St. Louis Cardinals hope for a better second-half performance – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny on Wednesday, July 11, stated that the team has not hit their stride yet. Commenting on the team’s overall performance in the first half of the season, he felt that the club will be able to do better in the second-half of this season.
"It just doesn't seem like we've even hit our stride yet," manager Mike Matheny said. "You guys can call me the perpetual optimist if you'd like, but I still think our best baseball is in front of us. Those six-, eight-, 10-game winning streaks, there's no reason why this team shouldn't be able to do that."
The defending World Series Champions, the Cardinals, has been hit by injuries and deficiencies since the start of the season. Take for example the conspicuous absence of the ace starter Chris Carpenter who is out of this season due to injury. That is a huge loss for the Cardinals this year.
Also, Lance Berkman has not been able to play any game since May 19. His return will be of tremendous help for the offence to reorganize itself. However, it is to be mentioned that the offence has – even in his absence, done better. His return will embolden it further.
With the offensive depth available to the St. Louis Cardinals, the team will be looking for a relatively stronger rotation and bullpen if it wants to keep itself floating. The team is currently third in the NL Central ranking following the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds.
Matheny’s concern is mainly the bullpen. That is one area that he thinks should the players work on. "We have guys with, to me, above average stuff in our bullpen that shouldn't get hit like they have for a part of the season," Matheny said. "Hopefully, that'll change."
It was in the second-half of the season last year when the Cardinals stormed back and made it to the World Series finals to beat the Texas Rangers. Whether they are able to repeat it this year is a question that does not have a clear answer.
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