To be honest, folks, after Motte blew our lead in the 9th inning on Opening Day, I seriously said to myself, "Hoooooo boy. Here we go again." I had wore my St. Louis Cardinals hat, tie, and even my white Reebok shoes with the logo embroidered on the side to work that day. Grr.
But since then, our starting pitching has a combined ERA (I believe) of less than 3. It has just been our relief that has been bonkers.
I was going to post today and say that Pujols really hasn't found his stride, but then he goes and hits 3 for 4 with a pair of homers and 3 RBIs to raise his average to .347 and leaving him 2 RBIs shy of 1,000 for his career. Most Ribbies and most Homers in the National League so far. Paging Ryan Howard...
MOST SURPRISING TEAMS:
By far the Florida Marlins top my list. Their pitching staff consists of nobody with more than 6 years experience in the majors (Most have only 3 or 4 years experience). They have Dan Ugly, Handy Ramirez, Jorge Cantu, and Jeremy Hermida (the four names that I recognize on their roster). Though they did just lose a 3-game sweep to the Pirates, their opponents so far have been: 3 games against the Nats (Sweep), Won 2 out of 3 against the Mets, Swept the Braves, Swept the Nats again, and now have lost to the Pirates. They haven't really played any big teams yet, so we'll see how they hold up against the Phillies and the Cubs (Who they play at the end of the month).
Also joining that list are the Mariners, Blue Jays, and the Padres, though the Mars and the Pads have trailed off (both 9 - 6 now, but started better than anyone originally thought). I'm happy for the Mariners. Ken Griffey, Jr. is a guy you can't really root against. Great guy, has always been consistent, and a future hall-0f-famer.
And what the hell...the ROYALS??
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
The Rays. Son of a bitch. They were my pick for the AL East. Sitting at 6 - 9, they're looking towards the top of the standings right now. (Just an editorial note: Yes, I know we're only 15, 16 games into the season, so please, no comments :-D) Indians and the Twins have been big let downs so far. Cubs, too. Zambrano just lost today against the Reds. I really want to go on and on in this section about how happy I am, but I won't. You're welcome, Jim and Shaun.
Angels need to step it up. They took 2 out of 3 against Boston, then lost 5 out of 6 against the Mariners and the Twins (salvaged a win against the Mariners). Next three series for them: At home against the Mariners, two game set in Baltimore, then they make their first trip to the new Yankee Stadium for a 4 game set there.
Well, I'll end this shorter-than-I-would-like post with some Cardinals stuff.
We had the lead in the last two games against the Cubs, but we couldn't hold onto it. Our bullpen really needs to step it the hell up if we want to give the Cubbies a run for their money. Ankiel finally stepped it up today, hitting his first homer and getting a couple RBIs to his credit, lifting his batting average to .227 or so. Ludwick is also proving that last year wasn't a fluke. He has the 2nd most RBIs and Home Runs next to Pujols, and he's batting over .333! But like I said, bullpen needs to pull their heads out of their asses if they want to give the Cardinals a shot to win the Central. And with Carpenter injured and out until maybe/probably June, our starting pitching really needs to step up, too. (How did I know this was coming????????)
I'll post later, folks. So take care until then.
-Cory
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