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That’s not a judgment. That’s just acknowledging the clear statement made on the nights when a large portion of spectators came to Busch Stadium disguised as empty seats. Twice in a three-game series during the season-opening homestand, they set record lows for tickets sold at Busch Stadium III.

Yes, weekday games as well as out-of-division and interleague matchups certainly played some factor in the low attendance. But let’s not pretend that’s all about the schedule.

Anyway, the question isn’t about the fan base’s willingness to ride this out. That answer is evident. What we’re going to find out how much stomach the Cardinals have for these growing pains. They repeatedly promised runway for their young players to work through their ups and downs.

How committed are they to the talking points they repeated all winter? Will that hold up if the record continues to waver, attendance suffers and criticism gets louder?

They begin another homestand Friday, and they’re 10-15 after a 1-6 road trip (2-11 on the road this season). While this approach is uncharacteristic of the Cardinals, they can’t turn back now.

For example, highly regarded still-just-22-year-old outfielder Jordan Walker is batting .198 and has been mired in a painful dry spell of late.

He has gone 2 for 31 in his Past eight games, with 10 strikeouts. The optics of pitchers living on the outside corner and Walker not having a consistent answer can be cringeworthy at times. But they need to keep running him out there and let him figure it out.

That’s the tough part of “runway.� It’s the other side of Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore making strides as starting pitchers each time they take the ball or Lars Nootbaar becoming a table setter for the lineup.

In the previous two seasons after Walker made the opening day roster in 2023, he still played 113 games in Triple-A. The Cardinals sent him down to work through his struggles while they felt pressure to chase wins.

If the Cardinals were operating in that same mode this year, then a veteran stopgap option might have been added this winter or they might be considering getting more at-bats for slugger Luken Baker or Thomas Saggese at Walker’s expense.

Super-utility man Brendan Donovan, who dealt with a rib subluxation recently, has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors to start the season (.356 batting average, .392 on-base percentage). Any other season, there would be a temptation to plug him in at second base and limit Gorman’s at-bats as a result.

But this season will be different. At least, that’s what the Cardinals told everyone for months.

When it comes to Nootbaar, Gorman and Walker, regular at-bats and everyday playing time are the priority. That was a guiding principle of the offseason.

If those players struggle, then the club will likely struggle. That’s just part of the deal. This year is about setting the stage for future years.

“Obviously, we did not have a very active offseason,� president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said on opening day. “When you think about the changes we made, it’s really about creating opportunity for some of these young players, giving them that runway and seeing what they can do.

“If they take advantage of it and we see some things that create their success, then it’s going to be a good story — especially moving forward — for this organization.�

Playing through ups and downs means that there’s no bailing them out if they hit rough patches. It also means they can’t pull the rug out from under them a month into the season. That would make their entire offseason fraudulent.

What goes unsaid — though it’s understood by any organization undergoing a rebuild or retool — is that prioritizing opportunity for young players comes with losses.

In the case of the bullpen, the impact on wins and losses becomes more acute.

Right-hander Ryan Fernandez turned in an outstanding rookie season last year as a Rule 5 draft pick. He became a force with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings, an opponent on-base plus slugging percentage of .667 and a 3.51 ERA.

Left-hander JoJo Romero enjoyed an outstanding season as a primary setup man last year. He posted the third-most holds in the National League (30) and ninth-lowest rate of allowing inherited runners to score. He limited left-handed hitters to a .181 batting average and struck them out at a 34.7% clip.

They’ve both struggled in high-leverage chances early this season. Romero has a 7.27 ERA with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five). Fernandez has allowed 11 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings (11.42 ERA), and he’s also allowed two home runs and five walks in that stretch.

When the Cardinals made just one veteran bullpen addition this winter in Phil Maton, they also committed to riding out the ups and downs of relievers such as Chris Roycroft, early bright spot Kyle Leahy (1.72 ERA), left-handed ground-ball specialist John King, Fernandez and Romero to get the ball to All-Star closer Ryan Helsley.

That’s the stance that came through in manager Oliver Marmol’s comment about the bullpen to reporters this week in Atlanta, “This is who we’ve got, and we’ve got to get them back on track.�

Again, this was always the downside of what runway could look like. The Cardinals knew this during the winter, and they can’t back out of it now.