The Cardinals won their fifth game in a row Friday night, bringing their record to 32-16. They started the year 12-4, then they lost Adam Wainwright. His loss was expected to have a negative impact on the team. Indeed it did. The starters owned a 1.97 ERA through Wainwright’s last start, 3.56 since. While their record suffered, 20-12 in that time span is still a .625 winning percentage. That would represent 101 wins over a full season. So the Cardinals went from a super team to a merely great team with the loss of Wainwright.

The Cardinals front office is very good at building depth. This allows them to sustain major injuries without killing the team. They were not going to play .750 ball all year with Wainwright, and the fact that they continue on a 100 win track without him is a testament to a well built organization.