PYTHAGOREAN BLUES
The Cardinals have seemingly lost an impossible number of close games to start the season, and currently are 9-10. But it's still too early to think about how performance in close games will affect their final season record. Using Bill James Pythagorean formula for runs scored, the Cardinals project to be about 11-8 right now. That's only a difference of two games, but it seems big when projecting it over a whole season. For one thing, the projections get closer to the teams actual winning percentage. The Cards current Pythagorean winning percentage is about .595, which translates to a 95 or 96 win season. Their current actual pace based on wins and losses would be 76 or 77 wins. So a couple close losses can skew the projection mightily at this early point in the season. The Cards are only two wins off where they "should" be and as long as their luck turns around, which it surely will at some point, there's no reason to worry about such things yet.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
LET'S GO AROUND THE HORN (LEAGUE)
This is something I did two Thursdays ago and that I am going to try to do every Thursday, looking at the other matchups in the league and talking about what is interesting about them. First, though, I have to make one more comment about last night's game. Kerry Robinson sucks. Not only does he always make an out, but he usually makes it on the first or second pitch of the at-bat. He is every pitcher's dream. A guy with no power, and no plate discipline. If two teams full of Kerry Robinson's played each other, you'd have nine innings go by in about forty-five minutes. Of course, the game would have to continue because there would be no runs scored. Meanwhile, Eli Marrero is looking more like the Eli Marrero of 2000-01 than the Eli of last year. He is batting under .100. He and Tino had back-to-back pop-ups that made it about a combined fifty feet from home plate. Tino's was an 0-2 pitch right down the middle. Of course he got a hit in the ninth with one out and nobody on. GRRRR!!!!!! Everybody can talk about how we've got such a great and balanced lineup, but the absence of Pujols exposes that there is a huuuuuge drop-off once you get away from the heart of the order, especially now that Palmeiro and Matheny have returned to Earth. Let Albert play, dammit!!!!!!!
SAN FRANCISCO (16-4) AT PITTSBURGH (10-10)
Why the hell isn't Rich Aurilia, my fantasy shortstop, playing? The human out machine Neifi Perez is in there instead. The one problem with old managers like Felipe Alou is that they see some kind of incredible value in Neifi Perez. Lee Sinins', a baseball sabermetrician who has devised his own formula for evaluating players offensive contributions, would probably say that Perez has had more negative impact offensively than any other player in Major League history. He has already pleased his fans by making an out in this game. Looks like Pirate ace Kris Benson got out of a first-inning jam by doubling off Barry Bonds on a lineout back to him from Jose Cruz, Jr. It's been all about pitching for the offensively-challenged Pirates, who are really struggling to score runs without Brian Giles. Craig Wilson is championed by statheads as one of those bats that needs to be "freed" and they are right, but he hasn't gotten regular AB's this season and has struggled. He is now 2-21 on the season after making an out in the second inning. Jeff Suppan is 4-0 for the Bucs, but they got bad news on Giles injury, i.e. possibly another month, and they will struggle to stay close to .500 without him. The Giants have been world-beaters with the hot start of Jose Cruz and by Barry being Barry. But what's really propelled them has been a great bullpen in the basence of Robb Nen, and a little luck, as the G-Men have one more than their share of close ones in the opening weeks. It will be interesting to see if Tim Worrell, F-Rod, and the gang can keep it up, because it looks like Nen could be out until the all-star break, something I feared all along.
MINNESOTA (9-11) AT KANSAS CITY (15-3)
Can the Royals really be 15-3? Is it possible? Well, they are, though it helps that they've played six games against the Tigers and won them all. Their schedule will get tougher, and Jeremy Affeldt is on the DL with blister problems again, so that hurts. But their bullpen has been great, with fireballers D.J. Carrasco, Ryan Bukvich, Kris Wilson and Mike MacDougal. MacDougal's ball looks like some kind of heat-seeking missile as it moves through the strike zone at nearly 100 mph. Scary, but he's going to have to learn how to throw more strikes if he is to be truly dominant. The Royals have benefitted from a soft schedule so far, but the longer they keep playing well, the more likely it is that they'll break .500 and contend in the AL Central. Chris George is hurling today, and he still looks like a work in progress. The youth of the pitching staff and the fact that Brent Mayne will cease being King Kong at the plate soon will probably contribute to a Royals fade, but boy are people in KC a lot more excited than they were a month ago. Meanwhile, the Twins have had enough of the Yankees, who have swept them twice. The jury is still out on Minnesota, who has been inconsistent and had an imbalanced schedule to start the season. Just keep sending Bobby Kielty out there, Mr. Gardenhire. Has anyone else noticed that Ron Gardenhire looks like he should be Kerry Wood's dad? Twins-Royals are scoreless through three as KC tries to become the first team since the '87 Yankees to win their first ten home games. If the Royals are still in first, it will make for a quite interesting I-70 series when they and the Cards have their home-and-home series this summer, the one that the Cards cleaned up in last year.
BOSTON (14-7) AT TEXAS (9-12)
Kevin Millar is not playing either??? What's the friggin conspiracy?? Millar has been one of the hottest bats for the Sox, who have overcome the early-season, closer-by-committee controversy to jump out to a strong start, not that it's probably going to matter since they are pretty much a second-place lock. My prediction of them as the wild-card team in the AL is looking pretty strong at this early juncture. They've got a lot of offense and they've had some relievers step up and do the job for them lately, notably former Cardinal Mike Timlin and waiver wire pickup Brandon Lyon. Chad Fox has also rebounded from a bad start and is now the "closer" or the closest thing to it for the Red Sox. As always, the Rangers just don't have enough pitching. John Thomson had onoe of those games he has every now and then the other night, but they are too few and far between for this staff. They just cannot seem to find the magic formula. Ryan Drese is starting today and doing poorly, AGAIN. On the bright side, Hank Blalock is pounding the ball, batting .424 currently. Mark Teixeira is struggling. He shows flashes of his power, but is batting only .161. The Rangers look destined for another last place finish in their personal hell known as the AL West.
This is something I did two Thursdays ago and that I am going to try to do every Thursday, looking at the other matchups in the league and talking about what is interesting about them. First, though, I have to make one more comment about last night's game. Kerry Robinson sucks. Not only does he always make an out, but he usually makes it on the first or second pitch of the at-bat. He is every pitcher's dream. A guy with no power, and no plate discipline. If two teams full of Kerry Robinson's played each other, you'd have nine innings go by in about forty-five minutes. Of course, the game would have to continue because there would be no runs scored. Meanwhile, Eli Marrero is looking more like the Eli Marrero of 2000-01 than the Eli of last year. He is batting under .100. He and Tino had back-to-back pop-ups that made it about a combined fifty feet from home plate. Tino's was an 0-2 pitch right down the middle. Of course he got a hit in the ninth with one out and nobody on. GRRRR!!!!!! Everybody can talk about how we've got such a great and balanced lineup, but the absence of Pujols exposes that there is a huuuuuge drop-off once you get away from the heart of the order, especially now that Palmeiro and Matheny have returned to Earth. Let Albert play, dammit!!!!!!!
SAN FRANCISCO (16-4) AT PITTSBURGH (10-10)
Why the hell isn't Rich Aurilia, my fantasy shortstop, playing? The human out machine Neifi Perez is in there instead. The one problem with old managers like Felipe Alou is that they see some kind of incredible value in Neifi Perez. Lee Sinins', a baseball sabermetrician who has devised his own formula for evaluating players offensive contributions, would probably say that Perez has had more negative impact offensively than any other player in Major League history. He has already pleased his fans by making an out in this game. Looks like Pirate ace Kris Benson got out of a first-inning jam by doubling off Barry Bonds on a lineout back to him from Jose Cruz, Jr. It's been all about pitching for the offensively-challenged Pirates, who are really struggling to score runs without Brian Giles. Craig Wilson is championed by statheads as one of those bats that needs to be "freed" and they are right, but he hasn't gotten regular AB's this season and has struggled. He is now 2-21 on the season after making an out in the second inning. Jeff Suppan is 4-0 for the Bucs, but they got bad news on Giles injury, i.e. possibly another month, and they will struggle to stay close to .500 without him. The Giants have been world-beaters with the hot start of Jose Cruz and by Barry being Barry. But what's really propelled them has been a great bullpen in the basence of Robb Nen, and a little luck, as the G-Men have one more than their share of close ones in the opening weeks. It will be interesting to see if Tim Worrell, F-Rod, and the gang can keep it up, because it looks like Nen could be out until the all-star break, something I feared all along.
MINNESOTA (9-11) AT KANSAS CITY (15-3)
Can the Royals really be 15-3? Is it possible? Well, they are, though it helps that they've played six games against the Tigers and won them all. Their schedule will get tougher, and Jeremy Affeldt is on the DL with blister problems again, so that hurts. But their bullpen has been great, with fireballers D.J. Carrasco, Ryan Bukvich, Kris Wilson and Mike MacDougal. MacDougal's ball looks like some kind of heat-seeking missile as it moves through the strike zone at nearly 100 mph. Scary, but he's going to have to learn how to throw more strikes if he is to be truly dominant. The Royals have benefitted from a soft schedule so far, but the longer they keep playing well, the more likely it is that they'll break .500 and contend in the AL Central. Chris George is hurling today, and he still looks like a work in progress. The youth of the pitching staff and the fact that Brent Mayne will cease being King Kong at the plate soon will probably contribute to a Royals fade, but boy are people in KC a lot more excited than they were a month ago. Meanwhile, the Twins have had enough of the Yankees, who have swept them twice. The jury is still out on Minnesota, who has been inconsistent and had an imbalanced schedule to start the season. Just keep sending Bobby Kielty out there, Mr. Gardenhire. Has anyone else noticed that Ron Gardenhire looks like he should be Kerry Wood's dad? Twins-Royals are scoreless through three as KC tries to become the first team since the '87 Yankees to win their first ten home games. If the Royals are still in first, it will make for a quite interesting I-70 series when they and the Cards have their home-and-home series this summer, the one that the Cards cleaned up in last year.
BOSTON (14-7) AT TEXAS (9-12)
Kevin Millar is not playing either??? What's the friggin conspiracy?? Millar has been one of the hottest bats for the Sox, who have overcome the early-season, closer-by-committee controversy to jump out to a strong start, not that it's probably going to matter since they are pretty much a second-place lock. My prediction of them as the wild-card team in the AL is looking pretty strong at this early juncture. They've got a lot of offense and they've had some relievers step up and do the job for them lately, notably former Cardinal Mike Timlin and waiver wire pickup Brandon Lyon. Chad Fox has also rebounded from a bad start and is now the "closer" or the closest thing to it for the Red Sox. As always, the Rangers just don't have enough pitching. John Thomson had onoe of those games he has every now and then the other night, but they are too few and far between for this staff. They just cannot seem to find the magic formula. Ryan Drese is starting today and doing poorly, AGAIN. On the bright side, Hank Blalock is pounding the ball, batting .424 currently. Mark Teixeira is struggling. He shows flashes of his power, but is batting only .161. The Rangers look destined for another last place finish in their personal hell known as the AL West.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOORING
The Cards aren't exactly playing a thrilling brand of baseball right now. They dropped their fourth in a row last night, losing 4-2 to the Braves. They didn't score until Jim Edmonds blasted a two-run homer off of Darren Holmes in the ninth. They managed to get the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth after John Smoltz came in, but it was the same old story as St. Louis failed to get the big hit when they needed it. Greg Maddux used around 80 pitches to pitch 7 innings, as the Cards flailed away early in the count. Another very good start by Matt Morris was wasted. After he gave up back-to-back solo homers in the first to Marcus Giles and Gary Sheffield, Morris was nearly perfect the rest of the way. Those runs were the only blemishes in his seven innings of work, but he took the loss, and Matty Mo aired out his frustration by dropping an f-bomb well within the audio range of the ESPN dugout camera after he came out. More on the Redbirds continuing struggles later.
