Bernie on the Cardinals: It’s a Time For Urgency And Accountability. And Most Of All, Winning.

The Cardinals seem to have a problem with accountability. 

In recent interviews, most notably with Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak expressed support for the coaching staff and repeated something that he has said all along — that he likes this team. A team that is guided by manager Mike Shildt. And we know that Mo likes Shildt. 

Mozeliak agrees that the Cardinals (36-36) need to play better baseball, cleaner baseball, more consistent baseball. And naturally Mozeliak cited the damage caused by injuries, especially to No. 1 starter Jack Flaherty.

Mozeliak also said this to Goold:  “It’s not all in or we’re going to break up the organization.  That’s not the pressure I feel.”

Mozeliak elaborated: “If, at some point, we look for something outside the organization, we certainly will, but we’re not at a point where we’re only going to define ourselves by 2021. We’re not feeling that pressure if we don’t win this year that we’re all in trouble.  We must understand that we can all do things better.  We also understand what we thought we’re going to have — because of injuries — hasn’t yet worked out.”

The Cardinals, Mozeliak said, weren’t willing to “take a real chunk out of our farm system” to pull off a major trade.

Let’s review:

Got to play better, but …

Mo likes the team. Likes the staff.

Injuries.

Mo isn’t in the “all in” mode for 2021.

Mo isn’t feeling the pressure; not in trouble if the Cardinals don’t win this year. He used “we” which presumably means the no-pressure, not-in-trouble attitude applies to those who have positions of authority.

Injuries.

Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. is firm in his support of Mozeliak, who is firm in his support of Shildt, who is firm in his support of the coaches and players. The bosses are good with how the jobs are being done. The manager rarely offers nothing less than unconditional praise for his players, no matter how poorly they are playing.

Welcome to Mister Rogers’ neighborhood.

No pressure indeed.

Here’s the perception from the outside: the Cardinals have no solutions right now. But they do have an abundance of  I got your back no matter what protection for each other.

And this reduces the accountability factor.

This is a problem.

First of all, if the president of baseball ops is publicly taking a no-pressure, not-in-trouble stance about 2021, what kind of message does this send to the clubhouse?

This is also a bit confusing. In early June, after losing Flaherty, Mozeliak said this in a video conference with reporters: “Roster creativity is going to be something that we have to take a deep dive in. If there are ways we can add some depth, not only to the big-league club but to the system in general, that’s something we’re going have to explore. And that’s something that’s going to start right away.”

A change of plans, I guess. Or perhaps Mozeliak was making an effort to establish leverage in possible trade talks. Because the Cardinals don’t have much if any leverage at the moment. Teams want their A List prospects.

And then there’s Shildty. He gets overly defensive when the media ask professional, perfectly legitimate questions about his team’s obvious performance issues.

The manager was flabbergasted by a postgame question following STL’s hideous 9-1 loss at Atlanta on Friday. Goold noted the deepening of the losing trend and asked about the urgency to reverse the downturn.

A reasonable inquiry.

And from Goold, a sincere and genuine inquiry.

The Cardinals have won only three of their last 10 series. They have the NL’s third-worst record (13-21) and winning percentage (.382) since May 14. They’re 6-14 (.300) since May 30; that ranks 27th in the majors over that time.

The St. Louis offense has scored the second-lowest amount of runs in the majors since the end of April. The pitching staff has a 5.03 earned-run average over the last 34 games including a 5.28 ERA from the starters. And the defense has had too many slipshod moments in recent weeks.

It’s been a really bad time for this club on many fronts, and it’s fair to ask about the urgency level. When a team is struggling, and getting worse, the leaders are asked about these things.

Shildt responded by introducing a false premise. Something about turning over tables and destroying the postgame clubhouse spread in a showy display of anger to get his players’ attention. Shildt made it clear: he wasn’t going to do that. It doesn’t work.

Except …

No one asked him to do that.

Or even suggested that he do that. 

Besides, it’s an outdated reference. No manager pulls that stunt anymore because it’s ridiculous and the players giggle.

Look, I don’t need Shildt to take a baseball bat to a pan of baked ziti, throw twice-baked potatoes at the wall, grind nacho chips into dust with his cleats, or shred slabs of baby back ribs with his bare hands.

But when the manager comes out every night to praise his players for working hard, and for playing hard, and for trying … well, nice. But we would hope so, right?

Isn’t it a minimum obligation to work hard, and compete with intensity? I mean, isn’t this why they’re being paid? Isn’t this why they are here? Isn’t this their job?

Why would they not play hard?

It’s June, for cripe’s sake. The Cards are still in the NL Central race, only 3.5 games out as of Tuesday morning. So why would the Cardinals half-heart it under any circumstances — but especially this early in the season, while competing in a flawed and forgiving division, with first place within reach?

Shildty, please. Your players don’t get credit — let alone extra credit — for making an effort. The player payroll is $160 million this year; your men are well compensated for their labor.

On a team led by Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, caring is not an option. It is mandatory.

This baseball pity party must stop.

At no point has anyone in the STL media accused the Cardinals of lollygagging or giving anything less than their best. Not even close. And yet here’s Shildty coming out after just about every loss, talking about his players scratching and clawing, leaving their hearts on the field, and battling their tails off.  Good grief. Is this baseball or Omaha Beach?

(Related observation: Can you imagine Shildt managing an MLB team in a tough media market? Oh, man.)

The standards have been lowered, and this saddens me.

If the owner is pleased with the front office, and the front office is pleased with the manager and the coaches, and the manager is pleased with everybody on his team — and seldom is heard a discouraging word — well, this is part of why you become mediocre. This is part of how you get to 36-36 and, according to FanGraphs, have a 9.6 percent chance to make the postseason.

There’s more to it than that, of course. There have been personnel mistakes, squandered payroll, and the failure to properly address roster needs, especially the depth.

And injuries, sure. But every team is dealing with injuries. Losing Flaherty was a jolt, and a healthy Jordan Hicks would augment the bullpen. But take a look at all of the pitching injuries in MLB this season. The Cardinals aren’t alone.

And injuries have nothing to do with the Cardinals’ wheezing offense. Harrison Bader hit for power and boosted the offense when he entered the lineup (from the IL) in late April, and it was an exciting look. But at the time of his second injury (busted rib) Bader was in a 1 for 20 slump. In 83 plate appearances this season Bader is batting .219 with a .301 OBP and .411 slug.

The Cardinals seem to be stuck in this place, at least for now. As they open a quick two-game series in Tuesday night in Detroit, the Cardinals resume their 20-game stretch against losing teams. So far they’re 4-3 on this journey and have to do better by piling up a lot of wins.

With 13 more games to go on this 20-game invitation, the Cardinals are in position to lift their record and the collective mood around this team. If they pitch and play well, they can change the subject. They can convert their efforts into the only thing that matters — actual success. They can redirect their season to a more positive track.

The Cardinals can’t waste this opportunity. I won’t use the banned word (“urgency”) here, but since the start of last season St. Louis is 66-64. That’s 7th in the NL and tied for 14th overall.

No pressure, though.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie 

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