I'm a pretty optimistic sports fan. Having lost an NFL team that didn't make the playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons (and then makes the playoffs a year after leaving town) and an NHL team that's only made it to the Conference Finals twice in my lifetime, I wait until the season is without a doubt beyond repair before throwing in the towel.

But I feel like I'm on the verge of making an exception with the St. Louis Cardinals. At the time of writing (July 11) the Cardinals are 47-45 (.516) and an even 5-5 in our last 10 games coming in third in the NL Central. At the beginning of the season, I was not arrogant enough to think that we would be able to contend for the top spot in the division. That belongs to the Cubs without a doubt. However, I still anticipated a close battle for that spot and I certainly didn't expect we'd be 7 games back at this point in the season.

Every day it feels like there's a new excuse or theory as to why the team has been struggling. On days where the pitching is lights out, the hitting has been subpar. On days where the bats are on fire, the other team lights our pitchers up. It's the inconsistency that really gets to me. Take a look at the results from the Cardinals last 10 games:

FOX Sports

One game we score 11 runs and the very next we score 2 against the very same team. Then another game where we score 8 runs, we let the other team drive in 13. I understand that pitchers, batting orders and defensive lineups change game by game. On the other hand, you have a handful of starting pitchers, a core batting order and pretty much the same guys playing the same position all season aside from minor tweaks.

I think there's been one, singular moment during this season that has really encapsulated the general frustration with the team this year. I'd like to talk for a moment about the comments made by John Mozeliak, President of Baseball Operations, regarding Dexter Fowler. For those unaware, either outside of St. Louis or having not followed baseball media closely, during a weekly interview with FOX Sports Midwest, Mozeliak had this to say about the team and specifically the former Chicago Cub.

"But I've also had a lot of people come up to me and question his effort and his energy level. You know, those are things that I can't defend. What I can defend is trying to create opportunities for him, but not if it's at the expense of someone who's out there hustling and playing hard."

A couple of things here. He's not wrong. Dexter Fowler, who has a .170 batting average, is in the middle of the worst season in his entire 11-year career. It's hard to tell what happened, but dropping off from a .264 average the year prior to where he's at now is extremely concerning. He's basically been struggling the entire year, starting the year off 0-13 and not getting a hit until the fourth game of the season. While there was no reason to overreact to such a stretch at the beginning of the season, it's been indicative of his performance this year.

Let's take a look at the situation from Mozeliak's perspective. Dexter Fowler's contract, $82.5 million over five years, is the second-largest salary behind Adam Wainwright who will be a free agent in 2019, and so far has not performed at the same level as he was when he was with the Cubs in 2015 and 2016. Mozeliak, historically, has opted out of spending big money on free agents and would rather work through the Cardinals's minor league and development system.

And that's where Harrison Bader comes in. A second-year right fielder the Cardinals drafted in 2015 where he stayed in the minors before being called up in 2017. This season alone he's batting .271 and has made incredible contributions in the outfield. The man never takes a play off. Basically, he's everything John Mozeliak looks for in a player.

It doesn't help that the Cardinals have a DL list that's made up of mostly pitchers. Let's take a look:

Courtesy of Rotoworld

Four pitchers, three starters and a reliever who will be out for the foreseeable future. Not great. It's really hard to get a team going when there's so much inconsistency going on within the lineup, both from a performance and appearance standpoint.

BREAKING: St. Louis Cardinals Part Ways With Mike Matheny

Paul DeJong returned to the lineup which was a nice addition to the lineup but Mike Matheny getting the boot alongside the Cardinals hitting coach and assistant hitting coach is making headlines all the way across the sports media world. I honestly thought that they would wait until the end of the season to make some moves but maybe shaking things up a bit is what this team needs.

I didn't dislike Matheny, but I wasn't his biggest fan either. From 2012 to 2015, he lead the Cardinals to four postseason appearances, three divisional titles and a World Series appearance in 2013 against the Boston Red Sox. I think the biggest knock against Matheny is his trouble managing a bullpen and he's particularly slow to pull pitchers if they're struggling. I think this year alone he's made some really smart decisions throughout the season: Putting Carpenter in the leadoff position and giving Harrison Bader an opportunity to shine in right field for instance.

I'm bittersweet on these firings. Obviously Matheny has managerial talent, a complete scrub can't take a team into four consecutive deep playoff runs and a World Series. I'm all for getting a new manager just to see if that can change things because we're at a pivotal point of the season right before the All-Star break. However, I just wish the media and the fans would do hold the players accountable for their poor performances. Matheny can't force a pitcher to throw strikes, he can't account for guys making errors on the field and he certainly can't get in the batters box and pull a guy out of the worst batting performance of his entire career (I'm looking at you, Dex.)

While I know many Cardinals fans won't miss Matheny, I think it's unfortunate that the coaching staff is usually the first to go if a team performs poorly. But that's the nature of sports I suppose. I just hope that the people in the front office, as well as the fans, begin holding players accountable as opposed to looking for another scapegoat. Regardless, the Cardinals are at a turning point right now and hopefully they can turn things around to make it into the playoffs.