I feel confident enough in saying that Cincinnati is probably not gonna make the playoffs. Other than a few good players, (Votto, Duvall, etc..) there isn’t many positives about this ballclub.
Which is exactly what the Cardinals needed.
Granted, the Reds do have a few key injuries in their lineup, but did we really expect much out of them? Not in the slightest. Most people would agree that the only race they were in was for last in the NL Central.
But here’s my point… They weren’t good last year either. Last season the Cardinals went 10-9 against Cincinnati. The Reds were 68-94, while the Cardinals were 83-79. You want to know why we didn’t make the playoffs? We couldn’t even put away the Reds.
Earlier this week I had the privilege to be on the 11th Inning Stretch podcast with Paul Eppy and we talked about this very topic. During our banter he brought up a great point. He says to me “you have to beat the teams that are inferior to you….You need to be .500 against the good teams and you need to be above .500 (or in the Reds case), way above .500 against the inferior teams.”
And I couldn’t agree more.
Last season against the Reds and Pirates, who were below them in the division, the Cardinals were 21-17 for a .552 winning percentage. Not bad, but should probably be better.
Against the Cubs and Brewers, the Cardinals were 13-25… Giving them a .342 winning percentage. If they managed to take a couple extra wins against this lower tier teams, this team is closer to a playoff spot… Which brings me to this season.
So far against the Reds, the Cardinals have taken care of busines . The Reds have already fired their manager this season, and have a 3-16 record after falling to the Cardinals 4-2 on Friday. Against the Reds this season the Cardinals are 5-0 and have outscored the Reds 31-12. This is exactly what the Cardinals need to be doing. Every game means something. When you are facing a vastly inferior opponent, you need to put your foot down and take control of the situation. So far they have also played .500 ball against both the Cubs and Brewers, but I’m hoping the Cards will take better advantage of poor starting pitching for both clubs moving forward.
A good start against Cincinnati could be the spark that gets the Cardinals moving in the right direction. They have been close to a playoff push the last two seasons, but have come up just short . If they keep beating up on these inferior teams, the wins will keep racking up. I’m looking forward to seeing the Cardinals keep going forward.
On the hill tomorrow for the Cardinals will be Carlos Martínez facing Homer Bailey for the Reds. Gametime is 1:15 CT at Busch Stadium
Thanks for Reading!
Aaron M.
Check out my new Cardinals Podcast “The Musial Suspects!
Twitter – @SuspectsMusial
Have some questions you want us to talk about in the podcast? Send us an email at [email protected]!
