Early takes

[RichieRichSTL]

* Dodgers are living up to their 'team to beat' label. The Cubs found that out early.
* Twins could be very mediocre. They were projecated to be an 85 win team. So, this it would not be a great stretch.
* Brewers pitching is a huge concern. They have looked bad.
* Cardinals, if they play well, have the talent level to make the playoffs as the division looks meh. They are showing that they can beat 'beatable' teams. They just have to beat the beatable teams at a good clip and hold their own against the good teams to make the playoffs.
* The Cubs will do alright provided they don't have to face the Dodgers 162 games this year.

[Futuregm2]

* Dodgers are living up to their 'team to beat' label. The Cubs found that out early.
* Twins could be very mediocre. They were projecated to be an 85 win team. So, this it would not be a great stretch.
* Brewers pitching is a huge concern. They have looked bad.
* Cardinals, if they play well, have the talent level to make the playoffs as the division looks meh. They are showing that they can beat 'beatable' teams. They just have to beat the beatable teams at a good clip and hold their own against the good teams to make the playoffs.
* The Cubs will do alright provided they don't have to face the Dodgers 162 games this year.

Cubs have a very tough early schedule.

Their March/April:
LAD
Dbacks
Athletics
Padres
Rangers
Dodgers
Padres
Dbacks
Dodgers
Phillies
Pirates

[EastCoastDave]

* Dodgers are living up to their 'team to beat' label. The Cubs found that out early.
* Twins could be very mediocre. They were projecated to be an 85 win team. So, this it would not be a great stretch.
* Brewers pitching is a huge concern. They have looked bad.
* Cardinals, if they play well, have the talent level to make the playoffs as the division looks meh. They are showing that they can beat 'beatable' teams. They just have to beat the beatable teams at a good clip and hold their own against the good teams to make the playoffs.
* The Cubs will do alright provided they don't have to face the Dodgers 162 games this year.

Cubs have a very tough early schedule.

Their March/April:
LAD
Dbacks
Athletics
Padres
Rangers
Dodgers
Padres
Dbacks
Dodgers
Phillies
Pirates

Maybe they’ll be buried in last place by the time they finish this stretch. But the Cards’ schedule isn’t much better. After the Angels, they’ll face:
Red Sox
Pirates
Phillies
Astros
Mets
Brewers
Braves
Reds
I think it’s about even home and away.

[Ozziesfan41]

My early take is cards caught some pitchers at the right time when they didn’t have their best stuff or just didn’t have their stuff. The good thing is the cardinals offense last season would lose a lot of games to teams like that and would swing through or get themselves out on meatballs so there’s cautious optimism and hope they can continue to put together good at bats against pitchers that have their good stuff.

Noot just needs to stay healthy

I like that it looks oli is giving Scott the Vince Coleman automatic green light when he gets on kudos to him for that I was worried he would handle the base running conservatively. Haven’t had that here we go feeling since Coleman when he would get on base.

I still say the dodgers will contend for the all time wins record this season

[RichieRichSTL]

My early take is cards caught some pitchers at the right time when they didn’t have their best stuff or just didn’t have their stuff. The good thing is the cardinals offense last season would lose a lot of games to teams like that and would swing through or get themselves out on meatballs so there’s cautious optimism and hope they can continue to put together good at bats against pitchers that have their good stuff.

Noot just needs to stay healthy

I like that it looks oli is giving Scott the Vince Coleman automatic green light when he gets on kudos to him for that I was worried he would handle the base running conservatively. Haven’t had that here we go feeling since Coleman when he would get on base.

I still say the dodgers will contend for the all time wins record this season

That's probably true. As we saw in 2023, if you get off to a rough enough start that can torpedo the whole season. I'd say the Brewers need to keep that in mind and so do the Twins. Alternatively, if you get off to a good enough start that can a) snowball the confidence of the team and b) put you in a better position to withstand an inevitable fallback to earth.

[Cusecards]

Division is wide open.
Cards played a solid all around series against an ok team.

[hugeCardfan]

Great start for the Cardinals. Had you told me we wouldn’t get a single hit from Willson, I’d have thought we’d be lucky to win a single game against a solid team like Minnesota.

If we get anything out of the first 3 games, it’s that the guys who showed something in ST, were able to carry into the regular season. Scott II, Gorman, Nootbar…finally he gets to play right out of the gate. The team has taken no time to gel. Defense looks great, pitching solid, starters and relievers, hitting timely and robust.

As I said earlier, not unhappy with this team. I think it was really smart to keep Gray, Fedde, Arenado, Helsley. The team has confidence and promised talent suggests there is more to come. We’ll have to go thru some trials along the way. But it is great to see this team play this way. Some fans have to be shocked at this start. I just don’t feel shocked…more pleased that some promise is starting to resemble actual.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

I know it's just three games, but the offense is playing up to the potential that I think most of us thought that they had last year. I think having Nootbaar and Donovan at the top of the lineup helps. Arenado has looked good. Nice to see Burleson and Gorman doing well. Herrera just continues to hit. Victor Scott is looking like this might be his break out year. Contreras has started slow, but he'll be fine. Winn hasn't looked good, but his defense is enough to keep him in the lineup.

