updated 6:44 p.m. ET April 30, 2009  Lou Piniella was joking when he said it earlier this week — but not really.  “Maybe we should make the Cardinals the favorite (in the National League Central); put the pressure on (Tony) La Russa.''  In fact, the very next day, Piniella — whose NL Central-favorite Cubs hit the final day of April at the .500 mark — re-addressed the issue.  “I meant what I said the other day; St. Louis is a better team than us right now,'' Piniella said. “And at this time, it might be more (teams in the NL Central) than St. Louis (who are) better than us. Our job is to stay in contact now (with the Cardinals).''  The standings concur with Piniella, and there are several issues in play here. The most-pressing one is the Cubs' health. They limped into Arizona on Monday with the entire middle of their lineup — Milton Bradley, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez — banged up.  It got so bad that for Monday's game, staff ace Carlos Zambrano was listed on Piniella's lineup card along with the extra position players — just in case. (And the very next night, Zambrano had three hits including a home run as the winning pitcher).  By the time they left Arizona, the Cubs did have Bradley and Lee back in the lineup, but Ramirez's calf injury could land him on the disabled list. And Geovany Soto, last year's NL Rookie of the Year, has a sore shoulder that is limiting both his throwing and hitting (5 for 45, 2 RBI).  So much so that Piniella dropped the 'sophomore slump' term into the conversation when discussing giving Soto a day off in Arizona:  “I don't think this has anything to do with a sophomore slump, but you want to get him out of there, relax for a day, and get himself together,'' Piniella said.  The deeper, longer-term questions surround general manager Jim Hendry's off-season moves. Namely, dealing away Mark DeRosa and giving Bradley three years and $30 million despite his history of injuries and social problems — both of which have already surfaced this season.  At least Kosuke Fukudome, whose 2008 second-half struggles led to Hendry's attempted solutions, has been the Cubs' best hitter of late.  Otherwise, the returns from the stats-don't-lie deptartment aren't good. The Cubs in the National League rankings:  “(Those 2009 numbers) don't signal a team six-seven games over .500,'' Piniella said. “We've got to improve. People who are struggling have to pick it up.''  Meanwhile, La Russa's Cardinals are first in the NL in runs scored and trailing only the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates staff in team ERA. And that latter number has been accomplished almost entirely without the one player other than Albert Pujols who was thought to be indispensable to the Cardinals' playoff hopes — Chris Carpenter.  But four innings into his second start of the season — and after a perfectly healthy spring in which he didn't so much as miss a side throwing session — the Cardinals' ace suffered a left oblique injury that will sideline him likely through May. At least it wasn't an elbow or shoulder.  “You can't exaggerate it,'' La Russa said at the time. “On and off the field, he's critical to us.''  But not critical enough to keep the Cards from a 15-8 start behind a 10-0 combined mark for three of Carpenter's rotation mates — Kyle Lohse, Joel Pineiro and Adam Wainwright.  La Russa also has used the first month to establish order in a bullpen that was in flux at the season's onset. And that order is: Ryan Franklin closing; Kyle McClellan and Jason Motte as the primary setup men; Denys Reyes the late-inning situational lefty; Trever Miller for earlier left-handed situations; and Chris Perez, Blaine Boyer and P.J. Walters in the middle innings.  Pujols' first month has been monumental — NL RBI leader, in the top four in the NL in four offensive categories, 17 walks and seven strikeouts. But he's far from alone:  Ryan Ludwick is proving that he can do it again, the Troy Glaus replacement team of Brian Barden and Joe Thurston has been very productive, and rookie Colby Rasmus is contributing enough for Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak to say: “he's a unique combination of power and speed, offense and defense. He can do things a lot of people can't.''
Ask the Expert: Cubs manager Lou Piniella says the Cardinals are the better team. There are several issues at play with the Cubs' woes, but so far Piniella appears to be correct.