The Cards aren't exactly playing a thrilling brand of baseball right now. They dropped their fourth in a row last night, losing 4-2 to the Braves. They didn't score until Jim Edmonds blasted a two-run homer off of Darren Holmes in the ninth. They managed to get the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth after John Smoltz came in, but it was the same old story as St. Louis failed to get the big hit when they needed it. Greg Maddux used around 80 pitches to pitch 7 innings, as the Cards flailed away early in the count. Another very good start by Matt Morris was wasted. After he gave up back-to-back solo homers in the first to Marcus Giles and Gary Sheffield, Morris was nearly perfect the rest of the way. Those runs were the only blemishes in his seven innings of work, but he took the loss, and Matty Mo aired out his frustration by dropping an f-bomb well within the audio range of the ESPN dugout camera after he came out. More on the Redbirds continuing struggles later.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
THE MINORS
The Memphis Redbirds have struggled, starting out 7-13, which to be honest, was probably expected, given the little depth that the Cards have in the high minors, particularly at the plate. When you're scoring just over three runs a game, you're going to lose more than you win, no matter what leagure you're in. Really the only offensive threat on the team presently is Jon Nunnally, a minor-league journeyman who already has six home runs, six doubles and thirteen walks. This is one of the best stretches of Nunnally minor-league career and he may get a callup as a reserve in St. Louis if the injuries continue. Meanwhile, the Cards signed Chris Widger to a minor-league contract. Widger has been a backup catcher for several major-league teams and just lost out on the backup job for the Yankees in the spring. He has hit well since joining the team and may be a better alternative than Eli Marrero, who is still nursing an injured thigh, at this point. Pitching-wise, the bullpen continues to be the strength of the team as they wait for Mike Crudale to come back. However, the much-maligned Cardinal bullpen has actually not been that bad, so who knows if or when we'll see the likes of Gabe Molina, Matt Duff, or Kevin Joseph. Kevin Ohme did okay in his stint with the big club but was sent back down to make room for Drew. Jimmy Journell has struggled, posting a 5.55 ERA in his first four starts. Not a good sign for the Cards only real "prospect" at the AAA level. So far Nerio Rodriguez and Jason Ryan have been Memphis' best starters.
The Tennessee Smokies are 11-7 despite not having a great offense either. The difference has been the pitching. Bucky Jacobsen, a mino-league vet, is the only player to hit more than one homer in the first eighteen games. Infielders Dennis Abreu and Caonabo Cosme are hitting .286 and .310 respectively. Yadi Molina isn't putting up big numbers, but is doing okay after leapfrogging High-A ball. Pitching is where the studs are at. Danny Haren has erased any doubt about who the number one prospect in the organization is. He has been dominant in his first four starts, winning all three decsions and posting a 1.38 ERA over 26 innings with a 20/3 K-BB ratio. Nick Stocks also looks like he may be turning a corner, as he has pitched well in all three of his starts. Rhett Parrott hasn't had consistency in his first few starts but has a wonderful 23/4 K-BB ratio. Haren and Parrott could both make it to AAA by the end of the year. If Haren's stock keeps rising, he could be viewed as a candidate for the St. Louis rotation sometime in 2004. The bullpen has been rock-solid, with B.R. Cook and Jason Pearson both allowing zero runs in 10 2/3 innings so far this season. Rick Ankiel has only thrown six innings, allowing two earned runs. He has been a bit wild, walking five, but he has fanned nine.
It's been tough going for the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals, many of whom were on last year's Midwest League championship team in Peoria. There is simply no offense. Shaun Boyd has slumped after an electric start, and Gabe Johnson and Chris Duncan aren't showing the power they did last year, as playing so many games in a pitcher's park has appeared to demoralize the team offensively. On the bright side, there is plenty of good pitching. Chris Narveson and Justin Pope have pitched well in three of their four starts. Pope has allowed only four runs in his last three starts after getting hit around in his opener. Narveson has his ERA down to 2.63. Blake Williams and Tyler Johnson have both looked good as they continue to return from injuries. Johnson has used his big hook to K 16 batters in his first 13 innings and Williams has allowed only four earned runs over his first seventeen innings.
Life is still good for the Peoria Chiefs, though they have dropped five of their last eight to fall to 13-6. There are still several hitters with high OPS figures. Terry Evans is slugging oer .500, while Travis Hanson is getting on base at a .400 clip and slugging .610 with 22 ribbies. John Santor is batting an eye-popping .390, with OBA and SLG over .500. He is 23-59 with 14 walks, four doubles, and two dongs. One of the most encouraging developments has been Tyler Parker, who was considered a steal as an 8th-round draft pick at Catcher last June but struggled in his debut. He is now showing what Baseball America called the best raw power among Cardinal minor-leaguers, slugging .550 with three homers and three doubles in his first 40 AB's. Matt Lemanczyk is looking like an exciting leadoff man, stealing 8 bases in 9 attempts and posting a .397 OBA so far. Miguel Martinez and Tyler Adamczyk both got knocked around a little in their last outing, but still have good ERA's and Blake Hawksworth has been lights-out, with 27 K's and just six walks in 24 innings. His WHIP is sitting at about 0.80 right now, and he's looking like one of the system's best candidates for a quick move up this summer.
That's the minors, and it's the same ol' story. Lots of Arms, not many bats. It's very encouraging to see the potential hitters the Cards have at Peoria because the rest of the system is bone-dry.
The Memphis Redbirds have struggled, starting out 7-13, which to be honest, was probably expected, given the little depth that the Cards have in the high minors, particularly at the plate. When you're scoring just over three runs a game, you're going to lose more than you win, no matter what leagure you're in. Really the only offensive threat on the team presently is Jon Nunnally, a minor-league journeyman who already has six home runs, six doubles and thirteen walks. This is one of the best stretches of Nunnally minor-league career and he may get a callup as a reserve in St. Louis if the injuries continue. Meanwhile, the Cards signed Chris Widger to a minor-league contract. Widger has been a backup catcher for several major-league teams and just lost out on the backup job for the Yankees in the spring. He has hit well since joining the team and may be a better alternative than Eli Marrero, who is still nursing an injured thigh, at this point. Pitching-wise, the bullpen continues to be the strength of the team as they wait for Mike Crudale to come back. However, the much-maligned Cardinal bullpen has actually not been that bad, so who knows if or when we'll see the likes of Gabe Molina, Matt Duff, or Kevin Joseph. Kevin Ohme did okay in his stint with the big club but was sent back down to make room for Drew. Jimmy Journell has struggled, posting a 5.55 ERA in his first four starts. Not a good sign for the Cards only real "prospect" at the AAA level. So far Nerio Rodriguez and Jason Ryan have been Memphis' best starters.
The Tennessee Smokies are 11-7 despite not having a great offense either. The difference has been the pitching. Bucky Jacobsen, a mino-league vet, is the only player to hit more than one homer in the first eighteen games. Infielders Dennis Abreu and Caonabo Cosme are hitting .286 and .310 respectively. Yadi Molina isn't putting up big numbers, but is doing okay after leapfrogging High-A ball. Pitching is where the studs are at. Danny Haren has erased any doubt about who the number one prospect in the organization is. He has been dominant in his first four starts, winning all three decsions and posting a 1.38 ERA over 26 innings with a 20/3 K-BB ratio. Nick Stocks also looks like he may be turning a corner, as he has pitched well in all three of his starts. Rhett Parrott hasn't had consistency in his first few starts but has a wonderful 23/4 K-BB ratio. Haren and Parrott could both make it to AAA by the end of the year. If Haren's stock keeps rising, he could be viewed as a candidate for the St. Louis rotation sometime in 2004. The bullpen has been rock-solid, with B.R. Cook and Jason Pearson both allowing zero runs in 10 2/3 innings so far this season. Rick Ankiel has only thrown six innings, allowing two earned runs. He has been a bit wild, walking five, but he has fanned nine.
It's been tough going for the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals, many of whom were on last year's Midwest League championship team in Peoria. There is simply no offense. Shaun Boyd has slumped after an electric start, and Gabe Johnson and Chris Duncan aren't showing the power they did last year, as playing so many games in a pitcher's park has appeared to demoralize the team offensively. On the bright side, there is plenty of good pitching. Chris Narveson and Justin Pope have pitched well in three of their four starts. Pope has allowed only four runs in his last three starts after getting hit around in his opener. Narveson has his ERA down to 2.63. Blake Williams and Tyler Johnson have both looked good as they continue to return from injuries. Johnson has used his big hook to K 16 batters in his first 13 innings and Williams has allowed only four earned runs over his first seventeen innings.
Life is still good for the Peoria Chiefs, though they have dropped five of their last eight to fall to 13-6. There are still several hitters with high OPS figures. Terry Evans is slugging oer .500, while Travis Hanson is getting on base at a .400 clip and slugging .610 with 22 ribbies. John Santor is batting an eye-popping .390, with OBA and SLG over .500. He is 23-59 with 14 walks, four doubles, and two dongs. One of the most encouraging developments has been Tyler Parker, who was considered a steal as an 8th-round draft pick at Catcher last June but struggled in his debut. He is now showing what Baseball America called the best raw power among Cardinal minor-leaguers, slugging .550 with three homers and three doubles in his first 40 AB's. Matt Lemanczyk is looking like an exciting leadoff man, stealing 8 bases in 9 attempts and posting a .397 OBA so far. Miguel Martinez and Tyler Adamczyk both got knocked around a little in their last outing, but still have good ERA's and Blake Hawksworth has been lights-out, with 27 K's and just six walks in 24 innings. His WHIP is sitting at about 0.80 right now, and he's looking like one of the system's best candidates for a quick move up this summer.
That's the minors, and it's the same ol' story. Lots of Arms, not many bats. It's very encouraging to see the potential hitters the Cards have at Peoria because the rest of the system is bone-dry.
I'M BACK!!!! THE CARDINALS OFFENSE HAS LEFT
Hi everyone, and sorry for neglecting my writing the last week or so. I've been busy, out-of-town, and my keyboard has been broken. All problems are over and solved!!! However, a whole new rash of problems in my sports-related life has emerged. This has been one of the worst weeks for my sports teams that I can remember in a long time. My beloved University of Illinois Fighting Illini lost their basketball coach, when he decided to sell them out for Kansas. The Blues choked away a playoff series, calling the question to my attention of "Why exactly do you root for the Blues, Mike? They're nothing but guaranteed heartache. Well, I can't help it, but it's going to be tough to watch the next round of the NHL playoffs with this sick feeling in my stomach, probably much like the flu bug that Scott Mellanby got that started this monumental collapse.
But alas, this is a site dedicated to the Cards. And boy have they been stinking it up lately too. A great win last Friday by Woody "I just don't give up runs" Williams had the Birds at 9-6, but coincided with the news that Albert Pujols will not play regularly for the next three weeks because he sprained an elbow ligament while making a throw from the outfield on the last day of the series in Houston. Since then, the Cardinals offense has gone into hibernation. A pair of one-run losses over the weekend put the Cards at an incredibly unlucky 0-6 in one-run games. Simontacchi pitched better, but still not very good on Saturday, giving up a 2-run homer to Luis Gonzalez on an 0-2 pitch that pretty much decided the game, as well as giving up a 2-out double to Bung-Hyun Kim, the pitcher. Brett Tomko was brilliant on Sunday, giving up just one run in eight innings, but the Cards were shut out. This just doesn't seem to be a team that the powers that be like very much. I mean, what is next?, now that Pujols has gone down with such a bizarre thing that it seems it could only happen to the Cardinals. Albert is only going to be available as a pinch-hitter for at least the next two weeks apparently. His injury couldn't have come at a worse time, as Orlando Palmeiro and Mike Matheny have cooled off considerably, Rolen has gone in to an 0-for-16 slump and Vina has returned as an unproductive leadoff hitter, though he did have three hits last night.
J.D. Drew was activated from the DL Sunday and got his first hit last night, hitting the ball hard a couple of times. The Cardinals really need him to go on a tear without the services of Pujols. The good news is that the NL Central isn't looking that strong. The Cubs are off to a hot start, but have played an easy schedule and will wear down a little. The Astros just don't look to have the combination of hittign and pitching that many predicted they would, and Pittsburgh is simply average. But I also don't think the Cardinals can win ninety games with Stephenson, who was horrible in last night's 5-3 loss to the Braves, the new Cardinal killers, and Simontacchi at the back end of the rotation. Word from ESPN's Jayson Stark is that Chuck Finley is still a possibility to sign with the Cards and everyone would welcome Chuck with open arms right about now. If the Cards stay in the hunt, we could be looking at another trade deadline pitching acquisition, depending on what Chris Carpenter is ready to do. Tonight Matt Morris is assuming the role of rotation stopper, as in trying to stop the Cards three-game losing streak. Greg Maddux is going for the Braves. The Cards usually pound him or get shut out, and with the way the offense has been going, that's a slightly scary thought. But maybe tonight is a breakout night. Let's hope so. I'll return with a minor-league report later and I'll talk about some of the things I wanted to talk about last week, including Lee Sinins' and Will Carroll's report on the abuse of young pitchers.
