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Cardinals Continue To Battle Injuries

Posted on March 25, 2010 at 9:56 AM

Things were rolling along. Matt Holliday was back from his rib cage injury and starting to find his groove. Albert Pujols was back from his back, relieving a lot of worries in Cardinal Nation. Everything was great, until yesterday's game, when Yadier Molina pulled up lame, left the game, and was diagnosed with a strained oblique.

Strained obliques aren't anything new in the Cardinal clubhouse. Woody Williams had one a few years back, and more recently Pujols and Chris Carpenter have had to deal with them. The problem with obliques is they take a while to heal (unless you are Pujols, who does everything better than a normal human).

The hope is that it's a mild one, he takes a few days off, and is ready to go for the beginning of the season. However, I'm a little doubtful it'll happen that way. A catcher has to be able to throw out baserunners, get into the crouch, and move in different ways than anyone else on the field. I can't imagine that if the oblique isn't completely healed, Yadi will be able to be back catching anytime soon.

Which poses quite a dilemma for the club. It was noted at the Post-Dispatch that Yadi might be the second-most indispensable Cardinal, because his backups aren't nearly to his caliber (sorry, Jason LaRue and Matt Pagnozzi). While LaRue especially can hold down the fort for a limited period of time, you don't want to see him out there on a regular basis. If Bryan Anderson had developed the way that he looked like he was going to, this would have been a great opportunity to see what he could do. However, being that Anderson only got one at-bat in camp this year, I think we can safely assume he's not in the picture, at least right now.

The Cardinals will have to wait and see with Yadi, but hopefully, no matter how much they need him, they don't rush him back. Those obliques can flare up again at the slightest provocation.

Switching gears to those that throw to Molina, it looks like the honking worked. Jaime Garcia is expected to be named the fifth starter by the club for the regular season. Garcia has had a dominant spring and it would be hard to overlook his work.

This is in no way to short Kyle McClellan, though. I know I was a little concerned about the switch from reliever for McClellan, but he's handled it like a champ, putting up numbers that, in any other camp, would have solidified his standing as the last starter. However, with the bullpen still in a bit of flux, having the established hand like McClellan in there wouldn't hurt any.

You have to figure McClellan will get a lot of two-inning, three-inning looks this year. If Garcia falters, is he the first in line to take over? With a promotion of a Mitchell Boggs or an Adam Ottovino, whichever doesn't make the club, as the fill in for him? If Rich Hill starts getting it together in Memphis, where does he fit in? Still a lot of questions to be answered this season, though if Garcia keeps going like he has this spring, most of them aren't even going to come up.

After our interview with McClellan earlier in the spring, I'm not surprised to hear him saying things about whatever the team needs and it's just nice to be wanted and valued. It's got to be tough when you want to be a starter, you pitched lights out, and it still wasn't enough. I don't think he'll carry that into the season and he'll be just as effective a reliever as he's been a starter this spring.

If you've not seen it yet, Pujols is going to have his own "Got Milk?" ad. We discussed on last night's UCB Radio Hour about Pujols's increased profile and whether he's becoming a household name in households that don't even follow baseball. I'm not sure he's there yet, but he is working on it.

Time to finish up the Cardinal Approval Ratings with the last three on the ballot. Last year, we were wondering exactly what Tony La Russa was thinking, moving outfielder Skip Schumaker to the infield. Skip wasn't on last year's voting ballot, but after a year of solid work at second, it was time to get a feel for what Cardinal Nation thought about him. On 66 ballots, Skip wound up with a respectable 81.1% mark. The Schu man topped out at 99 and bottomed out at 50.

Mike Shannon was on last year's questions, racking up a 91.6% rating. The long-time broadcaster was more of the same in 2009, but his approval rating dropped dramatically. Shannon only got a 80.3% tally this year, with numerous zeros on the 64 ballots that named him. It's possible that some put in zero instead of leaving it blank for no rating, but it could be that Shannon is more polarizing than I thought.

