The Cardinals are full of surprises, aren’t they? After all but dozing during Friday’s doddering 9-3 loss to the Mets, and losing more of their TV audience to the Blues and Battlehawks, the flying Redbirds responded by dropping … umm, two bird samples … on the Mets in Sunday’s doubleheader sweep. Wipe off those soiled caps, Metropolitans.
For the Cardinals and their $138 million worth of payroll talent, this unexpected upset over the financially endowed Mets and their $322 million payroll was a triumph for the little guy!
The Cardinals are our Little Engine That Could. They are Our Beloved Underdogs. They are the Lovable Longshots. They are Rocky, and Rudy. They are the Mighty Ducks, the Miracle on Ice, the Jamaican Bobsled Team, Hickory High, The Karate Kid. They are following the unlikely-hero path of the one and only Kurt Warner.
Well, actually they aren’t any of those things. The Cardinals are underfunded, underloved, sort of rebuilding, sort of competing, sort of stuck in the mediocre middle – being run by a going-away president of baseball operations with no direction home. Was that a song reference I just slipped in there? Yes! I think it was!
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I think it was great of the Cardinals to take two from the Mets. This pleasant Sunday featuring two wins in 18 innings of baseball was nice – especially after what came later in the evening: the Blues’ shocking collapse in Game 7 at Winnipeg. St. Louis fans are still trying to put their insides back together and recover from that disaster. Having the Pirates in town won’t be an elixir. An abundance of good seats are available for all three games.
The double-dose of success gave the Cardinals a 16-19 record on the campaign. That’s better than it could have been, sure. The Cardinals continue to protect Busch Stadium and perform honorably with the usual fan support. That said, the Cardinals' .457 winning percentage is tied for 11th among the 15 NL teams. The fellers have a lot of cleanin’ up to do. But topping the Mets 6-5 and 5-4 made for a nice baseball Sunday in these parts.
SUNDAY’S FIVE STARS:
1. Victor Scott II: The second-year center fielder had a spectacular Sunday. In eight plate appearances over the two games, Scott had three hits and two walks, stroked a two-out, go-ahead double in the sixth inning of the second game, and jumped high at the wall in center to deny Juan Soto a three-run homer in the fourth inning. As the title of Scott’s new album tells us: Not Your Average Rapper.
In his last 11 games Scott has batted .378 with a .452 onbase percentage, .568 slugging percentage, seven runs, four doubles, four steals, a homer and eight RBIs. Defensively, Scott is tied for first in the majors among center fielders with six defensive runs saved, and he’s tied for third with five Outs Above Average. His current OPS (.775) is 273 points higher than his rookie-year OPS in 2024.
Remember how, with a week to go in spring training, the Cardinals “braintrust” was undecided about going with Michael Siani or Scott in center field? Yep, me too.
2. Michael McGreevy: The Cardinals recalled the right-hander from Triple A Memphis to cover an innings void that might surface during a doubleheader. This was a smart move, because McGreevy came on in relief in the second game, and without his stellar work, the Cardinals would have split the doubleheader instead of sweeping it. Relieving the free-falling Andre Pallante with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning of a 4-4 tie, McGreevy saved the game and the sweep by striking out Mark Vientos and retiring Brandon Nimmo on a deep liner to right field.
McGreevy required no assistance from the St. Louis bullpen. After entering the game he completed the game, pitching 5 and ⅔ scoreless innings while yielding one hit, a walk and hitting a batter. McGreevy also struck out five of his 20 batters faced (25%). Bravo, sir. Bravo.
In his spot duty that began last summer, McGreevy has a 1.57 ERA in 28 and ⅔ innings. He’s equally adept at starting and relieving. He has an excellent strikeout-walk ratio. And he’s held left-handed batters to a .453 OPS – which is virtually the same as the OPS against him (.456) against right-handed batters.
