Cardinals struggled to tread water in April

7:31 PM ET

ST. LOUIS — It may have been a harmless slip of the tongue or it may have been a valuable insight into one of the issues that has plagued the St. Louis Cardinals through a surprisingly mediocre first month of this baseball season.

Pitcher Jaime Garcia was asked whether episodes of sloppy defense have made it harder to pitch for the Cardinals this season. St. Louis pitching, the best in the majors last year, was middle of the pack in April. Garcia called errors “part of the game,” and compared such mistakes to a pitcher walking a batter, more a matter of execution than intent.

“I know our guys are trying too hard,” Garcia said. “They’re working on it, and we’re going to be good.”

Jaime Garcia says the Cardinals’ fielding woes are a matter of “trying too hard.” AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Perhaps they are trying too hard, an explanation that meshes with the fact that young players are making the majority of the Cardinals’ errors. Rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker made a couple in the Cardinals’ 6-1 loss to the Washington Nationals, one of which led directly to a run. Another rookie, Aledmys Diaz, leads the team with five errors, and Kolten Wong has four. Wong also dropped the ball to blow a fairly routine double play Saturday, not the first time that has happened this year.

The Cardinals have made 24 errors, most in the majors. They also have a 3.94 collective ERA, a bit north of the Nationals’ tidy little 2.36 and good for 15th-best in the major leagues. Much of the damage has been …

continue reading in source espn.go.com