Getting into the playoffs hasn’t been a problem for the Cardinals. They’ve done it five of the last six seasons. The problem’s been bringing home the gold and hopefully this will be the season they finally get over the hump.
The Cardinals do worry me though. They have a ton of question marks with Scott Rolen trying to come back from his injury and Jim Edmonds playing through his. And then there’s Albert Pujols. If anything happens to him….. well, let’s not even bring it up.
And the rotation has holes. Sidney Ponson? I hope he’s picked his game up after a two season slump. Mark Mulder is an injury waiting to happen and we no longer have Matt Morris to rely on.
If Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen can all stay healthy, this a great offensive team. And even if the pitching slips, they should still compete in a division that looks like it’s taken a step down from prior years. The Pirates and Reds are both pretty bad, and neither the Astros nor the Cubs really did much to help themselves out. A lot will depend on what Roger Clemens does, but a good start here in the first couple of months might make that moot.
So I think the Cardinals are going to do it, again. I just hope when the time comes six months from now, they’ll be able to get things done in October. It’ll be the defending Cy Young winner, Chris Carpenter going up against Jon Lieber on Monday.