There’s no reason to put McGreevy back in Memphis. He fits two important qualifications for the 2025 season: (1) he’s definitely a “runway” talent, and (2) the Cardinals are 5-0 when he pitches in a regular-season game.
3. Willson Contreras: In the doubleheader sweep, he went 4 for 8 with a double, homer and four RBIs. Contreras is rolling over his last 22 games, batting .329 with a .409 OBP and .512 slug – banging four homers, three doubles and driving in 14 runs.
4. The St. Louis bullpen: there were some anxious moments in the first game, so the result could have gone New York’s way. But Kyle Leahy, Phil Maton, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley prevented the levee from breaking during their four-inning relief relay. Maton was charged with two earned runs, but it could have been worse, but Romero pulled himself together with the bases loaded with one out in the eighth – getting out of the trap with a strikeout (Pete Alonso) and fly ball (Brandon Nimmo) to set up Helsley’s save in the ninth. Including McGreevy’s work, STL relievers collectively pitched to a 1.86 ERA in 9 and ⅔ innings covering both games.
5. Alec Burleson: he homered in the second inning of Game 2, which ended his streak of 224 consecutive at-bats without homering. His previous home run was struck on Aug. 17 of last season. Even with the overdue HR, Burly is slugging .294 with a .610 OPS and only nine extra-base hits in 253 plate appearances in his last 69 games.
DOWNERS
* Erick Fedde had another mediocre start in the first game, putting 44 percent of his hitters faced on base. He was fortunate to give up only three runs in five innings. In his last six starts Fedde had a 5.40 ERA with an awful 13.7 percent strikeout rate – and a walk rate (14.7%) that’s even worse.
* Andre Pallante was pummeled by the Mets for nine hits and four walks in only 3 and ⅓ innings in Sunday’s second-game start. In his last four starts Pallante has a 6.86 ERA in 19 and ⅔ innings. During this stretch his strikeout rate is an impoverished 8.7 percent – which almost equals his 9.8 walk rate. In Pallante's four-start downturn, the opponents have pounded him for a .349 average, .413 OBP and .590 slug. The carnage includes 11 extra-base hits including four home runs.
Memphis, anyone? Clearly Pallante needs to regroup, which is fine. And McGreevy is already here to take the next start. But would anyone be surprised to see McGreevy shipped out? The answer, of course, is: HELL, NO. And sure enough the Cardinals returned McGreevy to Memphis on Monday afternoon. The Cardinals may not be the smartest baseball team around – but at least they’re predictable.
* Cards starting pitchers have gotten smacked around over the past four games, yielding 13 earned runs in 15 and ⅔ innings for a 7.46 ERA.
* Jordan Walker played Game 2 and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He did make another dandy defensive play, but his hitting is out of sync. Since April 4 (24 games), Walker is hitting .159 with a .420 OPS and a 34.4 percent strikeout rate. And he’s chased pitches out of the strike zone in 28 percent of his swings.
HOME SWEEP HOME: With the doubleheader sweep of the Mets, the Cardinals have won five of six series at Busch Stadium this season, defeating the Twins, Phillies, Astros, Brewers and Mets and losing to the Angels. Going back to late last season, the Cardinals have a 19-8 record at Busch.
The Cardinals already have played three doubleheaders this season losing at Boston, then winning at Cincinnati and taking both games from the Mets on Sunday.
ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Cards’ home-field success is surprising And they’ve done that in front of much smaller audiences at Busch Stadium compared to the big crowds that were the norm in St. Louis for a long time. This season the Cardinals rank 13th among the 30 MLB teams with an average of 29,236 tickets sold per home game. They were 7th last season (35,872), 4th in 2023 (40,013) and 3nd in 2022 (40,994.) The Cardinals actually did pretty well over the weekend, averaging 30,313 tickets sold per game against the Mets. But that’s misleading because of the no-shows evident at Busch on a busy STL sports Friday night – with the Cardinals, Blues and Battlehawks each playing at home. And the unscheduled doubleheader against the Mets, following Saturday’s rainout, led to another no-show factor Sunday.
