Morning Briefing: Whitey Ball 2.0

 
The Cardinal Chronicle
Morning Briefing: Whitey Ball 2.0
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals opened their weekend series against Boston with a 3-2 win Friday night at Busch Stadium, and while it may only count as one game in the standings, it felt like something a little more important than that.

At 8-5, St. Louis is now tied with Pittsburgh for first place in the National League Central. It is still early, and nobody ought to be polishing playoff tickets in April, but the Cardinals are beginning to reveal an identity. That matters.

This club is not simply winning games. It is showing signs of how it intends to win them.

Dustin May was the biggest story of the night. Coming into the game, he was 0-2 with an ugly 15.95 ERA and badly in need of a reset. Against his former club, he delivered exactly that. May worked six innings, allowed four hits and two runs — only one of them earned — struck out four, walked nobody, and needed just 75 pitches to get through his outing.

That is a professional start.

After getting hit hard in his first two turns, May did not need to be perfect Friday night. He just needed to look like a pitcher capable of giving the Cardinals a chance to win every fifth day. He did that, and then some. Just as important, he retired the final seven batters he faced before handing the game over to the bullpen.

From there, the relief corps was flawless.

Ryne Stanek handled the seventh, JoJo Romero worked around trouble in the eighth, and Riley O’Brien needed only eight pitches in the ninth to lock down his fourth save. That last point is worth watching. Whether officially labeled or not, O’Brien is starting to look like the man getting the ball when the game is on the line.

At the plate, the Cardinals did what they have quietly done well in the early going: they pressured the other team into losing the game one small moment at a time.

St. Louis trailed 2-1 before rallying with two runs in the fifth inning. Thomas Saggese delivered the tying hit with an RBI single on his 24th birthday, and Jose Fermin followed with the go-ahead sacrifice fly. Earlier, Victor Scott II had already driven in a run with a sacrifice fly of his own.

That is not flashy baseball. That is winning baseball.

The Cardinals currently lead all of Major League Baseball in extra bases taken and productive outs, two categories that do not get much national attention but say quite a bit about the quality of a club’s play. They are not just waiting around for three-run homers. They are forcing action, taking the extra 90 feet, and cashing in opportunities that more careless teams let slip away.

That is worth noting because it speaks to something larger than one night’s box score. Through 13 games, the Cardinals are 4-0 in one-run games. Three of those wins have come in extra innings. That is not always sustainable over six months, but it does tell you this team is comfortable playing under pressure.

There are other early signs worth watching.

Jordan Walker added two more hits and continues to put together a steady opening stretch. JJ Wetherholt drew two walks and has now reached base in all 12 of his starts, an impressive opening statement for the rookie. Iván Herrera struck out three times Friday night, but his overall plate discipline remains one of the quiet strengths of this club. His 12 walks are tied for second-most in Major League Baseball, and he has now walked in eight consecutive games.

There was one caution flag.

Masyn Winn left the game in the fifth inning after being hit by a pitch in the leg. The club called it precautionary because of tightening, and that will be worth monitoring heading into Saturday. Saggese stepped in and helped change the game, but Winn’s presence at shortstop and at the top of the order matters to this team.

So what matters most this morning?

The Cardinals did not win Friday night because they overpowered Boston. They won because they pitched cleaner, executed better, and kept pressing when the game was still in reach. In other words, they won with structure.

For a club still trying to define itself, that is no small thing.

Saturday’s game will bring another test, with Kyle Leahy set to take the ball in the second game of the series. But for now, the Cardinals have earned something they did not always have in the opening week of the season: a little traction.

And in April, traction is no small thing.

And for me, it's like living through Whitey Ball 2.0 and I can live with that.