Hi everyone, and sorry for neglecting my writing the last week or so. I've been busy, out-of-town, and my keyboard has been broken. All problems are over and solved!!! However, a whole new rash of problems in my sports-related life has emerged. This has been one of the worst weeks for my sports teams that I can remember in a long time. My beloved University of Illinois Fighting Illini lost their basketball coach, when he decided to sell them out for Kansas. The Blues choked away a playoff series, calling the question to my attention of "Why exactly do you root for the Blues, Mike? They're nothing but guaranteed heartache. Well, I can't help it, but it's going to be tough to watch the next round of the NHL playoffs with this sick feeling in my stomach, probably much like the flu bug that Scott Mellanby got that started this monumental collapse.
But alas, this is a site dedicated to the Cards. And boy have they been stinking it up lately too. A great win last Friday by Woody "I just don't give up runs" Williams had the Birds at 9-6, but coincided with the news that Albert Pujols will not play regularly for the next three weeks because he sprained an elbow ligament while making a throw from the outfield on the last day of the series in Houston. Since then, the Cardinals offense has gone into hibernation. A pair of one-run losses over the weekend put the Cards at an incredibly unlucky 0-6 in one-run games. Simontacchi pitched better, but still not very good on Saturday, giving up a 2-run homer to Luis Gonzalez on an 0-2 pitch that pretty much decided the game, as well as giving up a 2-out double to Bung-Hyun Kim, the pitcher. Brett Tomko was brilliant on Sunday, giving up just one run in eight innings, but the Cards were shut out. This just doesn't seem to be a team that the powers that be like very much. I mean, what is next?, now that Pujols has gone down with such a bizarre thing that it seems it could only happen to the Cardinals. Albert is only going to be available as a pinch-hitter for at least the next two weeks apparently. His injury couldn't have come at a worse time, as Orlando Palmeiro and Mike Matheny have cooled off considerably, Rolen has gone in to an 0-for-16 slump and Vina has returned as an unproductive leadoff hitter, though he did have three hits last night.
J.D. Drew was activated from the DL Sunday and got his first hit last night, hitting the ball hard a couple of times. The Cardinals really need him to go on a tear without the services of Pujols. The good news is that the NL Central isn't looking that strong. The Cubs are off to a hot start, but have played an easy schedule and will wear down a little. The Astros just don't look to have the combination of hittign and pitching that many predicted they would, and Pittsburgh is simply average. But I also don't think the Cardinals can win ninety games with Stephenson, who was horrible in last night's 5-3 loss to the Braves, the new Cardinal killers, and Simontacchi at the back end of the rotation. Word from ESPN's Jayson Stark is that Chuck Finley is still a possibility to sign with the Cards and everyone would welcome Chuck with open arms right about now. If the Cards stay in the hunt, we could be looking at another trade deadline pitching acquisition, depending on what Chris Carpenter is ready to do. Tonight Matt Morris is assuming the role of rotation stopper, as in trying to stop the Cards three-game losing streak. Greg Maddux is going for the Braves. The Cards usually pound him or get shut out, and with the way the offense has been going, that's a slightly scary thought. But maybe tonight is a breakout night. Let's hope so. I'll return with a minor-league report later and I'll talk about some of the things I wanted to talk about last week, including Lee Sinins' and Will Carroll's report on the abuse of young pitchers.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
OFF DAY FOR THE GOOD GUYS
The Cardinals and the Giants are the only two teams not playing ball on this beautiful April Thursday. I've been curtailing my amount of writing because my keyboard is acting up. I hope to get that resolved soon, because I want to go around the league like I did last Thursday, maybe talk some fantasy baseball, and comment on a study of young pitchers, overuse, and arm injuries that I read over at BP, which by the way you need to fork over the cash for and become a premium member. I grouped the pitchers into categories and want to talk about the findings as well as commenting about Cardinals that appeared on the list. If I don't get to it today, I will soon. GO CARDS!!!!
The Cardinals and the Giants are the only two teams not playing ball on this beautiful April Thursday. I've been curtailing my amount of writing because my keyboard is acting up. I hope to get that resolved soon, because I want to go around the league like I did last Thursday, maybe talk some fantasy baseball, and comment on a study of young pitchers, overuse, and arm injuries that I read over at BP, which by the way you need to fork over the cash for and become a premium member. I grouped the pitchers into categories and want to talk about the findings as well as commenting about Cardinals that appeared on the list. If I don't get to it today, I will soon. GO CARDS!!!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
MATTY MO GOES YARD!!!
Maybe I should whine every day about this team's play. The Cards got over last night's sickness in a major way with a 15-2 pounding of the Brewers. The Cards had six doubles and four homers, including one by none other than the winning pitcher Matt Morris!! Morris pitched six solid innings allowing only one unearned run. It was a great day for Scott Rolen, who doubled and had a pair of two-run dingers to take the team lead with five. But perhaps the best news of the day was that Albert Pujols showed that he is suffering no ill effects from getting hit by a pitch the other night. Albert was 3 for 4 with 2 ribbies. Kudos to Tony for going with the all-righthanded lineup against lefty Wayne Franklin. With Vina, Edmonds, O Palmeiro and Tino on the bench and Eli, Wilson Delgado, Miguel Cairo, and Eduardo Perez all in the lineup, the Cardinal bats still went nuts. Great to get a win while giving Tino and Jimmy what amounts to two days off, though Edmonds did play a couple innings in the field.
The Birdos sit at 8-6, a half game back of the first-place Cubs (hurts to say that) and may be back to better health by Friday, when they open their three-game set against the D-Backs, who are really struggling. The Cards definitely will not have to face Curt Schillling, as he pitches tomorrow, and they might not have to face Randy Johnson either. He was originally scheduled to pitch today but was scratched with knee soreness, meaning he could possibly pitch Saturday if Byung-Hyun Kim, who is also fighting a nagging injury, cannot go. The best-case scenario would be that neither of them pitch, although all Card fans know about the Cardinals history of uncanny success against the Unit. Well, this will make for a happy day off for our heroes in red tomorrow, and we may see Vina rejoin the lineup, although it will still be as a leadoff hitter and not where he belongs. Until then, time to have a few cold ones and cheer the Blues on in the playoffs!!!!
Maybe I should whine every day about this team's play. The Cards got over last night's sickness in a major way with a 15-2 pounding of the Brewers. The Cards had six doubles and four homers, including one by none other than the winning pitcher Matt Morris!! Morris pitched six solid innings allowing only one unearned run. It was a great day for Scott Rolen, who doubled and had a pair of two-run dingers to take the team lead with five. But perhaps the best news of the day was that Albert Pujols showed that he is suffering no ill effects from getting hit by a pitch the other night. Albert was 3 for 4 with 2 ribbies. Kudos to Tony for going with the all-righthanded lineup against lefty Wayne Franklin. With Vina, Edmonds, O Palmeiro and Tino on the bench and Eli, Wilson Delgado, Miguel Cairo, and Eduardo Perez all in the lineup, the Cardinal bats still went nuts. Great to get a win while giving Tino and Jimmy what amounts to two days off, though Edmonds did play a couple innings in the field.
The Birdos sit at 8-6, a half game back of the first-place Cubs (hurts to say that) and may be back to better health by Friday, when they open their three-game set against the D-Backs, who are really struggling. The Cards definitely will not have to face Curt Schillling, as he pitches tomorrow, and they might not have to face Randy Johnson either. He was originally scheduled to pitch today but was scratched with knee soreness, meaning he could possibly pitch Saturday if Byung-Hyun Kim, who is also fighting a nagging injury, cannot go. The best-case scenario would be that neither of them pitch, although all Card fans know about the Cardinals history of uncanny success against the Unit. Well, this will make for a happy day off for our heroes in red tomorrow, and we may see Vina rejoin the lineup, although it will still be as a leadoff hitter and not where he belongs. Until then, time to have a few cold ones and cheer the Blues on in the playoffs!!!!
Cards Look Uninterested, Starting Pitching Stinks Again
I waver back and forth on this team. Some days, like the comeback win over Houston on Sunday, I feel that this is a team with a terrorizing amount of offense, and that Tony and Dunc will make it work in the bullpen. Then, last night, as I watch the baserunning blunders, and the terrible pitching from Garrett Stephenson, who felt like he needed to throw at Richie Sexson with two out and no one on in the first and ended up costing himself two runs, I think this is probably a .500 team at best, especially considering the staggering amount of injuries that the team seems to be cursed with. I know, I know, I'm getting way too high and way too low based on individual games. Last night was ugly though. After Stepehenson's first inning debacle, the Cards blew what would turn out to be their best scoring chance of the night when Jose Oquendo failed to send Rolen on a fly ball by Renteria that would have easily scored him, confusing Tino at second, and getting him caught off the bag for the second out. Hey Tino, maybe next time you can check the runner in front of you, though I was expecting him to score too, not realizing that Oquendo had such a fear of John Vander Wal's rocket arm (sarcasm). The Cards played with a three man bench because Vina is still not back, and Pujols was scratched from the lineup because his thumb hurt too much. I fail to understand what makes Vina so valuable that he cannot be disabled. He has now missed what, five, six games in a row? Our bench is WEAK as a result of it. I'm not feeling many positive vibes right now, except that Matty Mo is pitching today and is due for a win. Of course, Edmonds and Pujols will probably be on the bench, since TLR will want to give Jimmy that two day off rest he loves to do before an off day. It'll be Morris against Wayne Franklin, a journeyman lefty.
I waver back and forth on this team. Some days, like the comeback win over Houston on Sunday, I feel that this is a team with a terrorizing amount of offense, and that Tony and Dunc will make it work in the bullpen. Then, last night, as I watch the baserunning blunders, and the terrible pitching from Garrett Stephenson, who felt like he needed to throw at Richie Sexson with two out and no one on in the first and ended up costing himself two runs, I think this is probably a .500 team at best, especially considering the staggering amount of injuries that the team seems to be cursed with. I know, I know, I'm getting way too high and way too low based on individual games. Last night was ugly though. After Stepehenson's first inning debacle, the Cards blew what would turn out to be their best scoring chance of the night when Jose Oquendo failed to send Rolen on a fly ball by Renteria that would have easily scored him, confusing Tino at second, and getting him caught off the bag for the second out. Hey Tino, maybe next time you can check the runner in front of you, though I was expecting him to score too, not realizing that Oquendo had such a fear of John Vander Wal's rocket arm (sarcasm). The Cards played with a three man bench because Vina is still not back, and Pujols was scratched from the lineup because his thumb hurt too much. I fail to understand what makes Vina so valuable that he cannot be disabled. He has now missed what, five, six games in a row? Our bench is WEAK as a result of it. I'm not feeling many positive vibes right now, except that Matty Mo is pitching today and is due for a win. Of course, Edmonds and Pujols will probably be on the bench, since TLR will want to give Jimmy that two day off rest he loves to do before an off day. It'll be Morris against Wayne Franklin, a journeyman lefty.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
THE BIG O
What did I tell ya about Orlando Palmeiro? The guy is an on-base machine! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Okay, that's enough. The Cards somehow won one of the weirder games of the season so far last night. Brett Tomko was down 3-0 with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning. I was starting to break out in a cold sweat. What is with this guy and the first inning? It's Dustin Hermanson 2001 all over again. But the Cards came back to win 7-5 despite leaving 16 men on base, having a man thrown out at home, having two other guys dead ducks at home until someone on the Brew Crew made a misplay in the field, and they lost their pitcher trying to steal second just before Orlando Palmeiro hit his first homerun in a year and a half. Aaaaah, Baseball. the biggest event in the game came when Albert Pujols got drilled by a fastball on the back of his hand. He bruised his thumb, but the x-rays were negative, and Cardinal Nation returned the loaded gun back to its safe. Palmeiro was the hero. In addition to his solo shot he had a sac fly and a two out, two-run double. The bullpen did a great job, led by Russ Springer's two scoreless innings. Steve Kline came in to retire Geoff Jenkins for a one-out save, his third of the year.