IMPROVING TREND IN ONE-RUN GAMES: After going 0-5 in their first five games decided by one run this season, the Cardinals have won four one-run games in a row, beating the Brewers and Mets.
TRADE PROPOSAL: Former big-league GM Jim Bowden is playing matchmaker, and he believes the Cardinals and Phillies are a fit in a deal that would send pending free-agent STL closer Ryan Helsley to Philadelphia for pitching prospect Mick Abel, age 23. Phillies baseball boss Dave Dombrowski told Bowden his team’s biggest need is a right-handed reliever.
“Abel was the No. 15 pick (and the first high school pitcher selected) in the 2020 draft,” Bowden wrote. “He’s been slow to develop, as it’s taken him a while to find command and control of his pitches. However, he’s off to a promising start this season with a 2.75 ERA over 39.1 innings at Triple A. He’s averaged 3.9 walks per nine innings this season after allowing 6.5 per nine last season.
Bowden added this caveat: “For the Phillies to give up Abel in this deal, it’s only fair that they have a chance to extend Helsley at the time of the trade.”
Bowden also proposed a trade that would send Cards third baseman Nolan Arenado to Detroit for “low-level prospects” Josh Randall, a right-handed pitcher, and this baseman Carson Rucker. Arenado, of course, has no-trade protection and the Tigers aren’t on his approved list of destinations.
FROM BOB NIGHTENGALE, USA TODAY: “The Cardinals were hoping that hanging onto closer Ryan Helsley the first half of the season would enhance his trade value, but after saving a league-leading 49 games last season, he has only four saves in six opportunities with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP.”
Nightingale wrote that before Helsley appeared in two games against the Mets. The updated numbers for Helsley: five saves in seven opportunities for a 3.75 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.
More from Nightengale: “Meanwhile (the Cardinals) are still trying to trade All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to express interest while still hoping that third baseman Max Muncy escapes his early-season struggles.”
Muncy, who turns 35 later this season, is hitting .186 with an awful .236 slugging percentage and 31 percent strikeout rate for the Dodgers in 32 games. Muncy has taken to wearing glasses with the hope of seeing the ball better.
ABOUT R. HELSLEY: Stranding the potential tying run on third base, Helsley sealed the Cards’ 6-5 win in Sunday’s opener. It was his first save since April 16 and only his second save since April 11.
Because manager Oli Marmol has a staunch policy of using Helsley in save situations (with rate exception) the closer had one stretch of three days off between appearances, two stretches of four days off, and two stretches of five days off. And that hasn’t helped his sharpness and efficiency. Comparing 2024 and 2025, there is definitely a difference in Helsley’s pitching performance. Let’s update:
– Last season, through May 4, Helsley had worked in 18 games for a 1.50 ERA and 11 saves in 12 opportunities. He’d also struck out batters at a rate of 27.5% percent with a low walk rate of 3%. The hard-hit rate against him at this point last season was 34.8 percent.
– This season, through May 4, Helsley has appeared in fewer games (12) with a 3.75 ERA and five saves in seven opportunities. His walk rate is much lower (20.7%) and his walk rate is much higher (15%) compared to this time last year. And the hard-hit rate against him has rocketed to 48.5 percent.
NEXT ON THE SKED: The Pirates make their first visit to St. Louis this season in a three-game series that concludes with a 12:15 p.m. start, local time on Wednesday. The first two games are scheduled for 6:45 p.m. local time.
Pitching matchups, in order: Carmen Mlodzinski vs. Miles Mikolas … Paul Skenes vs. Matthew Liberatore … Mitch Keller vs. Sonny Gray.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting. You can access all of his columns and videos here on SportsHubSTL, catch him weekdays on the “Gashouse Gang” or “Redbird Rush Hour” on KMOX (1120-AM, 104.1-FM), and he is a regular guest of “Cardinal Territory” video show hosted by the great Katie Woo of The Athletic.