2 weeks in....

With nearly two full weeks of baseball down, the cardinals have already shown the fans quite a bit. With the offense starting off in the toilet the pitching was basically dominant. Aside from the game Keith and I attended they were in every game they played. Clearly this team is not the same with no. 7 on the bench. As good of a hitter as Allen Craig is, he is certainly no Matt Holiday. Then again who is? Good god the man came back from an appendectomy is half the time it was expected.

One shining light beaming from these first two weeks is the young talent the cards have. Colby Rasmus, David Freese, Allen Craig, Jaime Garcia and Kyle Mclellan, to name a few. Rasmus and Freese have been carrying this club with the absence of Pujols' bat. Once he starts swinging(I'm no longer as salty about his slow start and am just now eagerly awaiting the show) and Holiday and Berkman(who has 3 HR in 2 games) do what they have always done, you might have a club that will contend with Votto's red hot Reds.

Starting pitching has absolutely not gone the way the pundits predicted. Once 50 was out for the year everyone turned to Carp to handle the load. Aside from Westbrook, Carp has had one of the least impressive showings since the season started. Lohse has completely surprised me in that his stuff looks sharp and he appears to be in control. I'm cautiously hopeful that Kyle can pick up a significant amount of wins. Jaime's complete game shutout of the Padres team that posted 11 the day prior was magnificent. Dave Duncan has spun pure gold out of Jaime's arm. Jaime clearly passes the eye test and has enough break and deception to fool any big league hitter. The sky is the limit.

Moving forward, optimism lingers in redbird nation. With an offense that can do its share of damage and pitching that may surprise a few clubs, the Cardinals have a chance to dig themselves out of the hole they have been in since Jocketty left.