Other than that, the game was notable for Jeffrey Hammonds suffering his third injury of the year. I thought about it last night. Some people just look for ways to get hurt, I swear. Hammonds could hurt himself if he was walking around naked in a vacuum. the Cards pounded Todd Ritchie, as usual, and would have won by about ten runs if they could have gotten more hits with runners on and not waited till there were two outs before loading the bases. Additonally, runnning the bases a little smarter could be cool too. I don't know if Dave McKay was passing out some Canadian reefer every time a redbird rounded first, but Albert tried to socre on a play he had no chance to be safe on, Renteria would have been gunned at the plate on Palmeiro's sac fly if Keith Osik could've held onto the ball, and Palmeiro was going to get caught in a rundown between third and home when Eric Young suddenly had a Cub flashback and threw one into the stands. Ondelay, Ondelay, Mama, EY, EY, Uh-Oh!!
Pujols likely will not play the next couple games, maybe be available for pinch-hitting. He has a bruise, but nothing is broken and that is some of the best news we Cardinal fans have heard all season. Garrett Stephenson and Ben Sheets both make their second start of the season against this opponent tonight. The Brewers will be without Hammonds and probably have John Vander Wal in there. Jenkins return has given the Brewers an offensive boost. He hit a mammoth homer off of Tomko last night. tomko ended up allowing five earned in 5 1/3, but he did pick up his first win as a Cardinal. Still no word on Vina, and in the meantime I'm just enjoying having "The Big O" in the leadoff spot. Meanwhile, J.D. Drew could be back in as little as 10 days. He is still in Palm Beach, and is 3-8 with a dinger and 5 walks.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Memphis has evened its record at 6-6. Among the early bright spots has been Catcher Alex Delgado, who is 7 for his first 16, and Dee Haynes who is showing good power early, having already hit a couple homers. Also encouraging is Haynes has drawn three walks in his first 28 at-bats. Jon Nunnally is the leading hitter for the team right now. The 31-year old minor league vet is 13 for his first 28 with three doubles, three homers and a triple. The pitching has been the real pleasant surprise. Nerio Rodriguez and Jason Ryan have both pitched well in their starts nd the bullpen has been great. Even with the temporary loss of Crudale, Matt Duff, Kevin Joseph, and Gabe Molina have done great, and last night marked the first appearance for Scotty Layfield, who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The AA Smokies are 6-4 despite not getting much offense. Jeremy Dodson, who will be 26 in a few weeks, is leading the team in htting, batting .313. Catcher Yadi Molina has gotten off to a decent offensive start, hitting 4 doubles and drawing four walks in his first 28 AB's. The pitching has been superb. Dan Haren and Nick Stocks have both had a pair of good starts. Haren has allowed only 1 earned run in his first 12 innings, with a 12-1 K/BB ratio. Rick Ankiel threw another scoreless inning recently, and B.R. Cook has really taken to the bullpen, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless frames while striking out eight.
Palm Beach is really having trouble scoring. Shaun Boyd is the only player hitting over .300. He went 2 for 4 last night. Chris Narveson went six innings and gave up two earned runs, striking out five and getting the loss on Sunday. And Chance Caple has two of the club's four wins despite giving up 14 walks in two starts. One good note is that Tyler Johnson, who had been nursing some sort of injury, made his first start and pitched four innings, giving up an unearned run while not walking a man and striking out six.
Meanwhile, Peoria continues to be smoking hot. They are now 10-1 and just bashing the ball, while simultaneously getting some great pitching. Travis Hanson is opening up some eyes, leading the league in hitting at a .468 clip with already 19 RBI. He has eight doubles and two homers. Matt Lemanczyk isn't far behind, with a .464 average. Terry Evans is hitting over .380 and has 13 RBI. Tyler Adamczyk and Blake Hawksworth have now pitched a combined 25 innings without givng up an earned run. Hawksworth has struck out fourteen and walked two. Less heralded prospects Don Graves and Miguel Martinez are also 2-0. Martinez has allowed just four earned runs in eighteen innings while striking out fourteen and Graves is still unscored upon after 10 1/3 innings. Graves is a 22-year old righty who was drafted back in 1999.
What did I tell ya about Orlando Palmeiro? The guy is an on-base machine! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Okay, that's enough. The Cards somehow won one of the weirder games of the season so far last night. Brett Tomko was down 3-0 with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning. I was starting to break out in a cold sweat. What is with this guy and the first inning? It's Dustin Hermanson 2001 all over again. But the Cards came back to win 7-5 despite leaving 16 men on base, having a man thrown out at home, having two other guys dead ducks at home until someone on the Brew Crew made a misplay in the field, and they lost their pitcher trying to steal second just before Orlando Palmeiro hit his first homerun in a year and a half. Aaaaah, Baseball. the biggest event in the game came when Albert Pujols got drilled by a fastball on the back of his hand. He bruised his thumb, but the x-rays were negative, and Cardinal Nation returned the loaded gun back to its safe. Palmeiro was the hero. In addition to his solo shot he had a sac fly and a two out, two-run double. The bullpen did a great job, led by Russ Springer's two scoreless innings. Steve Kline came in to retire Geoff Jenkins for a one-out save, his third of the year.
Other than that, the game was notable for Jeffrey Hammonds suffering his third injury of the year. I thought about it last night. Some people just look for ways to get hurt, I swear. Hammonds could hurt himself if he was walking around naked in a vacuum. the Cards pounded Todd Ritchie, as usual, and would have won by about ten runs if they could have gotten more hits with runners on and not waited till there were two outs before loading the bases. Additonally, runnning the bases a little smarter could be cool too. I don't know if Dave McKay was passing out some Canadian reefer every time a redbird rounded first, but Albert tried to socre on a play he had no chance to be safe on, Renteria would have been gunned at the plate on Palmeiro's sac fly if Keith Osik could've held onto the ball, and Palmeiro was going to get caught in a rundown between third and home when Eric Young suddenly had a Cub flashback and threw one into the stands. Ondelay, Ondelay, Mama, EY, EY, Uh-Oh!!
Pujols likely will not play the next couple games, maybe be available for pinch-hitting. He has a bruise, but nothing is broken and that is some of the best news we Cardinal fans have heard all season. Garrett Stephenson and Ben Sheets both make their second start of the season against this opponent tonight. The Brewers will be without Hammonds and probably have John Vander Wal in there. Jenkins return has given the Brewers an offensive boost. He hit a mammoth homer off of Tomko last night. tomko ended up allowing five earned in 5 1/3, but he did pick up his first win as a Cardinal. Still no word on Vina, and in the meantime I'm just enjoying having "The Big O" in the leadoff spot. Meanwhile, J.D. Drew could be back in as little as 10 days. He is still in Palm Beach, and is 3-8 with a dinger and 5 walks.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Memphis has evened its record at 6-6. Among the early bright spots has been Catcher Alex Delgado, who is 7 for his first 16, and Dee Haynes who is showing good power early, having already hit a couple homers. Also encouraging is Haynes has drawn three walks in his first 28 at-bats. Jon Nunnally is the leading hitter for the team right now. The 31-year old minor league vet is 13 for his first 28 with three doubles, three homers and a triple. The pitching has been the real pleasant surprise. Nerio Rodriguez and Jason Ryan have both pitched well in their starts nd the bullpen has been great. Even with the temporary loss of Crudale, Matt Duff, Kevin Joseph, and Gabe Molina have done great, and last night marked the first appearance for Scotty Layfield, who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The AA Smokies are 6-4 despite not getting much offense. Jeremy Dodson, who will be 26 in a few weeks, is leading the team in htting, batting .313. Catcher Yadi Molina has gotten off to a decent offensive start, hitting 4 doubles and drawing four walks in his first 28 AB's. The pitching has been superb. Dan Haren and Nick Stocks have both had a pair of good starts. Haren has allowed only 1 earned run in his first 12 innings, with a 12-1 K/BB ratio. Rick Ankiel threw another scoreless inning recently, and B.R. Cook has really taken to the bullpen, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless frames while striking out eight.
Palm Beach is really having trouble scoring. Shaun Boyd is the only player hitting over .300. He went 2 for 4 last night. Chris Narveson went six innings and gave up two earned runs, striking out five and getting the loss on Sunday. And Chance Caple has two of the club's four wins despite giving up 14 walks in two starts. One good note is that Tyler Johnson, who had been nursing some sort of injury, made his first start and pitched four innings, giving up an unearned run while not walking a man and striking out six.
Meanwhile, Peoria continues to be smoking hot. They are now 10-1 and just bashing the ball, while simultaneously getting some great pitching. Travis Hanson is opening up some eyes, leading the league in hitting at a .468 clip with already 19 RBI. He has eight doubles and two homers. Matt Lemanczyk isn't far behind, with a .464 average. Terry Evans is hitting over .380 and has 13 RBI. Tyler Adamczyk and Blake Hawksworth have now pitched a combined 25 innings without givng up an earned run. Hawksworth has struck out fourteen and walked two. Less heralded prospects Don Graves and Miguel Martinez are also 2-0. Martinez has allowed just four earned runs in eighteen innings while striking out fourteen and Graves is still unscored upon after 10 1/3 innings. Graves is a 22-year old righty who was drafted back in 1999.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Random Thoughts from this weekend in Cardinal baseball:
Orlando Palmeiro should be the Cardinals leadoff hitter. Until J.D. Drew is fully healthy and returns to the lineup on a full-time basis, I believe that Palmeiro should lead off, as he did in both games I attended in Houston. Unlike Vina, who missed all three games with a hand injury and is questionable for tonight, Palmeiro refuses to swing at pitches out of the strike zone. The result so far on the young season is 9-24 with 5 walks, and an OBA of .500. .500!!! With the Cardinals deep stable of hitters, a leadoff hitter that gets on base that a lot will make this offense that much better. Vina's OBA is currently .302. He has three walks and a couple of HBP in 37 AB's. That's actually pretty good numbers for Fernando, his OBA is getting dragged down because he's currently hitting .216. He needs to take a page from Palmeiro's handbook and start hitting line drives and taking walks. Until then, the Cards everyday lineup should be:
LF Palmeiro
SS Renteria
CF Edmonds
LF Pujols
3B Rolen
1B Martinez
C Matheny
2B Vina
This lineup is debatable. you could flip-flop Vina and Matheny, and it looks like Renteria is going to start batting seventh. I don't mind that move that much if Palmeiro is in the 2 hole. (I would want him leading off but I know that's not going to happen). Edgar actually says he prefers batting further down in the lineup because it gives him more chances to hit with runners on base, and he certainly looked comfortable there on Saturday and Sunday. I would say bat Edgar sixth and Tino seventh even, but batting Edgar seventh may give Tino more fastballs to hit. I still would rather see Palmeiro and Renteria as the first two. That would mean that the first five hitters in the lineup all have OBA's of over .400 presently. Bat Tino, Matheny, and Vina at the bottom, spot Drew in occasionally until he is fully healthy and use Marrero as a bench player all around the diamond, the role that seems to suit him best.
Considering that Palmeiro has been playing so well and it would be a big mistake to take him out of the lineup, I suppose the normal starting lineup when Vina returns will be the same as my lineup except that Vina will lead off, Palmeiro will bat 2nd, Renteria will bat 7th and Matheny 8th. I guess I can live with that but not if Vina continues to produce so poorly offensively.
I know that Coors and Minute Maid are two great hitters parks, but the offense is looking tough. Edmonds is hot, Rolen is hot, though he may end up walking 200 times if Tino doesn't start hitting better (a thought in favor of batting Renteria sixth and Martinez 7th). Pujols looks like his groin is doing much better now that he's out of the Colorado weather, though he's still not 100 percent. He had a good series, spraying singles all over the park and taking some walks.
