While the Cardinals may be down, baseball should always be up in St. Louis

Remember to appreciate the game itself this summer as the team reloads for a brighter future.

Sports fans get way over their heads when it comes to supporting their favorite teams. It’s like walking into Schnucks to grab a few groceries, and walking out with a cart full of crap that wasn’t intended when the car was parked. We go in wanting to just love and appreciate the game of baseball, but get caught up in the stats and winning percentage as if our jobs were on the line. The love for the game decreases due to the rabid expectation around town.

I can picture coming into work and my boss (and Buffet subscriber) Joe Rotskoff, telling me to go home because the Cardinals have a paltry 4-10 record on the season. It doesn’t work out that way, but our minds connect those dots for us before a reaction team can vanquish them away from our heads. Along the way, going from a childhood fan to an adulthood fan, the mere appreciation of the game is lost like my sunglasses go missing every few weeks.

This season for St. Louis won’t be a pretty one, unless 5-6 players outperform their projections. If Nolan Arenado finds the fountain of slugging youth this spring and turns it around, the team starts to inch closer to the wildcard spot for a theft opportunity. If Miles Mikolas shaves a run off his ERA (or more), the rotation looks a lot better. If Matthew Liberatore becomes the decent yet not great fifth starter that the team believes he can be, the rotation looks even better. If Lars Nootbaar somehow plays 130 games or more while maintaining an .800 OPS, the outfield looks better than mediocre.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. This is an underdog team in the worst way, because their payroll says one thing while their performance says something entirely different. Oli Marmol will become a better manager with each season he receives as the leader of this clubhouse, but he can’t soak more than 80-ish wins from this roster… unless those improvements all arrive on time like our mail once did.

Chaim Bloom is already churning President of Baseball Operations moves in his head, but the title isn’t officially his until John Mozeliak fills a box with all of his belongings and heads for California Pizza Kitchen for a club pizza and glass of chardonnay. The future headmaster can’t do much at the moment except for strategize and run models in his head with Randy Flores and company.

Of course, I would be remiss to put this out there without acknowledging that things are different around St. Louis. Expectations are on the roof no matter what Fangraphs or the MLB Network tells us. We want wins, pennants, rings, postseason baseball on the chilly eve of Halloween, and the whole package of triumphant baseball. It’s the reason that despite taking a dip in attendance and posting the lowest gate numbers since the newest stadium opened in 2006, St. Louis still finished 7th in the Major Leagues when it came to ticket sales. Seventh out of 30 teams… isn’t bad at all, but the win total of 83 was less than appetizing for those fans who now depend on playoff appearances to measure their love for the game.

As easy as it is to fall into that pitfall madness of sports fan despair, I have urged myself to pull back and love the game first. When the team is in a reload/retool/re-whatever mode, this is the time where true love for a game needs to kick on. Loving the Cardinals when they’re perennial playoff threats is easy street; staying loyal, while disgruntled and demanding better performance, should be the norm. Afford them whatever time you can, but don’t forget about them.

Masyn Winn isn’t a superstar yet, but he posted a very impressive 4.4 WAR in his first full season at shortstop, a position the Cardinals scoured the earth for over the past two decades. Sonny Gray may be entering the later year Adam Wainwright phase of his pitching career, but he still possesses the necessary tools to be an ace. Ryan Helsley, for the first half of the season at least, will shut down any short lead the team hands him in the ninth inning. Jordan Walker was screwed over in his development by the team, but he’s still 22 years old and has the potential to be a lineup staple.

Victor Scott II found power in the offseason, and Luken Baker’s power stroke will finally be put to good use. Willson Contreras will be the team’s MVP, and moving from catcher to first base will help his offense. He’s raked the ball since the end of 2023, freak injuries be damned. Nootbaar can be a fun player to watch when healthy. Brendan Donovan is a human Swiss army knife for the team. As I noted earlier, the future is bright with promising prospects.

Matthews was the minor league pitcher of the year last year, and Wetherholt was the seventh pick overall. They’re on a clear trajectory to the Majors. Michael McGreevy did all he could to make the team out of camp, but was blocked by previous free agent pitcher signings. Gordon Graceffo showed he could hang with big league bats last summer, and the pot of coffee on Tink Hence is still brewing.

All of this to say that the game of baseball is still a beautiful thing, against everything Rob Manfred does to rip it apart or tear it down to consumption scale. The Cardinals will play 162 games no matter what this year, and they will all count. With a roster and payroll like this, it would be foolish to completely rule the team out. Mozeliak may throw a Hail Mary pass with his final trade deadline. The chances aren’t great, but they’re not remote or far-fetched. I have more promise in this year’s team than last year’s team, because the young firepower doesn’t look like recycled goods.

These guys have something to prove, a chip on their shoulder and a legendary legacy to uphold. That should be entertaining to watch, even if the ultimate result won’t remind people of 2014 or the two decades of winning that came before it. At the root of all fandom, a love for the game should exist and power the building like a backup generator--or that’s at least how I hope things will go. Being defiant and not showing up to Busch is one thing; losing all interest is quite another, a leap I simply can’t make.

Remember that the winning and playoffs are their job, not ours. Our job is to try and push through all of that, and maintain our interest in a game that has tugged at my heart since I was six years old. 37 years later, as the great Kelly Chase said during the St. Louis Blues’ Cup run, I’m still here.

Let’s go Cardinals. Late March and early April is the right time to be optimistic. Can we hold onto that excitement, or will it descend into dread as the team spirals and the chances of October baseball dwindle? Only time will tell. Playoff baseball is great. We all know this. It’s like birthday cake or fresh French fries… who doesn’t love that? As anyone who has gone outside their house to purchase those delicious things, they’re not always available, so we hold out hope for the freshness to return.

Thanks for reading and happy Opening Day eve. Full Busch or not, it’s still a holiday in this city.