Adam Wainwright came into his own last year, challenging for the NL Cy Young. That obviously helped him in the eyes of the respondents, as he wound up with a 95.6% mark, the second-highest on the club. Over 15 different 100 ratings and the lowest on the 66 ballots was a 77.

Hope y'all enjoyed the approval ratings. It was interesting to see the differences between this year and last. No post tomorrow, as I'll be in getting carpal tunnel surgery. They say I'll be able to type soon afterwards, so hopefully it won't be too long before we are talking Cardinals again!

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A Pain In The Back

Posted on March 23, 2010 at 8:08 AM

The Cardinals split up the squad yesterday and wound up with two wins, including a huge eighth inning that brought them from behind against the Red Sox. So what's the major story today?

Albert Pujols's back, of course. The man gets a hangnail, Cardinal Nation hyperventilates. With good reason.

This is starting to trouble me just a bit. I know that the front office is saying they aren't concerned, and obviously they would know much more than I do on the subject, but to have this happen again this spring just seems disconcerting. While it sounds like if this was the regular season he'd probably play, it worries me that this will be something that carries into the season. As most of you probably do, I get the twinges in my back and wouldn't want to try to be swinging a bat with that kind of discomfort.

Everything will be fine, right? It's only spring, it's only spring.....

However, with AP not being able to go yesterday, we weren't able to see Pujols and Holliday back-to-back. Matt Holliday was back in the lineup, which helped alleviate some concerns, because if both of them hobble to the starting line, there's going to be a lot of concerned Redbird faithful. Holliday seems to be completely healed up from the rib cage strain, swinging at full speed and getting a double against the Red Sox.

The biggest on-the-field news came on the pitching mound, though. Jaime Garcia threw against the Astros and was very solid, allowing only one run over four innings. As a pitcher, if you get Yadier Molina testifying for you, that has to go a long way. Garcia has done all he can this spring to get a roster slot and it does sound like Tony La Russa is watching. If Kyle McClellan or Rich Hill gives them a reason to send him down, they might, but right now Garcia might have edged in front of both of them.

Adam Ottovino got his relief appearance in and did fairly well. He struck out two, though he did allow a run. I don't think he pitched himself out of contention for a slot at all. As we examined yesterday, it's possible that he and Garcia would go north, though it'd take some other work to make that happen. I still think he's a bit of a longshot, but it could happen.

There are 31 left in camp after the Cards sent out some players yesterday. That leaves six more to remove, mainly in the pitching staff with Ruben Gotay getting sent down. Just two more weeks until the bell rings!

Two more Cardinal Approval Ratings to get to. Last year, Colby Rasmus was an unknown quantity, which was reflected in his low 66.0% score. After a full rookie season, Cardinal Nation has warmed somewhat to the quiet outfielder, bumping him up over ten points to 76.8%. Colby topped out at 95 and bottomed out at 49 over the 66 ballots.

John Rooney also was ranked last year, pulling in a 80.9% score. A number of voters didn't express an opinion this year, as he only showed up on 60 ballots but he stayed fairly steady, slipping down to 76.2%. Rooney hit both extremes, with one 100 and one 0.

Off-day for the Cardinals today, so hopefully Pujols will be back to work tomorrow!

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Dark Horse Comes Galloping Up The Stretch

Posted on March 22, 2010 at 7:56 AM

The Cardinals had a pretty eventful weekend, even with their Sunday game being rained out. More data points for decisions were made and one possible move was revealed. Spring training is so much fun, isn't it?

The biggest news of the weekend was likely the announcement that Adam Ottovino is in the running for a bullpen slot. While it was a surprise to me, apparently it wasn't to everyone. Ottovino has been an intriguing prospect for quite some time--I'm pretty sure I saw him throw down in Little Rock for the Springfield squad a couple of years ago--but hasn't been able to keep the command necessary for a big league promotion.

However, he's looked sharp this spring and has been able to make adjustments to his game. Dave Duncan, who apparently called and worked with him some last year, is very much in his corner, which is a great person to have on your side.