The bullpen is still an unknown. The Izzy saga continues. Now it looks like he'll be out the rest of the month. He may never regain full health, which is a shame and a waste of a crapload of cash. If his problems linger on too long I would think that Walt would have to go after somebody sooner or later, though as Jeff Gordon said today in the Post-Dispatch, he may not be able to get antything until June or July when teams are falling out of it. Hopefully we have a healthy and dominant Izzy by then. Until then, unsung heroes have popped up out of the pen. Cal Eldred has made everyone forget about his first two nightmarish appearances with three straight good outings, Russ Springer looks like he'll be able to help all year, and Kline and Fassero have been fairly consistent, with a few ugly exceptions. Yesterday the real hero was Kiko Calero, who pitched two perfect innings and got the win. Dustin Hermanson I think is going to improve as the year goes on and he continues to gain mastery of the splitter. The loss of Lance Painter was a big bummer, as he looked really strong, but Kevin Ohme has been great since he came to Spring Training and hopefully that will continue as he gets set to pitch in a game with the big club, maybe some time in this upcoming series. All in all, the Cards can stay afloat with this bullpen. Probably the biggest question with the pitching staff right now is what to do with Jason Simontacchi, who doesn't look like he belongs in the big leagues. He will surely get at least one more chance, as he has pitched in Houston and Colorado in his first two starts, but he doesn't have the command that he did last year and if he doesn't have that, well, he's in deep doo-doo. The other big question with the rotation will hopefully be resolved tonight, as Brett Tomko tries to take the mound and avoid giving up a lot of runs in the first inning, as he has in his first two starts. Tomko is going to be very big for the Cards this year. If he can gain some type of consistency and learn to trust his pitches, the Cards could have a very formidable rotation, because it looks like Garrett Stephenson is fully healthy and can be a solid back-of-the-rotation starter. If Simo doesn't straighten himself out, the Cards have plenty of candidates to start in the fifth slot. The most likely candidate would be Eldred, who is now working on a string of five straight scoreless innings after his horrific start.
Orlando Palmeiro should be the Cardinals leadoff hitter. Until J.D. Drew is fully healthy and returns to the lineup on a full-time basis, I believe that Palmeiro should lead off, as he did in both games I attended in Houston. Unlike Vina, who missed all three games with a hand injury and is questionable for tonight, Palmeiro refuses to swing at pitches out of the strike zone. The result so far on the young season is 9-24 with 5 walks, and an OBA of .500. .500!!! With the Cardinals deep stable of hitters, a leadoff hitter that gets on base that a lot will make this offense that much better. Vina's OBA is currently .302. He has three walks and a couple of HBP in 37 AB's. That's actually pretty good numbers for Fernando, his OBA is getting dragged down because he's currently hitting .216. He needs to take a page from Palmeiro's handbook and start hitting line drives and taking walks. Until then, the Cards everyday lineup should be:
LF Palmeiro
SS Renteria
CF Edmonds
LF Pujols
3B Rolen
1B Martinez
C Matheny
2B Vina
This lineup is debatable. you could flip-flop Vina and Matheny, and it looks like Renteria is going to start batting seventh. I don't mind that move that much if Palmeiro is in the 2 hole. (I would want him leading off but I know that's not going to happen). Edgar actually says he prefers batting further down in the lineup because it gives him more chances to hit with runners on base, and he certainly looked comfortable there on Saturday and Sunday. I would say bat Edgar sixth and Tino seventh even, but batting Edgar seventh may give Tino more fastballs to hit. I still would rather see Palmeiro and Renteria as the first two. That would mean that the first five hitters in the lineup all have OBA's of over .400 presently. Bat Tino, Matheny, and Vina at the bottom, spot Drew in occasionally until he is fully healthy and use Marrero as a bench player all around the diamond, the role that seems to suit him best.
Considering that Palmeiro has been playing so well and it would be a big mistake to take him out of the lineup, I suppose the normal starting lineup when Vina returns will be the same as my lineup except that Vina will lead off, Palmeiro will bat 2nd, Renteria will bat 7th and Matheny 8th. I guess I can live with that but not if Vina continues to produce so poorly offensively.
I know that Coors and Minute Maid are two great hitters parks, but the offense is looking tough. Edmonds is hot, Rolen is hot, though he may end up walking 200 times if Tino doesn't start hitting better (a thought in favor of batting Renteria sixth and Martinez 7th). Pujols looks like his groin is doing much better now that he's out of the Colorado weather, though he's still not 100 percent. He had a good series, spraying singles all over the park and taking some walks.
The bullpen is still an unknown. The Izzy saga continues. Now it looks like he'll be out the rest of the month. He may never regain full health, which is a shame and a waste of a crapload of cash. If his problems linger on too long I would think that Walt would have to go after somebody sooner or later, though as Jeff Gordon said today in the Post-Dispatch, he may not be able to get antything until June or July when teams are falling out of it. Hopefully we have a healthy and dominant Izzy by then. Until then, unsung heroes have popped up out of the pen. Cal Eldred has made everyone forget about his first two nightmarish appearances with three straight good outings, Russ Springer looks like he'll be able to help all year, and Kline and Fassero have been fairly consistent, with a few ugly exceptions. Yesterday the real hero was Kiko Calero, who pitched two perfect innings and got the win. Dustin Hermanson I think is going to improve as the year goes on and he continues to gain mastery of the splitter. The loss of Lance Painter was a big bummer, as he looked really strong, but Kevin Ohme has been great since he came to Spring Training and hopefully that will continue as he gets set to pitch in a game with the big club, maybe some time in this upcoming series. All in all, the Cards can stay afloat with this bullpen. Probably the biggest question with the pitching staff right now is what to do with Jason Simontacchi, who doesn't look like he belongs in the big leagues. He will surely get at least one more chance, as he has pitched in Houston and Colorado in his first two starts, but he doesn't have the command that he did last year and if he doesn't have that, well, he's in deep doo-doo. The other big question with the rotation will hopefully be resolved tonight, as Brett Tomko tries to take the mound and avoid giving up a lot of runs in the first inning, as he has in his first two starts. Tomko is going to be very big for the Cards this year. If he can gain some type of consistency and learn to trust his pitches, the Cards could have a very formidable rotation, because it looks like Garrett Stephenson is fully healthy and can be a solid back-of-the-rotation starter. If Simo doesn't straighten himself out, the Cards have plenty of candidates to start in the fifth slot. The most likely candidate would be Eldred, who is now working on a string of five straight scoreless innings after his horrific start.
TWO OUTTA THREE AIN"T BAD
Yes, in retrospect a sweep would've been nice. But after Jeff Kent's game-winning two run shot on a Friday night that like a bad dream, the Cards were staring a possible five game deficit right in the face. If they lost on Saturday, they'd be facing smoke-throwing Roy Oswaltin the Sunday finale. But as they've done all year, the Cards didn't take it lying down. They got another superb performance from Woody Williams in his homeland and won on Friday, 3-0, and then rallied on Sunday. Down 5-1 at one point, the Cards exploded on Country Boy Roy in the seventh for six runs after a Jose Vizcaino error kept the inning going. Edgar Renteria put the punctuation mark on the offensive outburst with an opposite-field homerun, his second of the day to put the Cards up 10-6 and they would go on to an 11-8 victory.
I had a great weekend in Houston, other than navigating I-10 and it's hodgepodge of construction zones, traffic jams and lunatic drivers on the way over from New Orleans. I stayed with family and made it to the games Saturday and Sunday, to watch a pair of Cardinal victories while proudly wearing my Cardinal red. Minute Maid Park is a very nice place to watch a ballgame. Aside from the slight cartoonishness of the slope in center (which comes into play rarely) it is a very creative park with creative dimensions and design. Yes, the left field wall is too close to home plate, as evidenced by the popup that Craig Biggio hit for a homerun yesterday, but the Crawford Boxes in left field are a cool thing. I was in the first row in the right field bleachers for the first half of the game Friday night, but no balls came my way. The rest of the time I walked all around the park, sitting in the upper deck, sitting right down close to the field, standing in the archways in the outfield. The big plus in these new ballparks is that there are so many more sightlines because there are fewer seats. Unlike in Busch Stadium, where if you want to walk around the outside to the bathrooms or concessions you have to leave the open-air portion of the facility entirely, at Minute Maid nearly the entire place is open air. If you stand, you can actually still see everything. Going to Houston makes me excited for the Cards to build a new ballpark.
Friday night was about of crushing a loss as a team can be dealt. TLR was so despondent he was the first one to leave the clubhouse. He left in Matty Mo this time for the ninth. Morris had given up only one run, a Jeff Bagwell homer. All weekend long I heard Astros fans talking about Jim Edmonds as if he were a god (He hit a homer Friday night). One woman sitting next to me in right field actually was protecting herself, thinking that Edmonds was automatically going to spray a line drive homer right at her. But Jeff Bagwell demolishes Cardinal pitching just about as badly as Edmonds does it to the Astros. He narrowly missed tyin the game in the ninth with another homer. Instead Morris was one out away from a complete game victory, but gave up a bad-hop single to Lance Berkman that Tino couldn't handle and then tried to get cute with Kent, who deposited a 3-1 hanger deep into left field. I felt like turning around and going back home as I listened on my car radio. (I was picking up KMOX quite nicely while near the Louisiana-Texas border). But I didn't and the weekend got better. The Woodman was sterling on Saturday going six scoreless, and the bullpen was great too. Russ Springer pitched 1 2/3 scoreless and Jeff Fassero got Lance Berkman out before Dustin Hermanson came in and pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since his brief closing experiment in Montreal in 2000.
The Cards bullpen was at it again on Sunday, bailing Jason Simontacchi out after he suffered another very poor outing. The Cards were down 5-1 and I told myself if they got down any further, I was taking off so I could get home early. After all, it was Oswalt on the mound. But the Birds chipped away, and I stayed for every glorious pitch, including the seventh inning which saw clutch hits from Eli, Tino (Whoa!) and Mr. Clutch Colombian himself, Edgar Renteria. Kiko Calero pitched two perfect innings and got his first major league win. Cal Eldred continued to show that he is back, pitching two scoreless innings that included getting Bagwell to hit into a double play. Hermy was given another chance to finish the game with the Cards leading 11-6, but he allowed a two-run dong to Bagwell with two outs. It was Bagwell's second homer of the game, his third of the series, and his second one of the series that he hit completely out of the park. It was a bomb, I had a great view of it from about the seventh row on the third base line. Fassero then cam on to get Berkman out again and that was the game, 11-8, leaving the Cards just one game out of first as the second week of the season drew to a close. More analysis of the weekend to come.
Yes, in retrospect a sweep would've been nice. But after Jeff Kent's game-winning two run shot on a Friday night that like a bad dream, the Cards were staring a possible five game deficit right in the face. If they lost on Saturday, they'd be facing smoke-throwing Roy Oswaltin the Sunday finale. But as they've done all year, the Cards didn't take it lying down. They got another superb performance from Woody Williams in his homeland and won on Friday, 3-0, and then rallied on Sunday. Down 5-1 at one point, the Cards exploded on Country Boy Roy in the seventh for six runs after a Jose Vizcaino error kept the inning going. Edgar Renteria put the punctuation mark on the offensive outburst with an opposite-field homerun, his second of the day to put the Cards up 10-6 and they would go on to an 11-8 victory.
I had a great weekend in Houston, other than navigating I-10 and it's hodgepodge of construction zones, traffic jams and lunatic drivers on the way over from New Orleans. I stayed with family and made it to the games Saturday and Sunday, to watch a pair of Cardinal victories while proudly wearing my Cardinal red. Minute Maid Park is a very nice place to watch a ballgame. Aside from the slight cartoonishness of the slope in center (which comes into play rarely) it is a very creative park with creative dimensions and design. Yes, the left field wall is too close to home plate, as evidenced by the popup that Craig Biggio hit for a homerun yesterday, but the Crawford Boxes in left field are a cool thing. I was in the first row in the right field bleachers for the first half of the game Friday night, but no balls came my way. The rest of the time I walked all around the park, sitting in the upper deck, sitting right down close to the field, standing in the archways in the outfield. The big plus in these new ballparks is that there are so many more sightlines because there are fewer seats. Unlike in Busch Stadium, where if you want to walk around the outside to the bathrooms or concessions you have to leave the open-air portion of the facility entirely, at Minute Maid nearly the entire place is open air. If you stand, you can actually still see everything. Going to Houston makes me excited for the Cards to build a new ballpark.
Friday night was about of crushing a loss as a team can be dealt. TLR was so despondent he was the first one to leave the clubhouse. He left in Matty Mo this time for the ninth. Morris had given up only one run, a Jeff Bagwell homer. All weekend long I heard Astros fans talking about Jim Edmonds as if he were a god (He hit a homer Friday night). One woman sitting next to me in right field actually was protecting herself, thinking that Edmonds was automatically going to spray a line drive homer right at her. But Jeff Bagwell demolishes Cardinal pitching just about as badly as Edmonds does it to the Astros. He narrowly missed tyin the game in the ninth with another homer. Instead Morris was one out away from a complete game victory, but gave up a bad-hop single to Lance Berkman that Tino couldn't handle and then tried to get cute with Kent, who deposited a 3-1 hanger deep into left field. I felt like turning around and going back home as I listened on my car radio. (I was picking up KMOX quite nicely while near the Louisiana-Texas border). But I didn't and the weekend got better. The Woodman was sterling on Saturday going six scoreless, and the bullpen was great too. Russ Springer pitched 1 2/3 scoreless and Jeff Fassero got Lance Berkman out before Dustin Hermanson came in and pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since his brief closing experiment in Montreal in 2000.
