Despite a winning record, the St. Louis Cardinals have dismissed manager Mike Matheny along with hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller. Bench coach Mike Shildt will take over the club on an interim basis. Matheny's firing was announced after an 8-2 loss to the last place Cincinnati Reds. The decision comes a day before the end of the first half of the season.
Matheny took over the reins of the club in 2012 following Tony La Russa's retirement when the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series. The Cardinals reached the post-season during Matheny's first four seasons including winning the NL pennant in 2013. However, the Cardinals have missed the post-season in 2016 and 2017 and are currently 7 games back of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
The Cardinals are expected to elaborate on the reasons behind Matheny's dismissal during a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning. However, it is believed that Matheny was given his walking papers after siding with closer Bud Norris who has been reportedly bullying rookie pitcher Jordan Hicks.
I picked the Cardinals to win the World Series this year. The Cardinals do have the talent to get there. They have a well balanced offense with Matt Carpenter, Jose Martinez, Tommy Pham, Marcell Ozuna and, despite his injuries, veteran catcher Yadier Molina. Miles Mikolas, after several seasons in Japan, has emerged as the staff ace while Norris stepped into the closer's role after Greg Holland proved ineffective.
The question now is whether the Cardinals will stick with Shildt or if they bring in someone from the outside to restore order in the clubhouse. Depending on their choice, the Cardinals could become MLB's biggest story of the second half of the season.
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