Yesterday, I experienced a peculiar feeling. When the Cardinals blew the game and lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, I felt…. fine. I am not used to this. The Cardinals objectively lost in a devastating fashion, and yet I was not devastated. Not even a little bit. If I am watching a normal game, where I feel strongly that the Cardinals should win, and then they do not win in a completely boring way, I’ll be in a bad mood the rest of that day. And here the Cardinals were – losing a game they should have
won, and even blowing it in a preventable way. I reacted with no particular anger or frustration.
There are a few factors that maybe influenced this feeling. I honestly felt like they were going to lose. It’s the kind of game you lose. Stranding a million runners and not adding on. I always have this feeling that all the BABIP is gonna be concentrated in one inning if the other team is hitless. And of course, it was the Brewers. They stole the Cardinals devil magic.
Another factor is how the Cardinals have won. They have frequently came back and won. And a lot of legitimate comebacks, not the kind where you’re losing 1-0 in the 1st, but 9th inning, down by two runs. Down by 5 runs. Sometimes you might go a season without these type of comebacks, and the Cardinals have provided multiples in two months of play. I must want on some level strive for karma, because Cardinals haven’t really received the commensurate heartbreak.
And then there’s the final factor: I didn’t really expect this season to be this fun. I know that’s a weird point to make given the context of the very not fun game that just happened. I didn’t expect the Cardinals to be bad, and I’ll always enjoy Cardinals baseball, but I thought I would get the same sort of season-long feeling about the roughly .500 teams we’ve had lately. And I would presumably treat it like the minor leagues, where I ultimately care about individual performances and then I’d look up and it was 78 wins.
This told me something. Deep down, I didn’t really change my expectations for this year. I hadn’t realized this. I care that JJ Wetherholt looks like the real deal. I care that Jordan Walker looks like an MVP candidate. I care that Dustin May looks to be delivering on his potential, however slowly it comes and whether or not it comes with a great deadline return. I care that Nolan Gorman, despite his ever vanishing bat, looks like a real third baseman. Wins are just gravy.
Now, this is not me saying that a loss won’t ever bother me. I will definitely have days where a loss ruins my mood. On a day-to-day basis, I will experience days where I will pin all my hopes and dreams on the Cardinals winning that day and others where I will operate as if the Cardinals are guaranteed to lose, mentally I’ve marked it in my calendar, and if a loss comes, it was preordained. A win will be like winning the lottery or changing history.
I can see that it has changed how some people feel about the season. Yesterday was justified, but I am seeing the same kind of tone and message as when the Cardinals were expected to win. It’s been a subtle shift. It’s a sign of people caring certainly. People are invested in the Cardinals winning and we’ve all let a little hope squeak through that the Cardinals have a chance to make the playoffs. (This is definitely true by the way. Even if the Cardinals are a 78 win team, they could outperform enough to get a wild card spot)
And hey, the Cardinals might win. Honestly. Jordan Walker going from below replacement to MVP candidate and JJ Wetherholt being a potential All-Star right away are the kinds of things that would significantly raise your expected win total. Jordan Walker himself could raise the preseason win expectancy by five wins. So if they’re labeled a 75 win team at the beginning of the year, Walker could be the reason they win 80 instead by himself. Outperform your pythag a little bit and boom, you’re right there in it.
But it’s fine if they aren’t for real. If they collapse as a team and win somewhere between 70 and 80 wins, that’s okay. That’s what we all expected at the beginning of the year. If Jordan Walker still looks like a legit star player at the end of the year, I kind of don’t care what the exact win total is. The season is a success. We got a cheap star on the team.
What were technically uncertain positions appear to be resolved for the near future. We can feel pretty comfortable about right field now. We can feel pretty comfortable about second base. We can feel pretty comfortable about 1B too. Alec Burleson already broke out last season, but knowing he can play first and maintaining what he did last year locks in another position. And if they trade Burleson, I imagine they have plans to move Ivan Herrera there or something. Yeah, Gorman still kind of isn’t cutting it and yeah we may need to find a centerfielder, but if you figure out three positions per rebuilding season, you aren’t rebuilding much longer.
So really, my real answer as to why I wasn’t affected by the loss yesterday is that as premature as it is, I feel like this season is a success already. There’s still four months to play I know, but if you were told before the season “I can only guarantee one thing, and I can tell you nothing else: Jordan Walker finds his bat. If you shake my hand right now, it will happen and I will promise nothing else.” 100 percent of us are shaking that hand. Throw in Wetherholt and Riley O’Brien and we would be ecstatic and most of us really wouldn’t care about what the win total was.
I’ll enjoy this season for what it is and if they outperform my initial expectations, this will be one of the most fun seasons of my life no question. If they only gave me two months of fun and some important individual performances working out, then I’ll still be a happy guy. Now let’s sweep those Cubs.