The Cards bullpen was at it again on Sunday, bailing Jason Simontacchi out after he suffered another very poor outing. The Cards were down 5-1 and I told myself if they got down any further, I was taking off so I could get home early. After all, it was Oswalt on the mound. But the Birds chipped away, and I stayed for every glorious pitch, including the seventh inning which saw clutch hits from Eli, Tino (Whoa!) and Mr. Clutch Colombian himself, Edgar Renteria. Kiko Calero pitched two perfect innings and got his first major league win. Cal Eldred continued to show that he is back, pitching two scoreless innings that included getting Bagwell to hit into a double play. Hermy was given another chance to finish the game with the Cards leading 11-6, but he allowed a two-run dong to Bagwell with two outs. It was Bagwell's second homer of the game, his third of the series, and his second one of the series that he hit completely out of the park. It was a bomb, I had a great view of it from about the seventh row on the third base line. Fassero then cam on to get Berkman out again and that was the game, 11-8, leaving the Cards just one game out of first as the second week of the season drew to a close. More analysis of the weekend to come.
Friday, April 11, 2003
FAREWELL FOR A WHILE
This will be my last posting until next Sunday night at least, as I will soon be headed for Houston to root the Cards on to a sweep of the hated Astros. Let's hope that, if nothing else, we can get through three games without anybody getting hurt. Good news from the minors last night. Memphis and Palm Beach, the only teams in action, both won behind dominating pitching performances. Memphis got theirs from Jason Ryan, an independent-leaguer who briefly pitched for the Twins in 1999 and 2000. He actually had an ERA .23 below the league average in homer-happy 1999 before getting shelled in 2000. But Ryan is only 27 and at least provides some insurance. He pitched eight scoreless last night, allowing just four hits before Gabe Molina pitched a scoreless inning to seal the shutout. Palm Beach saw Justin Pope bounce back in a big way from his first start, as he didn't give up a single hit in six innings last night, picking up the win. Let's get it going this weekend Big Club!!!
This will be my last posting until next Sunday night at least, as I will soon be headed for Houston to root the Cards on to a sweep of the hated Astros. Let's hope that, if nothing else, we can get through three games without anybody getting hurt. Good news from the minors last night. Memphis and Palm Beach, the only teams in action, both won behind dominating pitching performances. Memphis got theirs from Jason Ryan, an independent-leaguer who briefly pitched for the Twins in 1999 and 2000. He actually had an ERA .23 below the league average in homer-happy 1999 before getting shelled in 2000. But Ryan is only 27 and at least provides some insurance. He pitched eight scoreless last night, allowing just four hits before Gabe Molina pitched a scoreless inning to seal the shutout. Palm Beach saw Justin Pope bounce back in a big way from his first start, as he didn't give up a single hit in six innings last night, picking up the win. Let's get it going this weekend Big Club!!!
UGH
That's about all you can say about yesterday's game. Another blown bullpen lead, a very clear indication that Albert Pujols is not healthy, and the loss of Lance Painter. Maybe we need a new trainer. I mean seriously, how do we get so many guys hurt? Painter's indefinite absence means that someone will be called up from Memphis, possibly another lefty, Kevin Ohme. Meanwhile Pujols was 0-5 and left eight runners stranded, a very un-Albert like day. Coors is just the Cardinals House of Horrors. I got pretty excited yesterday because after all the missed opportunities, it still looked like the Birds were going to pull out 2 of 3 in Coors. I should have known that something crazy would happen. The best part about it is that we don't have to back there again this year. Garrett Stephenson did a pretty good job yesterday, only failing to avoid the flaming bats of Larry Walker and Todd Helton. I don't want to take oo much stock in games at Coors Field, especially with the Cards terrible recent history there, aside from last year. I just hope that the Lance Painter injury doesn't cost us too much, because he looked really good to start the season. Ohme had a good spring and was doing well at Memphis, so hopefully he can come in and do the job. IZZY, WE NEED YOU!!!!
Tonight, the Cards head into Houston hoping to take 2 of three from the Stros. The most important thing is for the Cards not to get swept. Even at this very early juncture of the season, a sweep would put the Cards five games down from Houston. They should have the edge in the pitching matchup tonight, as Morris faces brian Moehler. And hopefully things go well on Saturday and Sunday becasue I'M GOING TO THE GAMES!!!!!! That's right, I've got my tickets and I'm headin' to Houston, for my first look at "The Juice Box," also known as Minute Maid Park. Hopefully, LaRussa's decision to pull Matty Mo after 103 pitches Saturday means he'll have a nice long start tonight and get the Cards back in the win column. Don't depsair Cardinal Nation, because while yes, we could easily be 7-1, we could also easily be 2-7, rainout included. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
That's about all you can say about yesterday's game. Another blown bullpen lead, a very clear indication that Albert Pujols is not healthy, and the loss of Lance Painter. Maybe we need a new trainer. I mean seriously, how do we get so many guys hurt? Painter's indefinite absence means that someone will be called up from Memphis, possibly another lefty, Kevin Ohme. Meanwhile Pujols was 0-5 and left eight runners stranded, a very un-Albert like day. Coors is just the Cardinals House of Horrors. I got pretty excited yesterday because after all the missed opportunities, it still looked like the Birds were going to pull out 2 of 3 in Coors. I should have known that something crazy would happen. The best part about it is that we don't have to back there again this year. Garrett Stephenson did a pretty good job yesterday, only failing to avoid the flaming bats of Larry Walker and Todd Helton. I don't want to take oo much stock in games at Coors Field, especially with the Cards terrible recent history there, aside from last year. I just hope that the Lance Painter injury doesn't cost us too much, because he looked really good to start the season. Ohme had a good spring and was doing well at Memphis, so hopefully he can come in and do the job. IZZY, WE NEED YOU!!!!
Tonight, the Cards head into Houston hoping to take 2 of three from the Stros. The most important thing is for the Cards not to get swept. Even at this very early juncture of the season, a sweep would put the Cards five games down from Houston. They should have the edge in the pitching matchup tonight, as Morris faces brian Moehler. And hopefully things go well on Saturday and Sunday becasue I'M GOING TO THE GAMES!!!!!! That's right, I've got my tickets and I'm headin' to Houston, for my first look at "The Juice Box," also known as Minute Maid Park. Hopefully, LaRussa's decision to pull Matty Mo after 103 pitches Saturday means he'll have a nice long start tonight and get the Cards back in the win column. Don't depsair Cardinal Nation, because while yes, we could easily be 7-1, we could also easily be 2-7, rainout included. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
OAKLAND AT TEXAS--Giambi, Damon, Isringhausen, Tejada, let 'em all go. If the A's continue to get pitching like they are, it won't matter. They have the Big Three, Zito, Mulder, and Hudson. Now they have Ted Lilly who could bloom into a star hurler as well. And Rich Harden, their top pitching prospect, just moved to AAA after pitching thirteen perfect innings at AA. Yes, by perfect I mean that he retired every batter he faced, all 39 of them. He could be in the rotation by midseason. Then there's the Rangers pitching staff, with Ismael Valdes as the ace, and Chan Ho Park well on his way to becoming the second-biggest free agent bust ever, behind Mike Hampton. The Rangers aren't really that bad of a team, they just play in a killer division and don't have enough starting pitching for it. They've improved their pen but it's not going to be enough. The A's are my early choice for World Series champs.
Jorge Julio (yes I have two Orioles on my fantasy team, don't laugh) gets the save!!!!
MONTREAL AT CHICAGO
The Cubs made three errors in the first inning. Those are the Cubs we know and love. Possibly the worst thing about Mark Grudzielanek and Alex Gonzalez starting the season off so hot is that it will keep Grudzielanek in the lineup and Gonzalez in the no. 2 spot longer. It's not just bad for me, who drafted Mark Bellhorn only to watch him go 1 for his first 20 in the seven spot, it's bad for Cubs fans because it'll hurt the team this year and maybe next year as well. But the Cubs pitching is pretty damn good in the top three spots, with Carlos Zambrano showing a lot of potential as the number four starter. I'd say they're like the lite version of the A's rotation except that Wood and Clement haven't shaken the stretches where they lose their command. If they continue to improve, watch out NL Central, as much as I hate to say it. But, it won't be this year, as they don't have enough offense to win the division. Prior is just plain nasty.
Jorge Julio (yes I have two Orioles on my fantasy team, don't laugh) gets the save!!!!
MONTREAL AT CHICAGO
The Cubs made three errors in the first inning. Those are the Cubs we know and love. Possibly the worst thing about Mark Grudzielanek and Alex Gonzalez starting the season off so hot is that it will keep Grudzielanek in the lineup and Gonzalez in the no. 2 spot longer. It's not just bad for me, who drafted Mark Bellhorn only to watch him go 1 for his first 20 in the seven spot, it's bad for Cubs fans because it'll hurt the team this year and maybe next year as well. But the Cubs pitching is pretty damn good in the top three spots, with Carlos Zambrano showing a lot of potential as the number four starter. I'd say they're like the lite version of the A's rotation except that Wood and Clement haven't shaken the stretches where they lose their command. If they continue to improve, watch out NL Central, as much as I hate to say it. But, it won't be this year, as they don't have enough offense to win the division. Prior is just plain nasty.
MILWAUKEE AT PITTSBURGH--The Pirates returned to Earth a little after that hot start, dropping consecutive games to the Brewers. Still, you've got to like the Pirates chances to at least be average. They patched up their outfield and their rotation, last year's two big weaknesses, with serviceable or decent players. A lot will depend on how much Kenny Lofton and Reggie Sanders still have in the tank. Sanders certainly got off to a hellacious start, hitting four quick homeruns. Jeff D' Amico and Jeff Suppan, if they can hold up and have decent seasons, can make this a .500 ballclub, but I think 77 or 78 wins is probably about right. The Brewers have now gotten back Geoff Jenkins, so that will give their offense a boost when they face the Cards next week. Jenkins hit a homerun in a game I saw at Busch Stadium that took less time to get out of the park than any other homerun I've ever seen. It was in his great 2000 year and I mean he crushed one off of Pat Hentgen. But, he's always hurt and swings at a lot of bad pitches, we'll see if he can rebound in 2003.
Yes!! Fantasy team member Jay Gibbons just hit a three-run dinger.
KANSAS CITY AT DETROIT--Well, the Royals are 6-0. Who woulda thunk it?? Why?? Mostly because Jeremy Affeldt is finally pitching pain-free and because Runelvys Hernandez appears to be a young stud. Also, playing your first six at home never hurts. With so many youngsters, the Royals will fade. The interesting question now is does this hot start change the plans for Carlos Beltran any? Beltran is now saying he would sign a long-term deal after the season if he is convinced the Royals are heading in the right direction. I think it may make more sense to trade him for some prospects and a major-league ready player. You know that with Scott Boras as his agent he's going to command a ridiculous amount of money. Rather than give it to him, I would make the deal and save the money to add a couple other players that could perhaps make this team a contender in 2005, maybe even next year. Maybe when Beltran comes back from the DL and the Royals regress to the mean, Beltran will be blamed for messing up team chemistry or something silly like that. Sorry, I just like to think of things like that when it pertains to Scott Bor-ASS clients. The Tigers are just plain bad. They have a chance to set some records for all-time offensive ineptness this year. And that doesn't even cover the pitching staff, made up mostly of guys who have barely pitched in the majors. I hope they get Jeremy Bonderman out of there soon. He could be a great pitcher and he doesn't need to get shelled while being rushed to the big leagues right now. Tigers will probably win about fifty games.
