It was a difficult
finish to the 2012 Major League Baseball postseason for the St. Louis
Cardinals. Their inconsistencies during the regular season translated to the
postseason. During the regular season, they had the fourth best run
differential and scored the fifth most runs, but finished with only 88
regular-season wins for a specific reason. They lost many close games because
they had trouble with their late-game hitting. Then, in the National League
Championship Series (NLCS) against the San Francisco Giants, this trend was magnified.
The Giants' pitching in the final three NLCS games dominated the Cardinals'
batters. Barry Zito (Game 5), Ryan Vogelsong (Game 6) and Matt Cain (Game 7)
each pitched extremely well, shutting down St. Louis. Meanwhile, poor Cardinals
fielding let down their pitching. This frustrating combination for St. Louis led
to the team's downfall and prevented a second consecutive World Series
appearance.
When one takes a
step back and looks at the season as a whole, the Cardinals performed admirably
after losing their best hitter, Albert Pujols, and longtime Manager Tony La
Russa. They replaced Pujols’s production by signing Carlos Beltran and moving
Allen Craig from the bench to the starting lineup. Both of those hitters were
able to make up for Pujols's absence. Mike Matheny was hired to fill in for La
Russa and did a great job in his first year. The only major free agents that
St. Louis has this upcoming offseason are Lance Berkman and Kyle Lohse. Most
likely, Berkman will end up retiring because his knee injury could be too devasting
for him to return. Lohse will test the market for a big contract after having
arguably his best season of his career. With most of the Cardinals' roster
returning for the 2013 season, they look primed for yet another postseason
appearance.
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