It’s a scary time to be a Chicago Cubs fan. Fresh off a surprise trip to the 2015 National League Championship Series and a depth-bolstering off-season, the Cubs were given 4/1 odds by Westgate SuperBook to win their first World Series since 1908.

While this week’s Opening Day festivities may have signaled the beginning of the professional spring sports campaign, the Washington University spring sports season is already in full bloom.

Last Saturday, arbitrator Fredric Horowitz determined that Alex Rodriguez will sit out the entire 2014 season and postseason for his role in the Biogenesis scandal and for violating baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement. Rodriguez will appeal this sentence, but it is merely the latest and most glaring symptom of a penalty system that is broken.

Anybody but Boston. As a Yankees fan whose team tragically missed out on the playoffs, “anybody but Boston” was the team I was rooting for to win the World Series once the postseason began.

Oftentimes, the year after losing in a championship, a team can suffer a post-defeat hangover of sorts. This idea has been on display over the last few years in baseball, as the 2007 Houston Astros, 2008 St. Louis Cardinals (sorry, folks) and the 2009 Tampa Bay Rays all missed the playoffs a year after falling in the World Series.

On Monday, April 5, the St. Louis Cardinals begin the regular season, hosting the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium. After an NL Central division title and a first round exit in last year’s playoffs, the Cardinals are the clear favorites to take the division again. Here are some of the key themes and players who you should be watching out for:

The L.A. Dodgers completed a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the MLB playoffs Saturday, dashing the year’s World Series hopes. Student Life asks Wash. U. students: How do you feel about the loss?