This is my first article since the postseason collapse of the St. Louis Cardinals and boy, it does not feel good. My question is very simple; where were our MVPs at?
Follow along with the article, as I will take a different approach to the loss than others might. It is not acceptable to be swept by the Philadelphia Phillies, but it happened, so let’s discuss what’s next.
Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt
In all likelihood, the top two vote-getters for the National League MVP award will both be St. Louis Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt should be the winner, and Nolan Arenado should be the runner-up. You would think a lineup with these guys batting back-to-back could go deep in October, right?
The two went a combined 1-for-15 in the Wild Card series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Let that sink in. Arenado went 1-for-7 with two strikeouts and a run scored, while Goldschmidt went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts. He only reached base when he was hit by a pitch. As the 3 and 4 hitters, they went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Now, I understand that life may be different had the wind not utterly ruined the lives of Cardinals fans by robbing Arenado of a bomb in game one, but these stats are not okay. Philadelphia was below .500 on the road this year and had the worst record against teams above .500 from any other NL team in the MLB playoffs.
The hot corner has been a brick wall all season, but he allowed a ball to roll past him in a crucial spot during the Phillies’ comeback. Simply put, nothing went right for these guys.
Be Nice, Cardinals Fans
St. Louis Cardinals fans caused an absolute riot on Twitter after the series. I am a pretty weird fan that very much so believes in the baseball gods. I am the type of fan to always have positive thoughts and hope the ball bounces our way because of it. That definitely did not work this series, but here’s where I hope it works.
Cardinals fans currently have sour thoughts towards their All-Star third basemen, but he could very easily walk this offseason. All signs have pointed to Arenado being a Cardinal next season, but can we just save our Tweets in the drafts until he is confirmed to be playing in Busch Stadium next year?
Arenado did not show up like he needed to in the playoffs; that is an objective fact. If we want any shot at competing next season, Arenado needs to be our 4 hitter and our everyday third-baseman. Imagine the chip on his shoulder right now. As my good friend Elsa from the movie Frozen says, “The past is in the past. Let it go.”
