Cardinals’ new season already looks a lot like the last

Thus far, the Cardinals of 2017 look much like the Cardinals of 2016.

The defense remains suspect, the bullpen has been dreadful, the baserunning hasn’t been noticeably better and the early returns are not favorable.

We’re accustomed to the Cardinals being at or near the top of the NL Central. But is this the year of the free fall? Fans already are concerned that will be the case.

The Cardinals have dropped two out of three in each of their first three series. They will not enjoy the fast start to the season that every team covets.

While the starting pitching has been satisfactory, the leaks in the bullpen have been alarming. Five of the relievers have combined to allow six home runs in 16 innings.

One of them, Sam Tuivailala, is back in Class AAA Memphis and has been replaced by Trevor Rosenthal, who for now is showing signs of being a key late-inning contributor.

Cardinals relievers began Friday with a 5.33 ERA, which ranked next-to-last in the NL. They have inherited 17 runners, allowing a league-high nine of them to score.

Newcomer Brett Cecil and Kevin Siegrist, the bullpen’s two left-handers, may need three months to lower their ERAs to respectable levels. Jonathan Broxton, a classy veteran, fits into the same category from the right side.

And how about the defense? The Cardinals’ shakiness in the field might not always manifest itself only with errors. It’s the lack of range that is most bothersome.

The team is full of average to below-average defenders, save catcher Yadier Molina, second baseman Kolten Wong and perhaps left fielder Randal Grichuk. Shortstop Aledmys Diaz improved as a rookie in 2016, but he’s probably best suited for third base.

Asking a veteran major-leaguer to be a better defender is a tall order. Working harder isn’t going to suddenly transform Jhonny Peralta, Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko and Matt Adams.

Adams’ best position is first base, but the Cardinals are committed to Carpenter at that spot, which has left Adams hopelessly lost in left field. I’ve already witnessed enough of this experiment – even before seeing what Willie McGee can do to help.

Besides, Adams playing left field comes at the expense of Grichuk receiving the playing time he needs to blossom.

I’m all for giving at-bats to Adams to see where they take him. But the resistance against shifting Carpenter back to third base is confounding. Peralta, the current starter, is in the final year of his contract and he will soon be 35. Shouldn’t a change be considered?

Part of the plan was to adopt a more aggressive approach on the bases, led by free-agent center fielder Dexter Fowler. The Cardinals didn’t want to be reckless, but opportunistic. Advance from first to third on hits. Score from first on a double. Push the envelope enough to create mistakes by the opponent. It hasn’t materialized.

Fowler, the ringleader in all of this, has had difficulty getting on base enough to be a tormenter. His .171 average and .275 on-base percentage in the first nine games hasn’t been enough to provide that spark, although his seven runs lead the team.

How are the Cardinals going to keep pace with the Chicago Cubs and the fast-starting Cincinnati Reds? The Reds were impressive last weekend in St. Louis.

There are more questions than answers at this juncture of the season. If that situation isn’t reversed, it’s going to be a long summer under The Arch.　

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Cardinals’ new season already looks a lot like the last."