Matheny Amazed By Standings

Despite a season-high five game losing streak and the myriad of problems which have led to the St. Louis Cardinals winning only five of their last 20 games, the team remains only 3.5 games out of first place in the National League Central Division.

That fact provides little solace for Manager Mike Matheny.

“I guess, but in all honesty, I’m just still concerned with what do we look like, how are we playing?” he said before tonight’s game in Cincinnati. “I think that’s our goal, only because sometimes the wins and loss things are out of our control. If we’re going about it the right way and it looks right, I think the results will be there.

“But we do have some other goals too of winning this division and to see where we stand, actually amazes me. And I think it amazes our club because we know we haven’t even sniffed what we should be doing yet. We’re still right there.

“Which also, you can look at that from any perspective you want. You can take the negative perspective of saying, well then you should be well above where you are, I don’t–you know what, it is what it is. Now we’ve just got to deal with it and fix daily different things to get us to where we need to be and I’m confident we’ll get there.”

As part of the continuing effort to change things up and get the team back on track, Matheny pushed back the start time for pregame this afternoon.

“I could tell yesterday that everything is wearing on everybody,” said Matheny. “To continue to do the exact same thing, I think is a mistake at this point. Anything a little bit different than norm, is refreshing I think to them, if nothing else.”

The subtraction of Dexter Fowler and Yadier Molina from the starting lineup is simply a day off due to the schedule. There is also understanding that if Matt Carpenter has a big night stepping into the lead-off spot, there will be an argument from some that it is the position rather than his actual play.

“That would be the narrative,” conceded Matheny. “Whatever it takes. We just so badly want–not just for him, but whenever a guys’s going through something like this and you see him working and doing all the things right, actually staying really positive. One thing that stands out to me more than anything else, he’s been through similar ruts but watching how intentional he is in the other aspects of his game has been very, very impressive to me. We talk about the maturity process of every player.

“You watch yesterday, in the 8th inning, he goes over and makes a real nice play. Watching how hard he’s running through bases. Those things stand out to his teammates and I believe it does eventually accelerate how the other stuff just kind of works itself out, which it will in time. This guy’s one of the best hitters in the game. He’ll come around. It’s just real tough for him and hopefully, whether it’s leading off or whatever it is, will help him get there.”

Matheny did not indicate that Carpenter would continue to bat lead-off and he also stated that he had not heard “one peep” from the first baseman about not feeling comfortable batting second or third.

photo credit: Jasen Vinlove, Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports