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Still Just Spring Training

At least there was a reason.

Brad Penny was one of the most intriguing names brought into St. Louis during the offseason.  A lot of us were interested to see what this guy, who had been a very successful pitcher in the past, could do with Dave Duncan's tutelage.  So seeing the results yesterday would be a little worriesome, if there wasn't a reason.

It's hard to remember sometimes that spring training is just that, training.  In the regular season, you don't go into a game saying, "Let's see, my sinker needs work, I'm going to keep throwing that no matter what happens."  Pitchers play with pitches, trying to see what they need to do to get them sharp and ready.

So, as much as I'd like to, I've got to resist drawing any conclusions out of yesterday's results.  As I say that, though, I'll take that back.  There is one conclusion I think you can make: Lance Lynn wants to make a run at this roster.

Lynn threw three perfect innings and so far has been the best pitcher of the spring.  (Sure, it's only been two games, but have you seen those two games?)  I still expect he'll wind up in Springfield or Memphis, but we thought that about Kyle McClellan a few years back as well.  The Cardinals are looking for a long relief guy, especially if McClellan makes the rotation, so Lynn is making sure his name is on that list.

Cards take on the Marlins today (something we say often during spring training) and the lineup is out there.  Felipe Lopez makes his debut, Albert Pujols plays in his second straight game, and Colby Rasmus bats cleanup.  The game is on KTRS today, so tune in and get your first taste of John Rooney and Mike Shannon.

Speaking of our announcers, if you look on the right side of this blog (a little ways down the page), you'll see last year's Cardinal Approval Ratings.  Last year, I picked a person a day and everyone posted their rating here, on CardsClubhouse, or at Viva El Birdos.  This year, I'm doing it a little differently.  You can find a form with everyone right over here.  Fill it out and I'll announce the results on a daily basis after the voting closes on March 12.  Have fun!

Cardinal Comings and Goings

The Cardinals had a pitcher arrive in camp, a pitcher leave for the minors and a pitcher leave for another team yesterday.  None of them were able to overshadow the pitcher that pitched, however.

Chris Carpenter had another stellar outing on the mound, going five innings and leading St. Louis to a 6-3 win over the Nationals on Monday.  While his spring scoreless streak was snapped at 16 2/3, he still hasn't given up an earned run this spring.  He also stepped up his strikeout game (something that was a topic of Twitter discussion yesterday) by fanning six in his five innings.  This is the real deal, I believe.  This spring has been better than any of us expected out of him and it really raises the excitement level for the coming season.

Offensively, Brendan Ryan made a case to be the occasional leadoff hitter, going 2-5 and scoring a run.  Yesterday, I mistakenly said that Joe Thurston was about the only middle infield backup option left, but obviously Ryan is there as well. 

Chris Duncan had a 2-4 day.  After numerous big games, we've not heard from him in a while so it's good to know he's still hitting over .300 for the spring.  He even stole a base, which you won't see every day.  Rick Ankiel and Yadier Molina also had two hits.

Looking at the boxscore, though, I found one hitter that stood out even though he didn't get a base hit.  Colby Rasmus came in later in the game and officially stood at 0-1.  However, he also drew a walk and stole his third base of the season.  His all around game is what is going to get him on this roster, I believe.

Talking about the roster leads us into the discussion of the pitcher movement yesterday.  First off, Dennys Reyes made his official entrance into Cardinal camp.  You have to like a guy who says on the pronunciation of his first name, "It's like the restaurant."  Of course, a jovial attitude from a big guy goes far when you are getting batters out.  Ask Ray King how long it lasts if you aren't.  Still, Reyes is off on the right foot and should get some action Wednesday or Thursday.

After pitching three scoreless innings in yesterday's game, PJ Walters was sent down to the minor league camp.  That follows Blake Hawksworth having a good outing before going down as well.  At least the pitchers make the decisions harder right before they go!  If I'm right, that means the roster stands at 32 with just less than two weeks in the spring.  You have to figure that Sunday will be one of the last cutdown days.

The Cardinals also completed the Khalil Greene trade yesterday, sending relief prospect Luke Gregerson to the Padres.  You can find the analysis over at Future Redbirds, but to me, it seems like a fairly decent cost for what could be a significant upgrade at the shortstop position.  If Greene has a good year, you'd expect there's a chance the Cardinals could sign him to an extension before the season is over, increasing their return in the deal.

On the injury front, there is good news and, if not bad news, at least news you really didn't want to hear.  The latter is that Troy Glaus has hit a wall in his rehab.  For a while there it looked like he might get into a few late spring training games, but apparently that's not going to happen now.  Which, with Cardinals and injuries, has to raise concerns even if Glaus is saying they didn't go backward in his recovery.  Hopefully he'll be back on the mend pretty soon.

Better news is that Chris Perez sounds like he's about ready to go. I imagine he's really chomping at the bit due to the fact that he's pretty much lost the closer job to Jason Motte at the moment and may be battling for the last slot on the roster.  With the fact that he has options and that he hasn't pitched, Memphis is looking like a more likely spot for him, at least temporarily, but if he's able to get six more appearances in and does well, he could force Tony La Russa's hand somewhat.

Matthew Leach has his latest roster projection up.   He has Perez going down, Joe Mather making the team as an outfielder and David Freese going north as the third baseman.  I do like the fact that he says he has a hard time seeing Rasmus not on the roster.  I'm really anxious to see what Colby can do on a regular basis.

Pip at Fungoes has an article up exploring if the Cardinals should go to a four-man rotation.  The positives of that are very compelling, but I don't know if that'd be more likely to aggrevate injuries, in Carpenter especially.  If so, you could undo all that good work by having to force in a below-replacement level pitcher.

The last approval rating:  Bill DeWitt scored a 80.2%.  I gave him an 85, because he's had a very good run and I agree with most of what he's done.  There have been a few questionable calls and I'm not sure they do a great job with the press, but on the whole, he's been a good owner in my opinion.

Today is a milestone.  It's the 500th entry I've written for C70 At The Bat.  (507 overall, with six from Mike of Stan Musial's Stance last year and one with the UCB blog swap earlier this year.)  It's been fun and I hope you've enjoyed.

Remember that the United Cardinal Blogger Radio Hour is a half-hour earlier tomorrow and that Derrick Goold will be joining us.  Hope you can join us!

Cardinals Continue To Roll

Since we last got together to discuss the Cards on the field, they've won three of four and tied the other.  There comes a point where spring results have to be taken seriously, don't they?  The Cardinals are 15-6-2 and just a game behind Atlanta for the best record in Florida.  It'd be one thing if they were winning slugfests, but the pitching has been sharp as well.  They've won with early leads and they've rallied in the ninth.  I think there may be something special in this club this year.

Look at yesterday's game, for example.  Baltimore puts up two runs in the first on some shaky Cardinal fielding.  The Cards responded with two in the bottom of the inning.  Baltimore takes a 3-2 lead in the second, St. Louis ties it.  Baltimore scores again in the seventh, the Cards tie it in the eighth and win it in the ninth.

Ryan Ludwick seems to be getting a little more comfortable at the plate.  He's hit his two spring home runs in the last week and I was able to see him rope a double yesterday.  He looked like he was more in tune with what was going on, which is good for Cardinal fans to see.  With his breakout last year, there's always the possibility of a one-year fluke.  I don't think that'll happen with Ludwick, but his early part of spring didn't help those thoughts.

Nice to see Blake Hawksworth come in with a scoreless inning and get the win.  Granted, it'll be our last look at the Hawk for a while, but it's still nice to see.

The reason for that is that more cuts were made yesterday. While it's not too surprising to see Hawksworth or Jon Jay (he with yesterday's game-winning RBI) sent down, I was pretty surprised to see Tyler Greene was one of those demoted.  At least earlier in the camp, it really looked like Greene was going to go north as a utility infielder type.  Apparently they figured he should play a little more regularly.

This also must mean that the powers that be are much more comfortable with Skip Schumaker at second.  The only other middle infielder left is Joe Thurston, who apparently has made the team.

Of course, it might be a little early to say that.  Most of us thought that third base was locked up with Joe Mather, but his sliding offense necessitated a return to the big camp for David Freese.  I know Mather had a double yesterday, but it wasn't a gap double, more that he got around on an inside pitch and was able to get it past the third baseman.  Nice enough, sure, but not necessarily a tell that things are coming around.

Third base really is the only thing to watch right now.  Most of the other offensive positions are set (if you believe Colby Rasmus has done enough to get a trip north) and the pitching is starting to sort itself out as well.

Speaking of pitching, Dennys Reyes is supposed to be in camp today after his World Baseball Classic stint with Mexico.  He'll probably get a good bit of work the next week to get back up to speed.

Kyle McClellan will probably go north with the team, but his spring has not been at all what you'd want to see out of a guy that may be part of the late innings.  Apparently he's just a little out of whack, but it'd be nice to see that ERA drop a few runs from its lofty 10.64 height before the season started.  Otherwise, he may be on a short leash with the Cardinals since there could be a number of options in the bullpen.

With only posting the UCB Roundtable on Friday, I didn't get into the last approval ratings, so let's do that now.  First off, Colby Rasmus notched a 65.5% rating.  A lot of people didn't really know what to do with him since he'd not played yet, so he got a lot of 50s or in that range due to that fact.  I gave him a 70, figuring that his minor league performance has been good and it's nice to have a prospect everyone recognizes as a prospect.

Today, for our final installment, we'll take up Bill DeWitt.  There's been a lot of talk about ownership, which I guess is pretty standard for any team.  Do you find his cheapness (at least to you) a problem?  Do you give him credit for the postseason runs they've had in the last decade-plus?  Your ratings in the comments, as always.

Today's lineup against the Nationals.  Chris Carpenter looks to extend the scoreless inning streak.  I seriously can't wait until we see him on a regular basis this season.

Ryan 3B
Ankiel CF
Pujols 1B
Ludwick RF
Greene SS
Duncan LF
Molina C
Carpenter P
Schumaker 2B

I think this is a pretty interesting lineup because of some comments made this weekend, where Tony La Russa said he'd bat the pitcher ninth on days where there wasn't a second leadoff man.  To see Skip down in the 9 hole, in my mind, means that TLR is trying to find that other leadoff guy, giving Ryan today and maybe others down the line a shot at it so he knows what they have.

Also, the United Cardinal Bloggers Radio Hour this week is moved to its new 9:30 time on Wednesdays and to inaugurate the new slot, Post-Dispatch writer and Master of Modern Multi-Media Derrick Goold will be joining us.  If you've got questions for him, leave them in the comments and we'll see if we can't get them to him.

Cardinals Win One, Possibly Lose One?

There was some great news out of yesterday's ball game.  Too bad it was overshadowed, at least in part, by the news that came out afterwards.

The Cardinals announced that Chris Perez was having arm troubles.  Now, when you hear "injury" and "Cardinals" in the same sentence, the normal reaction is to break out in cold sweats.  When you add "pitcher" to that list, you start wondering if the poor guy will still have an arm after it is all said and done.

Right now, the Cardinals and Perez both are downplaying the severity of the discomfort, with Perez even saying he probably could pitch.  Hopefully all of that is true and, since there are still over two weeks until the season starts, there's still time for him to be healthy by Opening Day.

That said, even if he is healthy, I think that there's a dent put in his chances of going north.  Derrick Goold has said it sound like Brad Thompson is a lock to go with the big club.  Especially with the very few off days in the first month, his ability to eat innings will be useful.  So the final decision in the bullpen likely was going to come down to Perez and Josh Kinney.  With the time on the sidelines, I think Perez might be losing that battle.

At least there was positive news on the ball field yesterday.  Chris Carpenter was definitely in mid-season form yesterday, becoming the first St. Louis hurler to go six innings this spring.  Carpenter threw just 64 pitches to get that deep into the game, not allowing a ball in the air until the end of the fifth.  As I said yesterday on the UCB Radio Hour, knock on all the wood you can find, but I think you have to just start thinking about Carp as a pitcher who's going to be out there regularly rather than a rehab project.

Carpenter's outing underscored the need for solid defense in the infield.  As we discussed on the show last night, it seems like Skip Schumaker is coming along in that regard.  I don't believe Skip has made an error since last week's suggestion that the experiment wasn't working.  So far, so good, I guess.  It'll be interesting to see just how long of a leash he has on this.

The Cardinals didn't do a lot offensively, only putting together six hits and three runs, though with Carp on the mound that was enough.  Skip got a hit and a walk and is proving to be a great option at the top of the lineup.  I didn't realize exactly how little Joe Mather was hitting.  All the focus has been on Schumaker's fielding and Colby Rasmus's hitting, but Mather's average is right there with Rasmus, even though he does have one homer to Colby's zero.

After yesterday's article about the payroll, John Mozeliak hit the radio airwaves to talk about that and various other things.  You can read the full recap over at Pitchers Hit Eighth, but I think the most important thing financially to come out of that was the fact that it's possible the Cards will have money around July's trading deadline if necessary.  It'll depend on attendance and other factors, of course, but it's nice to think that it's at least a possibility.

Yadier Molina didn't quite pass Albert Pujols in the approval ratings, but got very close with his 93.4%.  I think Yadi's approval was more broad, because there were few that didn't rank him out of the 90 range.  AP got a few low scores and a ton of 100s.

Today's subject is Colby Rasmus. This one could be difficult since he has yet to play in the bigs.  Do you grade for potential?  Do you look at his minor league career?  The factors are up to you, just post your percentage in the comments!

Off-Day Doldrums

Perhaps everyone was out celebrating St. Patrick's Day yesterday, because there wasn't a whole lot of news made on the off day.

The lead story over at the Post-Dispatch is that payroll is retreating for 2009.  There's a good chance this will bring out the management bashers and "cheap ownership" cries, but in an economy where large corporations are needing bailouts on a regular basis and people are losing jobs, a little belt-tightening is not unexpected nor unintelligent.

I think Bill Dewitt did a good job of making their case to the press and getting some of the information out there.  Whether you trust it or not is up to you, but I don't see much reason not too.  It will be interesting to see if they make some July moves if attendance early in the year is stronger than they expect.

Also, I think we should be glad the team didn't get Brian Fuentes, as the article notes his signing would have forced Ryan Ludwick or Rick Ankiel to be a "salary dump".  I don't mind trading either of those players, but I don't want to see the Cards do that just to free up money.  I would like to see them bring back some talent, even if it is cheaper.

Derrick Goold has part 2 of his Q & A with Jeff Luhnow up.  Lots of interesting comments about the minor leaguers.

The official site has a feature on Chris Duncan.  It is impressive that he's come back so quickly from that surgery, especially when the term "career-threatening" was being tossed around.

Yesterday's approval rating subject was pretty polarizing.  Al Hrbrosky wound up with a 53.9% rating, but the people at VEB rated him around 37% while CCH rated him at about 75%.  Never knew those two audiences were so diverse.

Today, we start the home stretch, only three players left to go.  We take up Yadier Molina today.  I'm pretty sure Sarah will quickly be here with her 100%, but what say the rest of you?  I've not heard much against Yadi in the last couple of years.  Can he challenge Pujols for that top spot?

Supposed to be another split-squad doubleheader against the Orioles today, but the game in their park has been rained out.  The lineup for today's home game, assuming it doesn't change due to that development:

Schumaker 4
Molina 2
Pujols 3
Ankiel 8
Craig DH
K Greene 6
Jones 7
Mather 9
Barden 5

Chris Carpenter will be on the mound for the squad.  I'm guessing they want to make sure Molina gets some more at-bats after his stint with Puerto Rico.  (Sidebar: Even though I hate to see Jose Oquendo and Yadi go home, that was a heck of a game last night, from all reports.  Which, again, frustrates me that I don't have MLB Network.)

I would guess Craig and Jones might be removed from the lineup for other players, but perhaps those that were supposed to go on the road will just get the day off.

If you are interested, my look at back at the offseason and look forward to this season is up over at Baseball Reflections today.

 

Cutting Them Down To Size

Along with a loss to go into an off day, yesterday was particularly painful for some players, as they were reassigned to the minor league camp, ending their shot (for the most part) of starting the season in St. Louis.

None of the cuts were all that surprising, though it was slightly disappointing to see Brian Barton go down.  Barton could be an interesting bat off the bench for the Cardinals, especially since he's right handed, but getting more regular at bats in Memphis may be better for his development.  With as many outfielders on the roster, either actually playing outfield or masquerading as infielders, he might have been sitting around a lot in St. Louis.

The case of Allen Craig is a little peculiar.  Not really that he was sent down, even though that close to .500 average for the spring probably made that decision a little tougher, but the fact that he didn't play third at all during the spring.  I guess that the team was already committed to Joe Mather if he could at all hack it and Craig probably won't play third at Memphis either (with David Freese or Brett Wallace or both there), but still, with him hitting that well and third being his natural position, you'd have thought they'd have looked a little longer.

Charlie Manning had to know this was coming once Dennys Reyes signed.  I like having him in Memphis, though, if either Reyes or Trever Miller gets hurt.  I'd expect Royce Ring will wind up being cut soon, but they'll keep him and Ian Ostlund around while they need arms in the spring.

Jess Todd, like Craig, probably made a positive impression on the staff, though his last outing wasn't that great.  They'll remember these days when it's time to promote someone to fill a slot due to injury or trade.  There's no doubt he's learned some things this spring as well.

On to the game.  Cards got out to the early lead but just couldn't hold off the Tigers.  Todd Wellmeyer didn't look as sharp as he did last time out, allowing four runs in five innings.  That's going to happen from time to time, so we'll have to see how he bounces back from this one next week.

Jason Motte was about the only person to distinguish himself on the mound, striking out the side.  It's probably telling that he wasn't part of the cuts that were made yesterday.

Offensively, Albert Pujols cracked his first home run of the spring.  Just what pitchers want to see, him starting to pick up the power just in time for Opening Day.  Khalil Greene had another big day, going 3-3.  He's hitting .447 on the spring, folks.  He hits 60% of that in the regular season, with some pop, and this lineup is going to be so dangerous.

Skip Schumaker is still playing second base and still hitting (two hits yesterday), plus he hasn't made an error since the possibility of him not playing there blew up, so it's becoming clearer that, at least to start the season, Skip will be playing second.

Tony La Russa is apparently looking at Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick to bat behind Pujols and help make sure someone pitches to El Hombre. Hitting in front of Albert is usually the most cushy spot, because you know that pitchers aren't going to walk you.  They'd rather make sure you have a chance to get out rather than face AP with runners on.

Behind the man, though, seems to be a different story.  If you look at the numbers, I think Ludwick has proven he can hit back there for the most part.  Duncan and Ankiel right now tend to need the protection of Pujols to make sure they can do their most damage.

Hopefully the entire lineup will be solid enough that, if the cleanup man doesn't come through, the next guy will.  If the entire lineup is clicking, pitchers won't want to be putting extra men on base anywhere, even if it is Pujols.

We've got more UCB transcripts up!  4thebirds talks about the offseason, The Redbird Blog asked for some bold predictions and La Beisbolista discussed the next retired number.  Should be seeing one up at 5 O'Clock Blogger later today.

John Rooney has a pretty decent reputation in Cardinal Nation, racking up an 82.2% approval rating.  I gave him an 80, because while he does get a little overly excited sometimes, he's got a voice that just says baseball to me.  I can't explain it more than he sounds like a baseball announcer and that's a good thing.

Today, we check in on the other side of the media divide and ask about our color analyist on the TV side, Al Hrbrosky.  Al seems to rile people up a lot.  Do you factor his Cardinal career into your rating?  Do you like it when Al gets going with Dan?  Leave your rating in the comments!

 

Splitting The Cardinal Weekend

A win and a loss this weekend.  While neither were all that dramatic, they are worth taking a look at.

The best part about Saturday's game against the Braves was that it was on KSDK and those games get put on a station down here, so I got to get my first look at the 2009 Cardinals.  The fact that they pulled out a win was nice as well.

Adam Wainwright worried me early in the game.  He was giving up a lot of hits, though he did a good job of keeping runs off the board.  He settled down later in the game and you'll take five innings, one earned run any day of the week.

The bullpen did good work as well.  It was interesting to see Josh Kinney come in to get the save.  He really looked good doing it.  That slider can be a deadly weapon when its on.  Right now, I think I'm fine with any of the young guns, including Kinney, closing down games.

Even though I'm not a big fan, I've got to admit Ryan Franklin has had a good spring as well.  He gave up just one hit in two innings and lowered his spring ERA to 1.50.  If he can keep that going forward, he wouldn't be as nerve-wracking in the ninth.  I'm not sure that he can, though I figure he'll get some save opportunities early in the year.  I think Tony La Russa is really looking forward to some mixing and matching in that closer role.

Looking at the hitters, Skip Schumaker had another good day at the plate, going two for three and making no errors at second.  In fact, the only error of the game came from Brendan Ryan when he came in for Skip on an easy ball that he just didn't take enough care with.  He was too worried about ending the game to keep his eye on it.  I'd be surprised if La Russa didn't notice.  Not something you want to do when you are fighting for a slot.

There wasn't much else that happened, but watching it definitely got me fired up for another season.  Just three more weeks!

Sunday's game was another good day for the pitching staff, though the offense didn't do a lot.  Khalil Greene had a couple of hits, keeping his strong spring going.  Brendan Ryan made up for that error on Saturday by driving in the only run of the game.

On the mound, though, the Cards shone, for the most part.  Kyle Lohse gave up an early home run, but pitched five innings and didn't allow any more to cross the plate.  He struck out five as well, which helped.  You figure you are going to get some value out of Lohse this year and possibly next year.  The end of the contract, though, is where there is going to be some pain.

Adam Ottovino might have learned something playing for Italy in the World Baseball Classic.  He struck out the side in his appearance, which is something he's got the talent to do more of.  I think that if he can get his stuff under control (which is what he started doing some last year, I believe) he can be a pretty good prospect and someone to keep an eye on.

The only bad outing came from Jess Todd.  One inning plus, two hits and, unfortunately, two walks.  Sounds like it was an off day for Todd, who's been pretty effective this spring and could be one of the first callups from Memphis this year.

More cuts should be coming this week with an eye toward the 25 man roster.  A lot of the questions going into camp have been answered in the affirmative.  The most difficult cuts may be in the bullpen.  If all three young guns are carried, plus the two lefties and then five starters, that leaves two slots available.  Figuring out exactly who takes those positions may be a lot of what is decided this week.

Chris Duncan pulled down a 69.5% rating from 45 voters over the weekend.  I gave Chris a 70, because while I'm not a huge fan of his off-field persona and his defense is pretty iffy sometimes, he can definitely hit when he's healthy and is an asset to the team.  I think he's proven that to some degree this spring.

We'll be doing this for another week, unless there is huge demand for more (or to quit early).  Today, we go back to the broadcast booth and ask your opinion about John Rooney.  He's sitting in Jack's chair, though obviously no one could replace the master.  Is he a worthy successor?  Does he drive you nuts?  Leave your percentage approval in the comments!

Crafting Another Victory

For a spring training game, yesterday's matchup with the Boston Red Sox was a darn good pitching matchup.  Josh Beckett went for the visitors and allowed nothing over four innings.  The good news for Cardinal fans is that Chris Carpenter did the same.

That's three strong starts for Carp, who hasn't allowed an earned run this spring.  It's good to see him extending his outings as well.  He notes that he'd like to be around 90 pitches by Opening Day, which could get him into the sixth if he's efficient with them.  Everyone continues to knock on any wooden surface around, but it sure looks like Carpenter has kept the form that won him the Cy Young in 2005.

Good day for Joe Mather.  His first home run of the spring was a two-run walk-off job that brought the win home for St. Louis.  Joe Thurston didn't want to be left out of any potential second base derby and showed it, going three for four with two doubles.

There was some pretty solid pitching all the way around as well.  Trever Miller allowed a run in his inning, which is a little disconcerting.  You can't have him having too many innings where he allows two hits and a walk when the regular season comes around.  More good stuff out of Blake Hawksworth, though, pitching three innings and allowing just one hit, though he allowed a run as well.