MINNESOTA AT NEW YORK--The Yankees are proof that when you are winning ballgames, team chemistry is worth about as much as David Wells book will be years from now: Squat. Not much "Bronx Zoo" talk going on now that the Yankees are 7-1. Not much talk about releasing David Wells now that he's pitching well. What the talk should be about is how overrated Jeter's contributions and "clubhouse presence" are to the team. The Yankees have a better winning percentage without him than with him since he's been in New York. Of course, he makes the team better than Erick Almonte does, but the Yankees have enough other good players, and Jeter is just so unmercifully overrated sometimes that I want to scream. Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman, who has a very good baseball blog that I will link to shortly, is approaching "panic mode" over his Twins, who are 3-5. I wouldn't say it's time to panic yet, but I thought the Twins got a lot of good luck last year, plus some incredible bullpen performances that aren't likely to be duplicated. Maybe if the Twins had traded Jacque Jones for an infield bat and let Mike Restovich and Bobby Kielty become regulars would I have more confidence in their ability to repeat. I drafted Kielty in my fantasy league, hoping that Ron Gardenhire, would "free him" as Aaron says on his site.
Yes!! Fantasy team member Jay Gibbons just hit a three-run dinger.
KANSAS CITY AT DETROIT--Well, the Royals are 6-0. Who woulda thunk it?? Why?? Mostly because Jeremy Affeldt is finally pitching pain-free and because Runelvys Hernandez appears to be a young stud. Also, playing your first six at home never hurts. With so many youngsters, the Royals will fade. The interesting question now is does this hot start change the plans for Carlos Beltran any? Beltran is now saying he would sign a long-term deal after the season if he is convinced the Royals are heading in the right direction. I think it may make more sense to trade him for some prospects and a major-league ready player. You know that with Scott Boras as his agent he's going to command a ridiculous amount of money. Rather than give it to him, I would make the deal and save the money to add a couple other players that could perhaps make this team a contender in 2005, maybe even next year. Maybe when Beltran comes back from the DL and the Royals regress to the mean, Beltran will be blamed for messing up team chemistry or something silly like that. Sorry, I just like to think of things like that when it pertains to Scott Bor-ASS clients. The Tigers are just plain bad. They have a chance to set some records for all-time offensive ineptness this year. And that doesn't even cover the pitching staff, made up mostly of guys who have barely pitched in the majors. I hope they get Jeremy Bonderman out of there soon. He could be a great pitcher and he doesn't need to get shelled while being rushed to the big leagues right now. Tigers will probably win about fifty games.
MINNESOTA AT NEW YORK--The Yankees are proof that when you are winning ballgames, team chemistry is worth about as much as David Wells book will be years from now: Squat. Not much "Bronx Zoo" talk going on now that the Yankees are 7-1. Not much talk about releasing David Wells now that he's pitching well. What the talk should be about is how overrated Jeter's contributions and "clubhouse presence" are to the team. The Yankees have a better winning percentage without him than with him since he's been in New York. Of course, he makes the team better than Erick Almonte does, but the Yankees have enough other good players, and Jeter is just so unmercifully overrated sometimes that I want to scream. Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman, who has a very good baseball blog that I will link to shortly, is approaching "panic mode" over his Twins, who are 3-5. I wouldn't say it's time to panic yet, but I thought the Twins got a lot of good luck last year, plus some incredible bullpen performances that aren't likely to be duplicated. Maybe if the Twins had traded Jacque Jones for an infield bat and let Mike Restovich and Bobby Kielty become regulars would I have more confidence in their ability to repeat. I drafted Kielty in my fantasy league, hoping that Ron Gardenhire, would "free him" as Aaron says on his site.
A Look at the Other Baseball Today
As we wait for the Cards and Rockies to battle for the rubber game today, I thought I'd see what's going on around the league.
BALTIMORE AT TAMPA BAY--The O's are off to another poor start. This is the third time in the last five years that they are 2-6 after eight games. They don't have hitting or pitching. In fact, Baltimore might be bad enough that Tampa Bay overtakes them this year. Lou Pinella has made some changes, there's no doubt about that. And the D-Rays acquisition of some bargain-basement vets like Damion Easley, Terry Shumpert, and Al Levine could help them to their best record as a franchise and give them some momentum for 2004. Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford are two exciting young players. Baldelli has about as much speed as any one I've ever seen on the diamond. I saw him get three infield hits in one game. I mean you have no time to waste if this kid hits a grounder. Aubrey Huff is good major-league hitter and Travis Lee has even hit well. Their pitching is still really bad so they will lose a lot of games, but 70 wins may not be out of the question. Oh, the Rays have also added All-Star fibber Al Martin, who simply couldn't believe he didn't get a bench spot with the Cards last year, and they may be getting set to sign John Rocker. Oh boy, John and Lou, that could be fun. I wonder what Cards fans were saying yesterday when Levin pitched three scoreless innings and got the win for Tampa Bay. Hopefully they were saying, "Oh well, it's just the Orioles."
As we wait for the Cards and Rockies to battle for the rubber game today, I thought I'd see what's going on around the league.
BALTIMORE AT TAMPA BAY--The O's are off to another poor start. This is the third time in the last five years that they are 2-6 after eight games. They don't have hitting or pitching. In fact, Baltimore might be bad enough that Tampa Bay overtakes them this year. Lou Pinella has made some changes, there's no doubt about that. And the D-Rays acquisition of some bargain-basement vets like Damion Easley, Terry Shumpert, and Al Levine could help them to their best record as a franchise and give them some momentum for 2004. Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford are two exciting young players. Baldelli has about as much speed as any one I've ever seen on the diamond. I saw him get three infield hits in one game. I mean you have no time to waste if this kid hits a grounder. Aubrey Huff is good major-league hitter and Travis Lee has even hit well. Their pitching is still really bad so they will lose a lot of games, but 70 wins may not be out of the question. Oh, the Rays have also added All-Star fibber Al Martin, who simply couldn't believe he didn't get a bench spot with the Cards last year, and they may be getting set to sign John Rocker. Oh boy, John and Lou, that could be fun. I wonder what Cards fans were saying yesterday when Levin pitched three scoreless innings and got the win for Tampa Bay. Hopefully they were saying, "Oh well, it's just the Orioles."
CARDS FALL 9-4
Brett Tomko got rocked early and the Cards lost 9-4 in a game that hopefully should provide some incentive to win today. I don't know what the deal is with Clint Hurdle, the former Cardinals prospect and current Colorado manager, maybe he thinks the St. Louis organization is responsible for him being a total bust as a baseball player, but he's been pretty much a jackass in this series. He's been ejected in both games, last night it was after Nelson Cruz hit his second batter of the night. The first one was a plunking of Jim Edmonds in the first innning that was clearly intentional, the second was Tino Martinez in the sixth inning. Brett Tomko did not throw at Todd Helton, the seemingly obvious retaliation candidate, with a man on first and one out in the bottom of the first. Helton ended up doubling in a run and the Rockies would score four in the frame. The next time Helton was up though, Tomko threw behind him, prompting a warning of both benches.
All in all, tempers apparently weren't flaring too much at this point, I don't know for sure because I wasn't able to watch it on TV. But Preston Wilson did do something that pissed the Cards off in the 8th when he stole third base with two outs and the Rockies up 9-4. I agree it was a bush-league move, but that's the kind of player Wilson is, as I said yesterday. Yes, I know, five runs isn't that many in Coors, but the Cards had already taken Edmonds and Pujols out of the game, and it's not like Wilson isn't going to score on any kind of hit that goes to the outfield. The Rockies of course thought it was perfectly fine what Wilson did. We'll see if there's any retaliation today.
The only thing I'l say about this game since I didn't see it and since there was little suspense in the actual game, is that Tomko gets at least another small mulligan since he was at Coors and facing some hot hitters. But he really needs to ratchet it up for his next start, which will come against the Brewers. 14 runs in 12 innings, even if five were unearned, is not good. The big inning has been what has hurt Tomko so far. Two 5-run innings and a 4-run inning mixed in with 9 scoreless innings. He's got to do a better job managing that.
I suppose I'll talk about some non-Cardinals related baseball today since the game last night was kind of a bore, but for now I'm just goign to give a short minor league report. Jimmy Journell rebounded from his first outing with a dominant performance yesterday. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and walking two while striking out 8 against the Iowa Cubs. Memphis had to rally for a 3-2 victory after Iowa scored two off of Matt Duff in the 8th. The Redbirds are 3-4. High-A Palm Beach continues to struggle, dropping to 2-5 last night as they were one-hit by Vero Beach (Dodgers). Chris Narveson pitched Tuesday and wasn't as effective as his first outing. Narveson gave up four runs in four innings. Last night, Blake Williams turned in a strong performance over five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The Peoria Chiefs continue to be red-hot. Blake Hawksworth was dominant once again last night, pitching seven innings and allowing only one hit while striking out eight as he won for the second time in as many starts. 21-year old Dominican righthander Miguel Martinez has also had two quality starts, so far allowing just two runs in 11 1/3 innings while fanning 11 and walking five. Travis Hanson and Terry Evans continue to tear it up at the plate. The pair are a combined 27-57 at the plate, with ten doubles, three homers, and 23 RBI between the two of them.
Brett Tomko got rocked early and the Cards lost 9-4 in a game that hopefully should provide some incentive to win today. I don't know what the deal is with Clint Hurdle, the former Cardinals prospect and current Colorado manager, maybe he thinks the St. Louis organization is responsible for him being a total bust as a baseball player, but he's been pretty much a jackass in this series. He's been ejected in both games, last night it was after Nelson Cruz hit his second batter of the night. The first one was a plunking of Jim Edmonds in the first innning that was clearly intentional, the second was Tino Martinez in the sixth inning. Brett Tomko did not throw at Todd Helton, the seemingly obvious retaliation candidate, with a man on first and one out in the bottom of the first. Helton ended up doubling in a run and the Rockies would score four in the frame. The next time Helton was up though, Tomko threw behind him, prompting a warning of both benches.
All in all, tempers apparently weren't flaring too much at this point, I don't know for sure because I wasn't able to watch it on TV. But Preston Wilson did do something that pissed the Cards off in the 8th when he stole third base with two outs and the Rockies up 9-4. I agree it was a bush-league move, but that's the kind of player Wilson is, as I said yesterday. Yes, I know, five runs isn't that many in Coors, but the Cards had already taken Edmonds and Pujols out of the game, and it's not like Wilson isn't going to score on any kind of hit that goes to the outfield. The Rockies of course thought it was perfectly fine what Wilson did. We'll see if there's any retaliation today.
The only thing I'l say about this game since I didn't see it and since there was little suspense in the actual game, is that Tomko gets at least another small mulligan since he was at Coors and facing some hot hitters. But he really needs to ratchet it up for his next start, which will come against the Brewers. 14 runs in 12 innings, even if five were unearned, is not good. The big inning has been what has hurt Tomko so far. Two 5-run innings and a 4-run inning mixed in with 9 scoreless innings. He's got to do a better job managing that.
I suppose I'll talk about some non-Cardinals related baseball today since the game last night was kind of a bore, but for now I'm just goign to give a short minor league report. Jimmy Journell rebounded from his first outing with a dominant performance yesterday. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and walking two while striking out 8 against the Iowa Cubs. Memphis had to rally for a 3-2 victory after Iowa scored two off of Matt Duff in the 8th. The Redbirds are 3-4. High-A Palm Beach continues to struggle, dropping to 2-5 last night as they were one-hit by Vero Beach (Dodgers). Chris Narveson pitched Tuesday and wasn't as effective as his first outing. Narveson gave up four runs in four innings. Last night, Blake Williams turned in a strong performance over five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The Peoria Chiefs continue to be red-hot. Blake Hawksworth was dominant once again last night, pitching seven innings and allowing only one hit while striking out eight as he won for the second time in as many starts. 21-year old Dominican righthander Miguel Martinez has also had two quality starts, so far allowing just two runs in 11 1/3 innings while fanning 11 and walking five. Travis Hanson and Terry Evans continue to tear it up at the plate. The pair are a combined 27-57 at the plate, with ten doubles, three homers, and 23 RBI between the two of them.
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
CORRECTION:
I must have pulled it out of thin air when I said that Mike Crudale was hit in the toe by a batted ball. Maybe I just figured there was no way he could break his toe running from his bathroom to answer the phone at his apartment, which is apparently what happened. Hearing that story made lots of memories of myself running to answer the phone from the bathroom come flooding back, and as silly (and disgusting) as many of those pictures may have been, I can only imagine the larger amount of silliness (and possibly disgustingness) that breaking a toe in the process may have caused. Can you imagine hopping around cussing with your pants down while holding a phone up to your face? Hopefully for Mike, he was the only one home. Anyway, the original prognosis is 14-17 days, which is too bad. Rotoworld seems to think that Crudale will be recalled soon after he comes back. One thing I would say is that as of right now, Kiko Calero is a heavy favorite to be sent to Memphis once Izzy returns from the DL, given the way Eldred pitched last night, and his status as a "veteran". Izzy threw 25 pitches last night and reported his shoulder as being "cranky". This may not slow his comeback, but the Cards are clearly going to be very careful in the way they use him. I wouldn't expect a lot of appearances on consecutive days until the summertime.
