Bare with me and allow me to be the 132704th person to write about the Cardinals heading into the Albert Pujols-less portion of their schedule. When a friend of mine received the bad news a few days ago, he sent me a text that read a little something like this: "Shit shit shit shit." Those words only ran through my head as I watched Pete Kozma get a little too ambitious with a throw from the middle hole of the infield and Pujols get his arm slightly snapped by Wilson Betemit running to first base. But as the news set in that Albert would be missing 4-6 weeks, my anxiety levels weren't all that high. Cardinal Nation began to become a worrisome bunch, especially since this news was following a recent 7-game skid that included getting swept by the under-whelming Washington Nationals. However, to steal a few words from Pink Floyd, "I have become comfortably numb," - though in this case it's without all the hallucinogenic drugs - with the Cardinals' situation. I have felt no panic or worry about the team. Let me give you a few reasons why.
1. THE NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL IS ONCE AGAIN A JOKE!!!!!!!!! - I cannot emphasize this point enough. Sadly, for the rest of the baseball, the winner of this division will get an automatic spot in the playoffs. This means that we only have to play one game better than five other teams, two of which (Astros and Cubs) are among the three worst in baseball right now. While the Pirates are currently flirting with a .500 record led by a crop of young talent, I still don't see them as a long term threat to win the division, just a threat to steal games when playing the Cardinals head-to-head. Meanwhile, the main competition lies in the Reds and Brewers. Since day one, I have said the Brewers were going to be the main competition for this division. The Reds may be competitive for a while, but they don't have the consistent starting pitching necessary to put them over the top at the end of the season. People will counter and say that they won the division last year with a similar rotation. I would respond and say that the Cardinals and Brewers are both very different teams from their 2010 versions. I don't think there will be too much of a record differential when he comes back at the beginning of August.
2. Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman (and some supporting guys) - If Matt avoids any more trips to the DL and the Big Puma stays around .315 with some pop, our lineup is still very solid. This 3-4 punch is currently as good as any other in the NL statistically, even considering the time they've missed due to injury. If they continue to put up the very respectable numbers we've seen from them in the first three injury-riddled months of the season, then Pujols' injury may just be a minor offensive setback in the grand scheme of things. With David Freese and Allen Craig returning to the lineup (soon hopefully?) and Rasmus getting out of his latest funk, (also soon hopefully?) the Cardinals' lineup still looks quite formidable. 1. SS Ryan Theriot 2. CF Colby Rasmus 3. LF Matt Holliday 4. 1B Lance Berkman 5. 3B David Freese 6. RF John Jay 7. C Yadier Molina 8. (this spot in the lineup depends on if Craig is here or if it's the other available 2B candidates on the Cardinals' roster) 2B Allen Craig/Skip Schumaker/Pete Kozma/etc. 9. Pitcher's spot. 1-7 are very solid, especially if Molina continues to hit around .300, which we know he is capable of and could very do so by the end of the season. So while losing a three-time MVP will obviously leave you with a giant hole to fill, it may not be one that is irreparable if other people can successfully come back from their early-season injuries and other role players hit adequately.
3. Clubhouse Feel - Has anyone ever gotten the sense that this team brims with a lot more fire, optimism, and overall enjoyment than last year's Cardinals? Because I do. Whether it's the addition of Berkman (known as a great clubhouse presence) or just a good blend of younger guys and loose veteran players, they seem to be having a lot more fun than they were last year around this time. A great example is the giddiness the whole team showed when Skip hit his walk-off homer on Sunday. They could have had a slightly subdued celebration due to Pujols leaving the game with his injury. Instead, the antics that ensued made it appear as joyous of an occasion a team can have during the middle of the regular season, jovially mobbing Skip at the plate and doing that punching thing they like to do. Watching this team night in and night out, I get a sense that the Pujols injury may induce quick temporary shock, but it won't effect this team in the long term, and heck, it might even make them more confident in themselves as a team rather than just being "Pujols and friends."
4. Last but not least Tony LaRussa - If there's one guy that can pull a rabbit out of his hat in this situation, it's Tony. The seasons when he arguably had the most success (2004, 2006, and 2009) were all seasons that a lot of "experts" had them not winning the division at the beginning of the season. They went on to win the most games of any team in either league and make the World Series, win the World Series, and win the division comfortably, respectively. This is exactly the kind of team Tony thrives in managing. Guys with pop in their bats in the middle of the lineup (Holliday and Berkman), scrappy platoon players every where you turn (Skip, Descalso, Craig, Kozma, etc, etc.), pitchers who can perform above expectations (yes, they have sucked recently but Carp's bad luck will run out, Loshe can still have an above average season, and Jamie will be just fine), and a good clubhouse feel (explained above). You look at the three (possibly four, if you feel like being generous to a team that hasn't had a winning record since the first Clinton administration) division contenders and their managers, who are you going to trust? Dusty Baker? Clint Hurdle? Ron Roenicke? I mean, sure, those guys are solid (or in the case of Dusty Baker aren't solid) but they don't have the kind of credentials or state of mind to get their teams through these tough summer months like Tony does.
So fear not Cardinal Nation, your beloved Redbirds will weather this storm, just like the Katrina-like hurricane that was the Adam Wainwright injury or the tropical storm that was Holliday's two injuries. It may not be perfectly smooth sailing. There may be some rough patches, dark spots, and bumps in the road but to paraphrase something the pre-Two Face angel that was Harvey Dent said,
Pujols' injury is the darkest your DL can get before a division title can be earned. And I promise you a title race involving the Cardinals is coming.
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