Covering MLB with a focus on the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals
Jason Motte tore a ligament in his right elbow during spring training in 2013 and had Tommy John surgery to fix it, but that operation requires about a full year of rehab before a pitcher can return to the mound in a Major League Baseball game.
While much of the success that a team has comes from its own preparation, what goes on around them also plays a huge factor. The Cardinals have been among the most successful clubs at concisely addressing their needs this winter, but how has the rest of the National League Central done?
The situation at the back end of the Cardinals’ bullpen four years later is nearly exactly the same.
The St. Louis Cardinals have played as tough of a schedule as any team in Major League Baseball this season.
The struggles of Adam Wainwright have caused for a red alert about if the Cardinals rotation can hold up to the demands of the remaining pennant chase.
A day after major changes for both franchises, the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets completed a trade that alters the remainder of the season for both.
For the first time in almost a month, the St. Louis Cardinals will enter a series as the division leader in the National League Central.
The St. Louis Cardinals have unquestionably played their worst baseball of the season the past three weeks, going 4-11 against the four best teams in the National League, but that rough stretch could be a large dose of the medicine the team needs to be ready for the playoffs.
Right-handed rookie starting pitcher Shelby Miller won the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training and pitched brilliantly for much of the first half of the season, but the 22-year-old’s performance began to drop in mid-June.
The St. Louis Cardinals landed Friday in Atlanta ready to begin an 11-game, 10-day road trip against three of the best teams in the National League with the best record in Major League Baseball.