Josh Kinney pitched a sparkling ninth, striking out two, and then was rewarded with the win when Mather went yard.  I expect this won't be the last ninth inning that he'll see this year.  Having options like him, Chris Perez and Jason Motte will make the late innings a little more livable this year.

Doubleheader day for the Cards as they split the squad, both against Baltimore.  Game 1 this afternoon has Kyle McClellan getting the starting nod with this lineup behind him:

Schumaker 4
Thurston 5
Pujols 3
Freese DH
Jay 7
K Greene 6
Anderson 2
Stavinhoa 9
Rasmus 8

Skip's back at second, but with a split squad game it'd be really telling if he wasn't.  Nice to see Colby back in the lineup as well after his hamstring issue.

Nightcap puts Joel Pineiro on the mound with the following support:

Ryan 6
T Greene 5
Ankiel 8
Ludwick 9
Duncan 3
Mather 7
Barton DH
Pagnozzi 2
Hoffpauir 4

I'm a little surprised Tyler Greene isn't getting some reps at second today, but maybe they want to leave him as utility and see if Hoffpauir has a chance to make the cut.

What's great about the Cardinal system right now is that both lineups look pretty intriguing.  Wish I was in Florida to watch them!

To wrap up, let's look at the approval ratings.  Dave Duncan did a little better than I thought he might, posting an 84.2% rating.  That includes my 85%, which would have been higher if he'd been a little better about dealing with the whole Anthony Reyes situation.  I still think that's something that may come back and bite us.

Today, we'll move to his son.  Chris has a reputation for crudeness, as witnessed by the famous World Series trophy picture, and his injuries have led to discussions of nepotism and wondering what people see in him.  On the flip side, though, when he's healthy he's a very potent bat and comes cheap as well.

So where on the 0-100 scale do you rank Chris Duncan?  Leave your answers in the comments!

Skip-ping Second

Lots of stuff to get into today.  Plenty off the field and, oh by the way, there was a game yesterday.

Let's take the biggest news first, though.  According to Joe Strauss, the Skip Schumaker at second story isn't succeeding.  It looks like the errors are starting to pile up and change Tony La Russa's mind about this whole idea.  In fact, Schumaker is starting DH today against the Red Sox, leaving Joe Thurston to make the start.

The ramifications of this are far-reaching, as we discussed on last night's UCB Radio Hour.  (Download it or listen on the player here at the site if you missed it.)  First of all, if nothing else happens besides Schumaker shifting back to the outfield, who then misses the cut?  Brian Barton is already likely on his way to Memphis.  Does this keep Colby Rasmus out of the Opening Day roster as well?

Does Schumaker himself go to Memphis to try to learn the position?  If the idea was for him to keep the job past this year, maybe a month or so down there might work.  I think, though, if he doesn't succeed at it in the spring, they will probably abandon the idea.

There's talk about going the trade route.  Which would possibly solve two problems at once.  You'd have to figure that one of the outfielders would get moved, especially if you are getting a second baseman of any quality and one that you are keeping for more than just this year.  Which means that you'd still be able to keep Rasmus or Barton in the majors while having your new second baseman.

Who do you trade, though?  You'd figure it'd be Ankiel, but maybe Schumaker himself would be on the block.  You'd have to get back a second baseman that could lead off, though, I'd think.  That'll definitely be something to watch in the next few days.

Cards beat the Marlins yesterday 8-4 as the Redbirds score one in the eighth and four in the ninth to pull out the victory.  Schumaker's fourth error of the spring led to a couple of unearned runs for starter Todd Wellemeyer, who otherwise had a pretty solid five-inning outing.  The starting pitching this spring has been very encouraging.

Offensively, Albert Pujols went 2-3, Brian Barden, perhaps sending an opportunity in the middle infield, went 2-2 coming off the bench.  Joe Mather was the real story, though, with two hits and four RBI.  At least one of the outfielders in the infield is panning out.  And when you think about it, a 50% rate is about all you could hope for.

After the jump, thoughts on the Pujols SI article, today's approval ratings and today's lineup for the Sox game.