The bullpen looks good as expected. If they and the offense keep it up, then I think that's enough for them competitive all year, provided the starting pitching doesn't tank. Maton could end up a really big piece for this team. Really nice late signing.

Speaking of which, the starting pitching has been good so far, but it's also the three guys we expected to pitch well. Would love to see some combination of Libertore, Mikolas, McGreevy, and Matz performing at a decent level to fill out those last two slots. And I hope the Cardinals are quick to give the hook to Mikolas and Matz if they can't get it done. I'd rather watch a young pitcher struggle than those two.

So far a very fun, encouraging opening series to start the year. Played great in all facets of the game. Love to see it.

[Wattage]

I know it's just three games, but the offense is playing up to the potential that I think most of us thought that they had last year. I think having Nootbaar and Donovan at the top of the lineup helps. Arenado has looked good. Nice to see Burleson and Gorman doing well. Herrera just continues to hit. Victor Scott is looking like this might be his break out year. Contreras has started slow, but he'll be fine. Winn hasn't looked good, but his defense is enough to keep him in the lineup.

The bullpen looks good as expected. If they and the offense keep it up, then I think that's enough for them competitive all year, provided the starting pitching doesn't tank. Maton could end up a really big piece for this team. Really nice late signing.

Speaking of which, the starting pitching has been good so far, but it's also the three guys we expected to pitch well. Would love to see some combination of Libertore, Mikolas, McGreevy, and Matz performing at a decent level to fill out those last two slots. And I hope the Cardinals are quick to give the hook to Mikolas and Matz if they can't get it done. I'd rather watch a young pitcher struggle than those two.

So far a very fun, encouraging opening series to start the year. Played great in all facets of the game. Love to see it.

I actually think matz could do well in his current role of spit starter/long relief. Hes been good out of the bullpen for us and has shown flashes as a starter- i think hes just not durable enough to be a full time starter. As a swingman, i could see him doing fine. I only fear if he does well in bullpen and spot starts when we go with 6 for a couple weeks that it will convince them to promote him to full time starter.

[swatski]

Too early for even early takes.

[jw0595]

Division is wide open.
Cards played a solid all around series against an ok team.

This. Contributions from nearly everyone on offense. That's great. Starting pitching was ok to good. Bullpen was VG. Winn needs to get off of the schneide but he's one of my least worries.
Who had Bader in LF & VSII in RF on their bingo cards?

[ramfandan]

For me , the determining factor of the division race will be the head ti head games especially Cubs, Brewers, possibly Reds.

All our division teams will lose a bunch to Dodgers, Yankees, etc. so thise are a basic wash.
Cards have not fared well in past few years vs Brewers, for example. In 2025 need to win that season series.
Win more than lose with those teams are my key for the year.

[Futuregm2]

Division is wide open.
Cards played a solid all around series against an ok team.

This. Contributions from nearly everyone on offense. That's great. Starting pitching was ok to good. Bullpen was VG. Winn needs to get off of the schneide but he's one of my least worries.
Who had Bader in LF & VSII in RF on their bingo cards?

Buxton is probably the most talented CF defensively in the game when he’s healthy. When Bader signed with the Twins it was obvious he wouldn’t be CFer…until Buxton gets hurt. Which will probably be next week.

[blackinkbiz]

* Dodgers are living up to their 'team to beat' label. The Cubs found that out early.
* Twins could be very mediocre. They were projecated to be an 85 win team. So, this it would not be a great stretch.
* Brewers pitching is a huge concern. They have looked bad.
* Cardinals, if they play well, have the talent level to make the playoffs as the division looks meh. They are showing that they can beat 'beatable' teams. They just have to beat the beatable teams at a good clip and hold their own against the good teams to make the playoffs.
* The Cubs will do alright provided they don't have to face the Dodgers 162 games this year.

Cubs have a very tough early schedule.

Their March/April:
LAD
Dbacks
Athletics
Padres
Rangers
Dodgers
Padres
Dbacks
Dodgers
Phillies
Pirates

Won't lose any sleep over it. Cards schedule to start the season in 24 was so horrendous they actually extended their manager for fear the fans would turn on him and he'd lose his confidence. lol

[Cusecards]

Division is wide open.
Cards played a solid all around series against an ok team.

This. Contributions from nearly everyone on offense. That's great. Starting pitching was ok to good. Bullpen was VG. Winn needs to get off of the schneide but he's one of my least worries.
Who had Bader in LF & VSII in RF on their bingo cards?

Cards score 18 runs and sweep.
All while Winn & Contreras both go hitless.
Go figure?

[wkycards]

For me , the determining factor of the division race will be the head ti head games especially Cubs, Brewers, possibly Reds.

All our division teams will lose a bunch to Dodgers, Yankees, etc. so thise are a basic wash.
Cards have not fared well in past few years vs Brewers, for example. In 2025 need to win that season series.
Win more than lose with those teams are my key for the year.

I tend to agree with this.
The Brewers won the Central last year because of their record versus the Central (32-20) and Interleague (31-15).
The Cards were 3 games better than them against the East and West. As were the Cubs and Reds.