The Winter of Change is coming to the Cardinals, whether they rally from Monday night’s debacle to make the playoffs or not.
Their starting pitching has broken down, as Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha underscored with awful performances against the Cincinnati Reds. Potential replacements are returning from injuries or rising up through the system, so the rotation will look different next year.
The lineup remains an unsolved puzzle with lots of ill-fitting pieces. The batting order features lots of No. 2-, No. 6- and No. 7-type hitters and a dearth of legitimate middle-of-the-order bats. Monday night, it was Yadier Molina’s turn to hit third.