It's bigger than life.
Despite having a comfortable lead in their division, the best record overall in MLB and little friction to speak of, the Cardinals aren't completely steady. 1B is a power bat position in this league and it has been for a long time, but the Cardinals have had a Matt Adams-sized hole at the position ever since Big City, seen here on a 2015 Topps Finest on-card auto that I snagged from Listia, went down with a season-ending quad tear.
Mark Reynolds was signed in the offseason to play multiple positions and be a power bat off the bench, but he was thrust into the lineup full time when Adams went down. It hasn't been pretty. For some inexplicable reason, the Cardinals went out and traded one of their better prospects for the left-handed equivalent of Reynolds in Brandon Moss. Two guys who miss far more often that they make contact, whose power is more theoretical than actual at this point in their respective careers, does not make a whole first baseman. This is one of the most unsettling things to me as St. Louis heads down the final stretch of 50 or so games this year. Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright's injuries may be more impactful, but trying to compete with the best teams out there in the playoffs without a respectable option at 1st is going to be really, really difficult.
The Pirates were pretty weak at first as well, but I guess the prices were too high. We were linked to just about everyone, but it was contingent on finding a trade partner for Pedro Alvarez which never materialized. I kept reading about Adam Lind to the Cards but I guess the Brewers got cold feet to make a trade within the division.
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