Crim: New MLB rules may change how game is played, but seeing Cardinals in playoff hunt remains constant

The Major League Baseball season opens Thursday. Say hello to the pitch clock and bid goodbye to drastic infield defensive shifts and the unbalanced schedule.

With that as a backdrop, the St. Louis Cardinals will attempt to be the first repeat champion in the National League Central Division since the Chicago Cubs in 2016-17.

The pitch clock is the latest attempt to speed up the pace of games, which have gotten longer and longer in the past 15 years. The average time of a nine-inning game in 2022 was 3 hours, 4 minutes, a six-minute improvement from 2021’s all-time high. Still, MLB wants more action and less dawdling.

In addition, pitchers won’t be able to throw to a base as many times as they want. They will be limited to two “disengagements” (pickoff attempts or stepoffs). If a pitcher disengages a third time, the batter advances one base if the attempt fails. 

It is being implemented to speed up the game and increase stolen base attempts. The stolen base has been on the decline since peaking in the 1980s and 1990s. MLB teams combined for 2,487 stolen bases last season, compared to the all-time high of 3,585 in 1987.

Limiting infield defensive shifts is another rule designed to produce more action. 

The league-wide batting average was .243 last season, the lowest since 1968. Teams averaged just 5.33 singles per game in 2021, the third lowest in history — trailing only 2021 and 2020. Sports Illustrated projects the change will result in about 2,500 more balls that are put in play will turn into hits this season.

(Making more consistent contact would be another way to spur action. Homer-happy MLB teams combined for 40,812 strikeouts last season, the fourth most in history, with all highs coming since 2018.)

Scrapping the unbalanced schedule, introduced in 2001, is designed to level the playing field for contenders. Teams will now face their four division opponents 14 times — seven home and seven away — and the other 10 teams in their league six times apiece, with a three-game series in each ballpark.

Moreover, instead of 16 interleague games, teams will play 46 — four against their geographic rival and three each against the other 14 teams, alternating ballparks each year.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are favored, albeit slightly over Milwaukee, in the NL Central.

Likely Hall of Famers Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina have retired but the lineup still features reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt at first base and third baseman Nolan Arenado. ESPN calls Arenado arguably the best combination of offense and defense in the game.

The Cardinals won 93 games last season but had a disappointing wild card exit against Philadelphia. Pitching will again determine whether they can be a World Series contender.

With the opener at home against Toronto three days aways, here’s what some are saying:

Associated Press: Goldschmidt and Arenado bolster the division’s most formidable lineup, which ranked third in the NL in runs last season. The Cardinals replaced Molina by signing three-time All-Star catcher Willson Contreras away from the Cubs. Contreras lacks Molina’s catching acumen and all-around game but is a better hitter.

Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks lead a quality bullpen. The Cardinals’ biggest concern is a starting rotation that lacks depth, with Steven Matz and Jack Flaherty trying to bounce back from injury-spoiled seasons. The Cardinals could use one more age-defying season from 41-year-old Adam Wainwright, who will open the year on the injured list with a groin issue.

ESPN: It’s a new era in St. Louis after longtime stars Pujols and Molina headed into retirement, though batterymate Wainwright is back for one more season on the mound.

The Cardinals have one of the best 1-2 punches in the game in Goldschmidt and Arenado, and 20-year-old outfielder Jordan Walker is poised to make a big impression this season.

Few teams can move seamlessly from one era to the next, but the Cardinals have enough young talent to believe the loss of clubhouse leaders Pujols and Molina can be overcome and St. Louis can make another NL Central run.

MLB.com: It feels like the Cardinals have had an outfield logjam for half a decade. Remember, they traded away Randy Arozarena (and even Luke Voit and Tommy Pham) to help clear out space for all their outfield depth years ago, and they did so again last year by sending Harrison Bader to the Yankees. Yet they still haven’t figured out any of the positions for 2023.

The Cardinals are loaded with talented outfielders, including former phenom Dylan Carlson, toolsy-but-oft-injured Gold Glover Tyler O’Neill, 2023 breakout star Lars Nootbaar, Top 100 prospect Alec Burleson, Albert Pujols protégé Juan Yepez and even utilityman Brendan Donavan. And that list doesn’t even include No. 4 overall prospect Jordan Walker, who might well be the Opening Day right fielder. 

The Cardinals are oozing with outfield talent, but they have been for years now, without a corresponding amount of productivity. How this all shakes out may determine how well this offense clicks.

For all the superstar position players they’ve had the past few years, the true indicator for Cardinals success has been a simple one: When they have enough starting pitching, they make the playoffs, and when they don’t, they don’t.