The St. Louis Cardinals were barreling toward their third consecutive missed postseason when they made the decision to part ways with manager Mike Matheny and turn the reins over to Mike Shildt.They still wound up missing the playoffs.But oh David Wright Jersey , what a run they made.A club that was hovering around .500 when Matheny was dumped in July set a record for consecutive series wins, and climbed into the playoff race well into September. St. Louis was finally eliminated on the season’s penultimate day, but the organization was left feeling much better about the future.“We’ve been in postseason mode since virtually the All-Star break,” Shildt said, “so you appreciate what went well, and you appreciate and grow through experiences and you grow together. There’s a lot of takeaways, and the good news is we’ll take advantage of it. I can promise you that.”Shildt, who never played the game beyond college, was so impressive in righting the course as a first-time manager that the Cardinals stripped him of the interim tag before the end of the season. That answered the biggest question heading into the offseason.Now, the Cardinals can begin planning around their young core for next season. Erstwhile cornerstone Adam Wainwright, first baseman Matt Adams and pitchers Tyson Ross and Bud Norris are not expected back, which means the Cardinals will head to spring training largely intact.“What I take away is really simple http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-wheeler-jersey , really how you respond,” outfielder Harrison Bader said. “Kind of got kicked in the teeth a little bit, but to have 162 games and then ultimately it come down to the last four or five, playing meaningful baseball that late in the season is what it’s all about.“Unfortunately this year we didn’t come out on the right side of where we really wanted to be,” he said, “but it very easily could have gone another way. To set us up in that position with such a young team and young in terms of age and experience, it’s no excuse but it’s very promising.”REBOUND CANDIDATESDexter Fowler hit just .180 with a handful of stolen bases, and considering he is due $16.5 million each of the next three seasons, the Cardinals need their offensive sparkplug to be more spark and less plug. Pitchers Alex Reyes and Brett Cecil also struggled, the former with injuries and the latter with effectiveness.STILL CATCHINGYadier Molina proved he’s still one of the best backstops in the game, even though he missed some time with an injury. The 36-year-old catcher hit .261 but slugged .436, and he belted 20 homers with 74 RBIs while helping to bring along a young pitching staff.ABOUT THAT STAFFInjuries decimated the staff early in the season Mookie Wilson Jersey , but that merely thrust some young guys into the mix. Now they’re poised to form a formidable rotation next season, and competition to crack it will be brutal in spring training. Miles Mikolas and Michael Wacha are sure things, but Reyes, Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson, Carlos Martinez, Austin Gomber and others are eyeing a job.ERRORS GALOREThe Cardinals had the most errors in the majors with 133, or more than double the club with the fewest (Houston with 63). All those mistakes put more pressure on that injury-riddled pitching staff and an offense that finally started humming late in the year.“We’ve got some room for improvement in some of these areas,” Shildt acknowledged. “I think in general there is optimism about how this team is going about competition and the style of play and excited about what it looks like moving forward. I think there’s a real good energy behind our fan base right now. It should be, at least.”BIG SPLASHDespite so many returning pieces, the one thing the Cardinals could use is a middle-of-the-order slugger. Manny Machado or Bryce Harper would fit the bill, but quite frankly http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-lenny-dykstra-jersey , the bill is also quite large. Regardless, the Cardinals could use a consistent force in the middle of the lineup.“Three straight years of coming up short. We as an organization, as a total group top to bottom everybody in this clubhouse, all the staff, we have to find a way to get better,” first baseman Matt Carpenter said. “We’re headed in the right direction. The second half was definitely a good starting point, but we’ve got to find a way to get there.” He is used to pitching to catcher Yasmani Grandal, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced backup Austin Barnes will take his place Tuesday.Grandal has struggled throughout his career in the postseason, striking out 30 times in 68 at-bats and hitting safely on just seven occasions. He's 3-for-22 with 10 strikeouts this year.For what it's worth, Barnes was behind the plate for Hill's best career game when he threw nine perfect innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates before allowing a 10th-inning home run to second baseman Josh Harrison in a tough-luck 1-0 loss. That battery hasn't fared as well recently, as Hill posted a 6.75 ERA in his first three September starts with Barnes behind the dish.The other problem is that Hill hasn't had great success against some Brewers, with Christian Yelich (.900 OPS in 10 at-bats) Gary Carter Jersey , first baseman Jesus Aguilar (1.232 OPS in seven at-bats), outfielder Lorenzo Cain (1.413 OPS in seven at-bats) all having success against the lefty. Granted, those are small sample sizes, but that trio led the team in batting this year.On the opposite mound, southpaw Gio Gonzalez will get the ball. He essentially served as the team's opener in Game 1, allowing one home run to shortstop Manny Machado in an otherwise run-free outing.Gonzalez is a starter by trade (he has a 10-11 record and 4.57 ERA in 27 starts with the Brewers and Washington Nationals this year), but unless he's cruising, chances are he'll have a quick hook like last time as manager Craig Counsell tries to piece together a bridge to a win.Gary Landers/Associated PressThat's not too difficult given Milwaukee has one of MLB's best relief staffs. The Brewers were top five in league ERA and have continued their strong performance in the postseason. Of note, southpaw Josh Hader has thrown six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, while right-hander Corey Knebel has tossed 6.2 innings of one-run balls alongside 10 punchouts.The question is whether the bottom falls out on a Brewers bullpen that has been taxed this postseason. Milwaukee starters have tossed 25.2 innings in the playoffs, or an average of just four-plus innings per outing. At some point, will the Brewers simply run out of gas Dwight Gooden Jersey , or will they hold on long enough to stay effective?As far as Game 4 goes, the Brewers hold a trump card in that their top reliever (Hader) threw just eight pitches on Monday. He did toss three innings (and threw 46 pitches) on Friday in a 6-5 win, although the fact he wasn't used Saturday (and had a day off Sunday) could mean more action Tuesday if needed. Counsell confirmed postgame that Hader is available in Games 4 and 5.That should ultimately be the difference. The potential for multiple innings out of Hader, who has thrown 3.2 shutout innings and allowed just two hits while striking out six against L.A., may be too much.Give the edge to Milwaukee as Counsell makes all the right moves again to bring the Brewers within one win of the World Series.Pick: Milwaukee 5, Los Angeles 3
