Ladies & Gentlemen it’s finally here. Opening Day in St. Louis is a day like no other. The fountains are red, the clydesdales will be making their glorious trot around the field, the Hall of Famers will be donning their red jackets, and the city of St. Louis welcome their favorite boys of summer home again. Opening Day is big across the country – I get it. However there truly is nothing like the scene of the players motorcade going around the field, while Dwayne Hilton (shout out to Ernie Hays) plays “Here Comes the King”. Opening Day in St. Louis is normally earmarked by ½ the city as a sick day. It doesn’t matter that when you arrive your boss is there because both of you are “sick” – and nothing stands in the way of Opening Day. No sick day is needed this year however as the Cards open up on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.
This year the Cardinals opener will look a little different as Carlos Martinez will be the starting pitcher. Carlos Martinez getting the nod on Opening Day won’t matter much in a few months, however it’s almost the “passing of the torch” as he gets penciled in ahead of Adam Wainwright who has started 5 season openers in his tenure with St. Louis. I don’t think C-Mart will ever pass Bob Gibson and his team record 10 starts in the season opener – however I’m excited to see Matheny give the first start of the season to the Cardinals best starter. Wainwright is tied with Chris Carpenter and Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean for the 2nd most opening day starts (yes there’s a stat for that). Once the rotation rolls through the first 5 games, the Cardinals need that day’s starter to be the ace. While it seems like an uphill battle to catch the Cubs, the Cardinals need to simply worry about themselves first.
The Cardinals lineup brings back many familiar faces of last year team with one main addition, Dexter Fowler. Dexter Fowler hopes to be the proverbial “straw that stirs the drink” for the Cardinals batting atop the Cardinals order. Playing time at second base (Garcia, Gyorko, Wong), third base (Gyorko, Peralta), whether Stephen Piscotty can turn the switch after an awful spring (.151 batting average), and how the Cardinals will deploy Matt Adams (1B, LF???) if he continues to hit like he did all spring (.340 5 HR) seem to be a few hot topic questions for the offense as the season opens. The Cardinals welcome back Lance Lynn to the rotation but mainly will have the same names toeing the rubber in April as they did last year. Starting pitching health/performance, whether Rosenthal can turn into a “long man” (once he’s back and off of the disabled list), starting pitching health/performance, if Matheny keeps all of his bullpen pitchers involved while not running Siegrist and Oh into the ground, along with how the starting pitchers perform/stay healthy (see an important trend here) are the main questions for the pitching staff this season.
The Cardinals finished the spring 20-8 with a handful of ties. This was the Cardinals best spring training record in 20 years. However none of that will matter if they fall flat on their face in April. The Cardinals achieved 20 wins this spring with a nice mix of players who will be on their team this year, along with a mix of young Cardinals that will be making their debut in the near future. However, if the Cardinals continue to play like they did in Jupiter (stellar pitching backed by a solid defense with just enough offense) then maybe Matheny and the Cardinals will be able to stay close enough to the Cubs to give them a run at the division. It seems like no one is really high on the Cardinals right now, however that seems to be when the Cardinals are most dangerous.
Enjoy one of the best days in St. Louis – Opening Day!
