A glimmer of hope?

After the Cardinals lost their 5th straight contest today, many fans may be asking if there is any hope for the rest of the season. Here are some bright spots that I've noticed that may lead to some consistent winning soon:

1. Pujols is starting to heat up: Pujols finally had a great series, reaching base in eight straight appearances at one point against the Tigers. He's walking more, not swinging at low breaking balls, and most importantly, he's hitting the ball to the opposite field with authority. His homer on Friday was a shot to right-center, which tells me that he is locked in. Look for his average to steadily rise into the .300s and for his homers and doubles to start accumulating---if people around him can show any signs of producing.

2. Eckstein is coming around: People often take Eckstein for granted, not realizing just how important he is to the St. Louis offense. Every team needs a leadoff guy at the top of the lineup that can foul off pitches, bunt, and get on base for the middle of the lineup. Eckstein is finally cutting down on the pop-ups, having quality at-bats, and hitting line-drives, particularly up the middle and to the opposite field. This tells me that he's finally centering the ball and driving it. Don't be surprised if LaRussa moves him back to the leadoff spot shortly.

3. The bullpen --- aside from a few --- has thrown quite well: One of the Card's biggest weaknesses last year has been one of the few bright spots this year. Isringhausen is throwing lots of strikes, and his cutter is darting like it did in '04 (47 saves) and '05 (39 saves). Flores and Johnson have dominated lefties, and Ryan Franklin has posted a 0.95 ERA in 19 innings of work. If the Cards can consistently hand the bullpen a lead in the 7th, the back end of the bullpen should help boost the win total significantly. However, the Cards have made a habit out of falling behind in the first inning and trying to fight uphill the entire game, hence their 16-25 record.

4. Carpenter and Mulder will eventually return: Though their returns may come too late to do any good, Cards fans should hold out hope that if the Cards can start to pull it together and stay close until Carp and Mulder get back, they can give us the consistent starting pitching that we've yearned for all season. Of course, such an assertion rests on the hope that Mulder will return to his Oakland form, while Carpenter won't miss a beat from his last few years. If they return and throw like they should, and Looper continues to throw like he is, the Cards can have a formidable front three in the rotation. I hold out little hope for consistent quality starts from Wells or Reyes, but if they produce electric second halves, the Cards will have the option of putting Wainwright back in the bullpen if he continues to be less than mediocre as a starter.

There sure are a lot of "ifs" up there; however, anything is possible in the NL Central. The Brewers are starting a bit of a slide, and everyone else in the division has a lot of the same problems the Cards have.

There are 121 games left--- let's see how everything works out.