cardinals in three games by scores of 7-5, 4-3, and 2-1.
Like other teams in the National League who are underperforming, namely the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, the Cardinals are unpredictable. The Cardinals have had only one winning streak of at least four games while suffering through a season-high eight-game losing streak from April 28 to May 6.
Anytime it looks like the team is turning a corner, they take a few steps back.
Hafron discussed how the front office and even the Cardinals players continue to preach about it being too early to panic. Tommy Edman said via MLB.com after Sunday’s loss and series sweep, “Everybody knows we have a ton of talent in this room, and it’s definitely frustrating. But we’ve just got to keep working at it and hope things turn around.”
But Hafron believes it’s not too early to panic and that if the Cardinals are going to turn it around it has to happen soon. He said, “It’s not! It’s June. It isn’t early anymore.”
And things aren’t getting easier for the Cardinals. They are in Texas Monday night to take on the red-hot Rangers, who are in first place in the American League West and have the second-best record in all of baseball, and they’re doing it without Jacob deGrom, who is currently on the IL.
The rest of the month is a big test for the Cardinals. They play Cincinnati and the Cubs in division matchups and face the Houston Astros at the end of the month. If they want to gain any ground in the NL Central and escape the NL basement, they need to stop talking about turning things around and start doing it.
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