WHO HAS THE BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL? COME AGAIN? HOW DID THEY PULL THAT OFF?

The St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in all of baseball. They have also had 1/2 of their starters on the DL at different points throughout these first few months: Nick Punto missed all of spring training with a hernia. Shortly thereafter the club announced that staff ace Adam Wainwright would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2011. Ouch,

They started the season at home, and just like many had predicted, the Cardinals had a hard time figuring out how to get a "W". Matt Holliday blasted a homer on opening day and was diagnosed with appendicitis later that night. Closer Ryan Franklin couldn't save a game to save his life.

In Arizona, we lost 2 relief pitchers in the same game: lefty Brian Tallet broke his glove hand, and rhp Bryan Augenstein strained his groin. Skip Schumaker and Allen Craig hit the dirt too. David Freese and Gerald Laird were both hit by pitches and both broke bones in the process. Schumaker came back up before he was ready because Punto got hurt yet again.

Starting pitching surprise Kyle McClellan started the year 6-2 and ended up (where else?) on the DL with a strained hip. Then Matt Holliday messed up his quad, and Allen Craig ran into the wall last night in Houston and had to be helped off the field.

With all of the aforementioned injuries the Cardinals have suffered in the first 2 months of the season, you would think that 2011 would be a wash. Yet the question remains: how in the hell do the St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in baseball?? The answer my friends lies on the farm...

The Cardinals Triple A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, have to be hurting. Half of their roster is now with the big league team. Guys like Daniel Descalso, Tyler Greene, Mark Hamilton, Pete Kozma, Eduardo Sanchez, Fernando Salas, Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn and Tony Cruz have all been given a chance to shine.
Sure, some have seized the opportunity while others haven't made much of a splash, but all have had Major League debuts to remember.
How many times has Daniel Descalso knocked in the go-ahead or game winning RBI? How many games has Fernando Salas entered with the bases juiced and shut the door on the opposition?

I'm not giving all of the credit to the minor leaguers. I do have to say though that there was one game last week where our lineup resembled what should have been the Triple A team's, save for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. Guess what? We won that game. And several before that. And hopefully a lot more after that.
Chris Carpenter is 1-5. Kyle Lohse is 7-2. If you said that you saw that one coming I wouldn't believe you. The Cardinals took a chance on Lance Berkman, who most said was way past his prime. Look how well that's paid off. Albert Pujols was choking early on, but is coming into his own with 5 home runs in the last 4 games. It's just weird seeing the starting defense out there with Carpenter, Greene, and Descalso sharing the infield with the King. Who the heck are those guys again? With their rag-tag group of misfits, St Louis has the best record in all of baseball. Cardinal fans wouldn't have it any other way.