CINCINNATI — The Cardinals, like other ball clubs, have oodles of measurements and data to determine every move, and that includes ones made before the game when choosing who and when to rest during a dogged stretch of games, so they don’t have to rely on the box scores.
Although, they would have seen the same message there.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol removed the middle of the order from Thursday’s getaway game, subtracting three All-Stars and two of last year’s MVP finalists from the offense all at once to get them a break. Paul Goldschmidt had spent the previous two days at designated hitter and done well, while teammates Nolan Arenado, zero-for-10 (six strikeouts), and Willson Contreras, one-for-24, could not hide the fatigue in their swings.