I'm Both Excited and Terrified

The thing for me is that, even after two good years for the Cardinals under Bruce Arians (excepting the Ryan Lindley parts), I'm still conditioned to expect it to go bad. Heck, Ryan Lindley's presence last year was a perfect example of something good going horribly wrong remarkably fast.

So when Arizona starts 2-0 and gets a home game against a seemingly lousy 49ers team, I get a little leery. It's that kind of winnable game I fret they'll blow. So much for that. 47-7. I have no idea the last time Arizona won a game by 40 points. It's never occurred that I remember. The defense intercepted Kaepernick 4 times, returning 2 of those for TDs. They held him to 67 yards through the air. The 46 yards he had on 7 carries are basically irrelevant. Palmer threw for 311 yards and another two touchdowns. He did have one INT, and at least another likely one saved by his receiver committing offensive pass interference, but even that isn't so bad. The team is still winning huge even with Palmer making a few mistakes, which it has to be able to do. He isn't going to play error-free forever.

Chris Johnson continued his strong start to the season with 110 yards on the ground, and added a 40 yard reception. Fitzgerald caught another 9 passes for 134 yards and 2 TDs. Bill Barnwell mentioned on Twitter during the game that San Francisco should just trade Anquan Boldin to Arizona and make everyone happier. I don't know that the Cardinals need Boldin, but I've always liked him, so I wouldn't mind. Anyway, the Cardinals need to bank all the wins they can, since they're supposed to have a tough schedule again this year, and Seattle curb-stomped the Bears over the weekend (and got Kam Chancellor back, so we'll see how much he helps). I'd really prefer Arizona hold the division lead the entire season, not just for the first 85% of it.

On the baseball side of it, the Cardinals split a set with the Brewers, and now the Pirates are only 3 games back as they kick off a 3-game series with the Cardinals that's begun as I type. So if Pittsburgh sweeps, they're tied for the division lead. Swell. Of greater concern, Molina's out for who knows how long with a torn ligament in his thumb, which has prompted much debate about how valuable he really is. I feel as though the people downplaying his loss haven't bothered to look at just how awful Tony Cruz is. I've been joking all week, as he generally manages to go 1-for-4, that if he keeps it up, he might get his average above .200 by the end of the season. Probably won't get his OBP or SLG above .300 either way. On top of the, Carlos Martinez was shut down for the rest of the season with shoulder problems. At this point, Martinez was the starter I had the most confidence in, except possibly for Lackey. And I probably trusted El Gallo more because with his 4 high-quality pitches, it was a lot easier to understand why he was pitching well, as opposed to Lackey, who is kind of confounding me.

Losing Martinez for the regular season may not be too dire. The team really ought to be able to maintain the lead for 6 more games without him. And there was every possibility Martinez would have been relegated to the bullpen by Matheny come the playoffs, since he's the one with the most experience pitching there (and it's a safe bet Matheny wouldn't relegate any of his trusted veterans like Lynn or Lackey to the 'pen, and probably not Wacha, either). Which would have limited Martinez' impact as well. Even so, at least he would have been available if Matheny had a change of heart if Lynn continued to pitch poorly.

Oh well, when have the Cardinals entered the postseason healthy? They lost Matheny to his birthday gift in 2000, Rolen in the NLDS in 2002, Carpenter in '04, Rolen again in '05 (and he wasn't totally healthy in '06 either). DeRosa had a bum wrist in '09, they were missing Wainwright for all of 2011, Craig was hurt in 2013, Garcia and Westbrook were both banged up in 2012 (and Carp was trying to pitch minus a rib), Wacha was mostly impaired last year, on and on. Sometimes they overcome it, sometimes they don't.