The Cardinals really turned their season around in May, but have hit a bit of a rough patch as the month of June gets underway. Since the turn of the month, the Cardinals are 1-3. They lost two out of three to the Rangers and did the same against the Royals upon returning home from Texas.
Up next? The Dodgers. This is going to be some kind of test. They’re playing the defending World Series champions, who are stacked with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez, and even former Cardinal Tommy Edman.
Me personally? I’m not panicking by any stretch, but I think it’s fair to wonder if the Cardinals might be coming back down to earth a little bit. Bernie Miklasz even pointed out that playing at an .800 clip like they were in May is not sustainable.
So, we’ll discuss both sides of the issue.
It’s time to worry
I must stress that it’s not a time to panic, as it is still a long season. But there are some cracks that are starting to show. The last two turns through their rotation have not been good, with Sonny Gray being the only consistent starter. He starts the series opener with the Dodgers tonight, and the Cardinals will need length out of him.
But you look at the rest of the rotation, and there’s a lot of uncertainty. Erick Fedde and Andre Pallante are very hit-and-miss, you never quite know what you’re going to get out of Miles Mikolas.
To make matters worse, Matthew Liberatore has had back-to-back clunkers, and he even left last night’s game with the training staff. The Cardinals said it was “fatigue-related issues.” It doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, but we just don’t know. His velocity dropped, and he allowed seven runs.
If the rotation keeps this up, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on the bullpen, which has been so good lately.
The Cardinals are really catching the Dodgers at the wrong time here, and it doesn’t get any easier. The Blue Jays come to town, then they have a four-game series in Milwaukee against the red-hot Brewers, who are right on their tails in the NL Central.
They get a bit of break with the White Sox and Reds, but then they close June with the Cubs and Guardians.
Don’t worry just yet
While it’s fair to be concerned, it’s not doomsday for the Cardinals. Yes, some cracks have shown their face, but even the best teams go through ups and downs and have stretches where they don’t play well.
They’re only a half-game back of the third Wild Card, and they have beaten some very good teams, including the Phillies, Astros, and Royals this season. They also swept the Diamondbacks, so you know they’re capable of rattling off wins against great teams.
The offense has shown that it can keep the Cardinals in games. Even last night against the Royals, they overcame a 5-1 deficit to tie the game against Cole Ragans.
We might just have to trust that things will work themselves out and that the Cardinals can continue their surprise run of success.