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Duncan It Again

It's really starting to look like Chris Duncan is healthy.

He had another strong game against the Tigers yesterday, going 2 for 2 with his second home run of the spring, raising his average up to .385.  I don't think anyone expects Duncan to be challenging for a batting title this season, but if he can continue to show that he's healthy, he could be a valuable guy for this team.

A lot of people don't care much for Duncan (he's on the schedule for the approval ratings later in the week, so we can see just how much), but there's not much denying that, when he's healthy and on, he's a pretty solid offensive threat.  Whether he'll last all year in St. Louis is another matter.  He'd be pretty attractive on the trade market if he keeps it up through May or so.

Rick Ankiel also had a strong day, going three for four and raising his spring average up to .400.  I know that it's spring and all the caveats apply, but if you've got Ankiel running like that and Duncan healthy, this offense really could click.  In fact, I think they've been projected for about five runs a game, which is pretty nice.

Skip Schumaker also got a couple of hits but, more importantly, didn't make any errors.  It won't matter how much he hits if he's routinely muffing balls.

On the pitching side, Kyle Lohse gave up a long ball but only one other hit in his 4.1 innings of work. I think he's going to be a pretty strong third starter behind Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.  It's really going to be nice this year to expect a solid game out of your starter almost every night.

Jason Motte locked down his first save of the spring.  As Derrick Goold Twitters, that's the second ninth he's gotten in a row and nothing happens by accident, though obviously it's not his role just yet.  In the last roster projection he had, Matthew Leach had Motte going to Memphis.  That might not be accurate anymore.  Someone's going to be the odd man out, though, because I don't think they'll be taking 13 pitchers north.

Colby Rasmus is dealing with a little hamstring soreness, just as he started to look like he was bouncing back.  Hopefully it won't keep him out too long.  He doesn't need any more obstacles in his way--there are enough as it is.

A little off the field news.  It's not a surprise, but the Padres are going to grab a minor league pitcher to finish up the Khalil Greene trade.  Don't know which one yet, but should soon.  I wouldn't expect to see anyone big leaving.  Possibly Italian WBC starter Adam Ottovino?  That'd probably be the biggest possibility.

Before I get into the last piece of Cardinal news, I want to say congrats to the Netherlands.  I said yesterday I didn't think the Dominican would let them win again, but sure enough, the DR is going home.  Can you believe that team didn't score until the 11th, though?  That offense should have been raking from the get-go.

El Hombre gets the front cover of Sports Illustrated this week with the message that he's clean and you can believe in him.  Which means one of two things.  Either he's exactly as he says and never has done any steroids, which I believe, or the man's got a ton of nerve and guts to run a big bluff like this. 

This puts even more attention on him and puts his word on the line.  It's different when people write about you and say that he must be clean.  To come out yourself and say, "Look, I'm not using and I'm not going to" invites scrunity and makes you look even worse if something comes out.  Look at the flak Alex Rodriguez got for lying to Katie Couric in an interview.  A-Rod wasn't anywhere as emphatic as Pujols comes across and yet it was a front-page story.

Things like this just reaffirm that we are watching a special player in St. Louis and we should appreciate it while we can.

Which is why today, he's the topic of the approval ratings.  We know he's a special talent, but how do you feel about Mr. Pujols?  He can be a little gruff with fans sometimes--does that bring him down?  What about his baserunning?

Yesterday's subject, Kyle Lohse, posted a 77.3% rating.  Pretty good for a guy that's only spent one year in Cardinal Red.

Don't forget the UCB Radio Hour is on tonight!   Hope to have you call in!

Also on the Network: √ 2009: The Curse Of Shea Stadium [Loge 13] √ Braden Looper: Now More than Ever! [El Lefty Malo] √ The Ballad of Ricky-Bobby: March Madness [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Playing Pepper 2010: Oakland Athletics [C70 At The Bat] √ Book Review: Joe Cronin, A Life In Baseball [C70 At The Bat] √ Happy Birthday, Loge 13 [Loge 13] √ Things to Read: 3/11 [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ The Farm Team to Watch [El Lefty Malo]