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| Credit: Red Bird Rants The St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 48-29 are the best in the Majors. Great pitching and timely hitting have been the key to their run so far. |
We are three weeks away from the All-Star Game and the team to beat seems to be the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are holding a 48-29 record so far this season, which is tops in the Majors. When you look at this Cardinal team you see a lot of familiar names from the 2011 World Series Champion team. That is always a good sign when trying to go after another championship. The more players that have been put into that situation the better the second time around is. The biggest surprise has to be the pitching staff so far this season. The Cardinals have a lot of young arms on their staff and it seems to be working. Will the Cardinals win another championship? We will have to wait and see until October, but here is my opinion.
Do the Cardinals have a great chance to win another championship? Yes they do. The lineup that they have and the pitching staff being solid they have one of the best chances in the National League. The National League isn't as strong this season so it should be an easy ride to the NLCS. Do I think they win a World Series Championship? Yes I do and here is why.
The Cardinals lineup is one of the best in the league from top to bottom. As a team the Cardinals are hitting .276 which is tops in the National League and second behind Detroit for the best in the majors. They might not hit as many home runs as a lot of other teams but when they get runners on they find a way to get them in. They have two of the best hitters with runners in scoring position in Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig. The Cardinals also don't rely on one person to carry the offense. They have someone different leading the team in each offensive category (Average, Home Runs, RBI, On Base Percentage). The balance that this team has is unbelievable.
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| Credit: SBNation |
The surprise for them offensively is Yadier Molina. Yadi has been known as one of the best defensive catchers in the majors since he came into the league in 2004. The Cardinals never asked him to carry the team offensively so he just focused on defense which he knew he was great at. Now that Albert Pujols has taken his talents out west Molina feels like he is the guy to step up and play his part offensively. Don't look for Molina to be hitting big flies every night but you should look for him to be on base an awful lot. Hitting at a .355 clip with 26 doubles Molina is doing enough to help this offense tremendously. Molina has already scored 34 runs which matches his total for the entire 2010 season. He might not make all the highlights but he is the highlight for this Cardinal team so far this season.
When you thought about the Cardinals two years ago you thought about Albert Pujols, but now there is a new first baseman taking over and his name is Allen Craig. All Craig has done since the first time he stepped foot on a major league field is hit. Since 2011 when Craig got significant playing time he has hit over .300 each season. He is hitting a tremendous .321 so far this season with 61 RBI. He isn't going to hit 30 home runs a season but he will drive in plenty of runs. Craig ranks first in the National League in batting average with runners in scoring position at .455.
The Cardinals also have a great pitching rotation. Former Cy Young award winner Adam Wainwright leads the charge with 10 wins and a 2.31 ERA. A great team seems to always have great pitching. The Cardinals are no different. Wainwright and Lance Lynn each have 10 wins and rookie Shelby Miller has 8. Miller strikes out an astounding ten batters per nine innings.
A bullpen is a huge part of a great team. The Cardinals bullpen started the season fairly bad but have turned it around as of late. Mitchell Boggs started the season as the Cardinals closer but wasn't getting the job done and then ended up getting injured. It isn't easy to replace a closer early in the season but Mike Matheny had to do just that. The Cardinals didn't miss a beat though as they replaced Boggs with Edward Mujica. Mujica has yet to blow a save in twenty-one chances.
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| Credit: Rant Sports Edward Mujica with Yadier Molina after a save. Mujica has made the best of the opportunity he was given and has 21 saves in 21 chances. For the Cardinals to win it all he will have to remain solid for this Cardinal bullpen. |
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