ST. LOUIS -- Making a sweeping conclusion after such a small sample size as an eight-game stretch is about as advisable as driving from Chesterfield to Busch Stadium with the gas gauge reading empty.
Well, I better find the AAA card for auto assistance because here goes: The Cardinals' offense is healthy.
You can see it in the stats. You can feel it in the summer night air. You can hear it in their remarks.
"They've done a real nice job of taking steps forward," manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday. "There's no reason they shouldn't be rewarded for that."
OK, so Matheny's assessment doesn't exactly overwhelm with confidence. That's understandable. The manager admitted last week that even he, a self-described eternal optimist, had wearied of repeating how close his hitters were to breaking out of their early-season slumber.
But if Matheny's latest assessment is less than convincing, here are five reasons to believe he no longer should have to talk about the proximity of his hitters.
The schedule has turned. Call it an excuse if you want, but starting the season with 26 of 38 games on the road bordered on ridiculous. Even though they've been home since last Monday, the Cardinals still have played the fewest home games of any team in the NL.
Their road trips weren't to pleasant climes on the West Coast, either. The Cardinals slogged through enough cold weather they probably thought the Winter Warm-Up was still to come. Their offense paid a price, too. The Cardinals rank next to last in the NL in scoring on the road, at 3.23 runs per game.
At home, they really haven't been bad since the season started. They finished April ranked third in the NL in scoring at home, with 4.67 runs per game. That's almost as much as the 4.71 they've put up so far on this corner-turning homestand. This welcome stretch is not even half over, either. After a weekend trip to Cincinnati, the Cardinals will be back in St. Louis for another nine games, giving them a run of 19 of 22 at Busch Stadium.
The new guys are making a difference. Jhonny Peralta led the club with four homers in April but hit .196. In May, he's hitting .339 with five homers. Even after all those years playing in Cleveland and Detroit, he didn't take to cold weather.
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Peter Bourjos finished April hitting .160 and sitting on the bench. In May, he's hitting .324 and has taken back the center-field job. He has said all along that the more he plays, the better he hits. Now he's proving it.
They're showing their speed. The emergence of Bourjos and the return of Kolten Wong from the minors has provided a glimpse of what could be a defining element of this year's offense.
Bourjos' wheels were the driving force in last week's 5-3 victory over the Cubs and Wong stole the show in a 4-1 victory over the Braves last Saturday, a game in which both players had two bunt singles.
With Wong hitting second and Bourjos usually seventh or eighth, the lineup is ideally set up to take advantage of their speed. "You have 'em on two different sides of the lineup, and they can change the game," Matt Carpenter said. "They're going to do a good job of adding that element to our offense."
The weather has turned. After Matt Adams blasted his third homer into an 80-degree Monday night, he said he could tell a difference in how the ball was traveling.
"Any ballplayer will attest that the warmer the weather is, the more carry the ball has," he said.
With nothing but 80s in the forecast, the Cardinals have a chance to start showing some power. They're last in the NL in homers and while they insist they're not going to start swinging from the heels, contrary to some public opinion, they are not being discouraged from hitting home runs.
"We got that cleared up," said Matheny, joking that he had called a team meeting to let his players know they are allowed to hit the ball over the fence.
They're being creative. They won a game last week on a walk-off hit by pitch by Greg Garcia. Bourjos started a three-run rally in another win after reaching on a strikeout. They also scored when Braves center fielder Jordan Schafer lost a ball in the sun. Against Braves ace Ervin Santana, they took advantage of two wild pitches to score twice.
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While such good fortune doesn't signify a high-octane offense, it shows the Cardinals are taking advantage of their opportunities. Because they lack power, they must find other ways to score. Last year, it was their clutch hitting. This year, it could end up being their speed.
"When this lineup starts clicking on all cylinders, it's going to be a different offense than last year," Carpenter said. "It's hard to say it's going to be better, but it can be just as good."
Whatever it's going to be, it's on the way.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
