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Cardinals’ starting pitching has been a huge disappointment
- Updated: May 21, 2016
1:01 AM ET
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals may have come into this season harboring some secret worries about their team, but one of them wasn’t their starting pitching.
They dominated last year with a staff of interchangeable, reliable parts. They not only led the major leagues in staff ERA (2.99), but set a new standard in an era so far dominated by pitching. They changed some of those parts over the winter, subbing their erstwhile ace, Adam Wainwright, for veteran John Lackey, for example. But everyone seemed to expect the machine to keep motoring down the road.
Not only did it sputter out of the garage, but it has broken down on the side of the highway a few times. That can be dangerous when everyone around you is speeding.
Carlos Martinez saw his May ERA climb to 5.85 after allowing four runs in five innings to the Diamondbacks on Friday night. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
The most disappointing thing about the Cardinals’ starting pitching has been the lack of progress. A surprisingly sluggish April bled seamlessly into a lackluster May.
The symbol of the Cardinals’ plight Friday was shortstop Ruben Tejada taking the mound for the ninth inning of an eventual 11-7 blowout loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and surrendering a couple of majestic home runs. The Cardinals’ bullpen needed a break after a string of …
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