The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed a much-needed All-Star Game Break, but a handful of the players did not get the weekend off. The ratings may have gone down in this year’s big game, but the MLB All-Star Game Weekend is still one of the most exciting weekends in all of baseball.
We are leaving Nolan Arenado off the list for the fact he has some lower-back pain. Arenado was snubbed of a starting position and will prove to the league why he deserves it.
St. Louis finished the first part of the season with a 50-44 record, putting them in 2nd place in the NL Central. They are currently sitting 0.5 games back of the pesky Milwaukee Brewers. Let’s take a look at the Cardinals in the All-Star Gane, how they did and how they are doing on the year.
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Albert Pujols at the All-Star Game
It was an emotional weekend for Cardinals veteran Albert Pujols. The MLB stepped up and announced Pujols as an All-Star and fans of baseball rejoiced to see the 42-year-old compete. This was his 10th All-Star selection.
Not only did he compete in the All-Star Game, he also bashed a home run or two in the derby. Pujols had the honor of dethroning the No. 1 seeded Kyle Schwarber. Unfortunately, the DH went hitless in his lone at-bat, but the entire weekend was so special for Cardinals fans.
Pujols is obviously not the player he used to be, but he is crushing lefties at .316, .348, .544 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. Let’s not talk about his production against righties, but his retirement tour would end well with a nice run in October.
Paul Goldschmidt
The soon-to-be MVP, Paul Goldschmidt, showed exactly why that should happen with his performance at Dodger Stadium. For some reason he only got one at-bat, but he made it count with the lone home run for the NL squad.
Goldy is crushing the ball, hitting .330, .414, .590 with 70 RBIs, 20 homers and a 4.8 WAR. We are witnessing history watching the first basement and you should be excited to continue watching Goldy bombs all season.
Ryan Helsley and Miles Mikolas
We are combining Ryan Helsley and Miles Mikolas here because they both enjoyed time in the NL dugout, but only one of them saw playing time. Mikolas sat this one out, but Helsley got to flash his arm with a 103 mph heater. He threw 1.0 innings, giving up one hit and two strikeouts.
Helsley is crushing it out of the pen this season. He has been one of the few bright spots in our bullpen, with a 0.69 ERA, 0.667 WHIP, 8 saves and 57 strikeouts in 39.0 innings. Mikolas “the Lizard King” has a 2.54 ERA and 0.956 WHIP in 120.1 IP. He also flirted with a no-hitter with 8.2 innings of no-no ball.
These are our players who made the trip to Los Angeles, and it is time for a big second half. Congrats to Pujols, Arenado, Goldschmidt, Helsley and Mikolas for the big accomplishment!
