Pitching: Weighing Down the Team

Dear Redbirds,

When I picture the 2012 Cardinals, I see this: a bird attempting to take flight with a lead ball and chain attached to its feet.  Figuratively, the pitching is that ball and chain.  The offense does all it can-- it still leads the NL in most offensive categories!-- while the pitching is keeping this team from flying away from the division.

Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch wrote an article going into detail about how the poor effort by the pitching staff lead to a sub .500 May.  He mentions that in the last 20 games the Cardinals are  7-13 with SIX bullpen losses. SIX.

Is this team going to deal with a BLOWpen all  year like last year's?  It's annoying because it is the ONLY really glaring problem with this team (well, that and the starters not pitching deep into games, which could alleviate some to the bullpen problems...).  We've had the best offense in the National League for a season and two months now.  This team gets its pitching together, it is most definitely a better team that 2011 because our defense is also (mostly) good.

Basically, he says what we all know, what I said all last month: the pitching sucks and its making the team lose games the offense had done MORE than enough to win.

The offense is still clicking even with weekly losses of key components-- that's because this team is DEEP.  I cannot wait until everyone is healthy again, because right now we are playing our depth.  And that's scary.  But it's also great that the depth is keeping it up.  I just hope they don't decide to falter in June-- ugh, imagine if they have a funk this month along with the pitching-- ugh!  I'll die!

Anyway, PITCHERS-- shape up! Starters, your goal for June is to go deep into games! Aim for seven innings, go no less than six.

The worse part about the losses is how close we came to winning most of them. If the starting pitchers had gone deeper into more games in May, if the bullpen wasn't overexposed and overused, we wouldn't be looking at the Reds right now.  They'll still be looking at us.

Oh yeah, I hope you all enjoyed your unhappy flight from Atlanta to the Big Apple.

'Til Later

"Happy Flight!" meter: 8/14