Ray of Reality: How far can relying heavily on run prevention take Cardinals as

For years the Cardinals have excelled at developing pitchers, and the added augment of strong defense has returned them to the postseason despite power outages. The Cardinals have been top five in BAA the past two seasons after lingering around average and out of October the previous three. Like the Rays, run prevention has been their equalizer, their constant.

It’s the blanket that covers for a slumbering offense.

“Everyone is going to slump — it doesn’t matter if you’re me, Big Papi, Miguel Cabrera, (Cody) Bellinger, the best players in the game,” Kiermaier said. “We’re all going to have offensive slumps. For guys like me, my defense and my speed should never slump. When I’m out there in center field, I always feel like you’re going to get elite defense each and every night. This is a game of failures. But it doesn’t have to be on the defensive side of the ball.”

That is the bedrock on which teams like the Cardinals and Rays build their rosters. As the Cardinals enter a winter braced for the fog of unknowns, reduced spending, and flurries of free agents, they’ll prioritize prevention. But they can also learn from what separates them from the Rays. The Cardinals and Rays both had top 10 pitching staffs, both had versatile and deft bullpens, and both had top-five defenses. The difference came at the plate, where the Cardinals ranked 28th in runs, and, once again, near the bottom in slugging.