In other news, The Cards elected to pitch Brett Tomko on regular rest, giving Garrett Stephenson two extra days off, and also giving me another chance to test my theory about Stephenson pitching better during the day. I know it is not a career trend, because I saw in the media notes before his first start that it wasn't, but I think Tony is trying to keep Stepehenson pitching day games when he can, a la Matt Morris in 2001. I also like this move because Tomko is more likely to go deep into the game, which is something the Cards desperately need today after last night's game. Last night's game clearly works in the Cards favor the rest of the series because they have guys in the bullpen who have logged more seasonal innings in their careers, but more importantly because Colorado is starting Nelson Cruz, who is a career reliever that will probably go no more than five innings tonight, meaning the Rockies will have to use up their bullpen again. I would expect we'll see Fassero and Springer tonight, maybe even Kline again. I'm assuming Pujols will play since he was taken out early last night, and I'm sure Edmonds will sit either tonight or tomorrow, having played all thirteen innings last night. Remember Cards fans, every win we get right now is huge because of how beaten up the team is. Another reason why last night's win was so sweet.
I took a quick look at the Minor League statsheets over at BP and saw not surprisingly that the Cards had no hitters in the Top 10 in Runs Above Replacement for a Position (RARP) in AAA or AA. Shaun Boyd was the lone representative for Palm Beach, in tenth as we speak. But at Peoria there were four players in the Top 10 (Peoria won again last night and is 6-0 now by the way). In addition to John Santor, Travis Hanson, and Terry Evans, Matt Lemanczyk was in there too. He is 6 for 11 with six singles and already four walks, comprising part of the outfield along with Evans and another top organizational prospect, the speedy 22-year old Reid Gorecki.
I must have pulled it out of thin air when I said that Mike Crudale was hit in the toe by a batted ball. Maybe I just figured there was no way he could break his toe running from his bathroom to answer the phone at his apartment, which is apparently what happened. Hearing that story made lots of memories of myself running to answer the phone from the bathroom come flooding back, and as silly (and disgusting) as many of those pictures may have been, I can only imagine the larger amount of silliness (and possibly disgustingness) that breaking a toe in the process may have caused. Can you imagine hopping around cussing with your pants down while holding a phone up to your face? Hopefully for Mike, he was the only one home. Anyway, the original prognosis is 14-17 days, which is too bad. Rotoworld seems to think that Crudale will be recalled soon after he comes back. One thing I would say is that as of right now, Kiko Calero is a heavy favorite to be sent to Memphis once Izzy returns from the DL, given the way Eldred pitched last night, and his status as a "veteran". Izzy threw 25 pitches last night and reported his shoulder as being "cranky". This may not slow his comeback, but the Cards are clearly going to be very careful in the way they use him. I wouldn't expect a lot of appearances on consecutive days until the summertime.
In other news, The Cards elected to pitch Brett Tomko on regular rest, giving Garrett Stephenson two extra days off, and also giving me another chance to test my theory about Stephenson pitching better during the day. I know it is not a career trend, because I saw in the media notes before his first start that it wasn't, but I think Tony is trying to keep Stepehenson pitching day games when he can, a la Matt Morris in 2001. I also like this move because Tomko is more likely to go deep into the game, which is something the Cards desperately need today after last night's game. Last night's game clearly works in the Cards favor the rest of the series because they have guys in the bullpen who have logged more seasonal innings in their careers, but more importantly because Colorado is starting Nelson Cruz, who is a career reliever that will probably go no more than five innings tonight, meaning the Rockies will have to use up their bullpen again. I would expect we'll see Fassero and Springer tonight, maybe even Kline again. I'm assuming Pujols will play since he was taken out early last night, and I'm sure Edmonds will sit either tonight or tomorrow, having played all thirteen innings last night. Remember Cards fans, every win we get right now is huge because of how beaten up the team is. Another reason why last night's win was so sweet.
I took a quick look at the Minor League statsheets over at BP and saw not surprisingly that the Cards had no hitters in the Top 10 in Runs Above Replacement for a Position (RARP) in AAA or AA. Shaun Boyd was the lone representative for Palm Beach, in tenth as we speak. But at Peoria there were four players in the Top 10 (Peoria won again last night and is 6-0 now by the way). In addition to John Santor, Travis Hanson, and Terry Evans, Matt Lemanczyk was in there too. He is 6 for 11 with six singles and already four walks, comprising part of the outfield along with Evans and another top organizational prospect, the speedy 22-year old Reid Gorecki.
TAPPING THE ROCKIES
Wow. So much for getting a good night's sleep last night. It was a marathon in every sense of the word, a game that the Cards appeared to have lost on several different occasions. And that was before Cal Eldred, he of the 135.00 ERA came into the game. Simply too much happened to recap the entire wild affair, so I'll just give my comments about the game in chronological order:
I read some message board comments that Simontacchi had less command than he ever has had before, and he was clearly a little off in that department. But those who actually watched the game can tell you that one of the main reasons it lasted so long and contained so many runs was because of the very small strike zone that Daryl Cousins stuck to the entire night. He was consistent with it, but consistently tiny with his zone. I mean he was not giving either corner. If it wasn't right down the middle, it wasn't a strike. I knew after the first couple batters that Simo was not going to have a good night. He makes his living on coming inside and when that pitch was being called a ball, he was going to get hit, simple as that, and he did. It didn't help that he had two gimpy outfielders and another poor outfielder in Eduardo Perez patrolling the vast expanses of Coors. Pujols muffed a ball, and Perez muffed two that were barely moving, though only one of his was ruled an error. Simo saved himself by getting a double play and a strikeout from Preston Wilson, whom I wouldn't mind see take a fastball right in the gut. Hey Preston, you're not that good, so quit acting like you are. He might have suffered fewer runs if Todd Helton hadn't been completely on fire and laced a double off a good pitch by lance Pinter, who releived Simo in the fourth. Either way, Simo looked rusty and needs to get it back together because he's facing Oswalt on Sunday.
Speaking of Lance Painter, he looks great. He allowed only an unearned run, and looks to have better velocity and movement than I have ever seen him with. If he keeps it up, he could become the second lefty option in the pen, since Jeff Fassero is looking more like the 2002 Cubs Fassero than the 2002 Cards version. Of course, the last six batters Fassero has faced have been Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Jeff Kent, Richard Hidalgo, Todd Helton, and Larry Walker, so I need to cut him a little bit of a break. Fassero gave up back-to back singles in the sixth and then Kiko Calero got rocked, allowing bith inherited runners to score, pus three of his own. He didn't look ready to pitch when he got out there. Charles Johnson, who had been batting about .100 coming into the game, hot a bombastic drive into the left-field stands off of Kiko. What had been a 7-6 lead became an 11-7 deficit before Calero settled down and got three outs.
Up until this point there had been just a lot of Jim Edmonds. He had a two-run double in the first and a three-run dong in the fifth. When he is on, he is unbelievable. He finished the night 4-6 with 5 RBI, adding a double which started the Cards five run seventh inning that briefly gave them the lead back at 12-11. He tied a club record with 7 extra base hits in two games. (four doubles and three homers.) Jimmy Jack is currently hitting near .600 with 3 homers and 9 RBI. In that seventh inning it was a combination of Justin Speier wildness and a clutch double by Fernando Vina that put the Cards back in the lead. Speier hit Perez with the bases loaded, and then walked Matheny to score another run. Vina then greeted sidewinding Rule 5 lefty Javier Lopez with a two-run double lined off the wall in right that would have scored Matheny from first had it not been hit so hard. I know there's only been six games, but Mike Matheny is 13-26 and his approach at the plate looks waaaayyyyy better. More on Mike later.
Yes the Cards could not hold the lead. Hermanson came in to pitch the seventh and did manage to retire the first batter, but then gave up a laser beam homerun to Helton which tied it at 12 before retiring the next two batters and pitching a scoreless eighth. The longer the season goes on, the more I expect from Hermy, because I think he'll adjust to the relief style of pitching and warming up, and his arm looks great. He's throwing the ball well, it's just a case of focusing on the batter and his pitches right from the get-go.
When LaRussa pinch hit for Hermanson with Wilson Delgado, who promptly popped up the first pitch, I began to think that we were going to be in really big trouble if this game kept going. We had Springer, but we would have to bring in Kline to pitch to Helton and Walker, and that left only Eldred if the game kept going. Hermanson had got a double-play ball in the eighth that allowed Todd Jones to stay in an extra-inning, and after Springer gave up a two-out single to Payton and walked Helton, Kline was already into the game in the ninth inning. It looked for a second like none of it was going to matter, as Walker lined a single to right, but Eduardo Perez made a scoop and throw to home that he could probably never duplicate again if he tried a thousand times and Mike Matheny blocked Payton off the plate beautifully. The runner was cut down and we went to extra innings.
Kerry Robinson was quoted in the Post-Dispatch as saying that he believed there were a lot of teams in the majors that he could start for. Kerry.....YOU'RE WRONG. He showed a perfect example of why last night. He was inserted into the game to replace pujols in the field so Albert could rest his hammy. In 2 AB's he grounded out and struck out. The first time up he grounded out weakly without even looking at a pitch. The second time he swung and missed at a pitch in the dirt on the first offering and ended up K'ing on another pitcher's pitch. He has no plate discipline and no power. Who the hell could he start for? Maybe the D-Rays or the Brewers? It really annoys me when crap players like Robinson think they're good (Jim Parque is another example, nice ERA Jim).
Kliner got another DP in the 10th and this one allowed Jose Jimenez to stay in and pitch another inning. Rolen hit a 420-foot fly out off of in the 11th. In the 11th, it really finally looked like it was over. I kept saying to myself, "prolonging the agony, prolonging the agony." In Kline's third inning of work, Gabe Kapler led off with a single and an error by Perez, who somehow had the ball bounce off of his glove as it came toward him, moved him to second. Chris Stynes tried to bunt Kapler to third and bunted it right back to Kline, but he threw high to third, leaving the winning run ninety feet away with no one out. But give credit to Kliner, he got Payton to pop up, and then after walking Helton, got Larry Walker to hit into a 1-2-3 double play, sending us to the 12th.
At this time I still figured we weren't going to win. As Eli Marrero came up to pinch hit in the 12th, I yelled at the TV, start warming up now Eldred, get good and loose!!!" Well, he must have, because after Cards went down in the top of the inning, Eldred came in, the last option left in the bullpen, and he looked like a different pitcher. Whereas in his first two appearances he looked like he was throwing batting practice, this time he came out throwing much, much better. His veleocity was up in the 90's, his pithces were moving, particularly his slider, and he cruised through the 12th.
Who would think that Mike Matheny would have been such an importnat part of the offense the first week of the season? After Rolen worked a leadoff walk, Tino struck out on slow stuff. Tino simply is over-the-hill. I can't look at it any other way. His bat still looks slow and weak and the only time he hits the ball with authority is when he knows the pitchers coming to him with the fastball. He needs to adopt Rolen's patient approach at the plate in an attempt to get more fastballs thrown to him. If he doesn't, Rolen may set a career high in walks this year. Perez followed Tino, and after having looked foolish his last couple of AB's, he finally got a single through the infield. This brought up Matheny who drove a hanger to deep left. Kapler jumped and made a terrifc catch, but there was too much impact, and he lost the ball out of his glove and over the fence, much to his shock and dismay. Eldred looked real good again in the 13th, striking out Stynes to end the game when he couldn't check his swing on a diving slider.
It was a very enjoyable win, where LaRussa showed the managing mastery he is capable of, making all the right bullpen moves. Cards announcer Al Hrabosky also looked pretty smart, as he had repeatedly said during the broadcast in the late innings that a veteran like Cal Eldred could very well come in as the last option and did deep and pitch very well. I don't know if it was the extra warming up time, or if Eldred just pulled it back together last night, but he looked real strong, and he made me look like a douchbag for saying we should've released him after his first two appearances. Guess that's why I'm typing on the internet and not in the front office. Whew, okay I'll post more in a bit but I need a break.
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