I was wondering if this was going to affect Jaime Garcia getting the fifth slot. As you can see by the badge on the sidebar (graciously provided by the guys at Pitchers Hit Eighth), I'm in favor of having Garcia start in the fifth slot. Can that happen if Ottovino gets a relief role? Let's take a look at the staff in that case:

Starters: Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Brad Penny, Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia

Bullpen: Adam Ottovino, Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte, Mitchell Boggs, Ryan Franklin, Trever Miller, Dennys Reyes

Such a bullpen would force out Blake Hawksworth, which I don't think the club wants to do. They might, however, send Boggs down to Memphis to work on being a reliever. More likely, though, it's between Garcia and Ottovino for that last slot, so today will be a very interesting one.

With the rainout and the split squad, you are going to have Brad Penny and Adam Ottovino going against Boston with Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia going against Houston. Today won't be the deciding factor, but it could go a long way toward determining who goes where.

On the positive front, it looks like Matt Holliday will be joining the lineup today in the Boston game. It's good to get him back on the field with two weeks to spare. Hopefully the layoff won't affect his timing and conditioning too much and he'll be hitting his stride as the season starts.

Shelby Miller was finally sent down to the minor league camp, lasting a day more than the more highly-touted draft pick of last draft, Stephen Strasburg. (Who, by the way, tore up the Cardinals on Saturday. You know Tyler Greene and Allen Craig let their teammates know about those home runs they hit, because that was the only blemish on Strasburg's spring, basically.) Per Joe Strauss, the plan is to have Miller start at extended spring training (to stay away from the cold weather minor league stops) and move up to high A ball when the weather warms. There's no doubt they are watching him closely and, with a good year, he could be in Springfield by the end of July.

Quickly, let's take a look at the Cardinal Approval Ratings for today. Somehow, John Mozeliak got skipped in the voting last year (Really? What was I thinking there?) but I corrected that oversight this year. He was on 65 of the 68 ballots cast (one came in this weekend) and, with a year like he had last year, it's not a surprise that he averaged out to 86.1%. I have a feeling that would have been a little lower last year.

Albert Pujols, of course, was on last year's forms and racked up the highest approval rating of them all, coming in at 97.9%. Really hard to beat that one, isn't it? Yet he did, moving to a 98.7% on the 67 ballots he was named on. We really are lucky to have him.

Enjoy the games today!

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Subtle Shifts

Posted on March 19, 2010 at 8:03 AM

While no major news came out of Jupiter yesterday, there were a couple of things that could have an impact on the season to come.

First, the Cards returned Ben Jukich to the Reds. For a Rule V guy, he didn't get a lot of looks in camp, only getting two innings in one game. I'm slightly surprised that the Reds didn't work a trade for him, since to take him back they have to spend $25,000, and right now the Reds are pinching every penny they can. Still, while it would have been nice to have him in Memphis as a potential backup, the Cards didn't look at him as a LOOGY type anyway, so there are probably other options. Be interesting to see how Jukich does this year, though, especially if he makes it to Cincinnati.

Secondly and more importantly, there seemed to be an organizational shift in regards to Jaime Garcia. Going into the spring, some of us wanted to see him as the fifth starter in St. Louis, but the injury issue seemed to be influencing those that make the decisions, inspiring the signing of Rich Hill. Garcia was seen as an afterthought to Hill and Kyle McClellan going at it for that last slot.

As your bracket will likely attest to this morning, afterthoughts have their way of making their way to the foreground. On Twitter yesterday, Derrick Goold reported that Tony La Russa had declared that Garcia would be a starter somewhere, or at least that the organization wasn't looking at him as a reliever. As I said earlier this week, I expected him to take that long relief role that Adam Wainwright had a few years back. That's not the case anymore.

Then, Rich Hill pitched yesterday and it was another ineffective outing. Hill walked five in three innings and, for a guy that needed to work on his command to be successful, that's a step back. So we wake up this morning to see in the paper a story that Garcia will be given a start Monday against the Astros. As Darth Vader said, "The circle is now complete." (Well, almost, but when you get a chance to toss Vader into a blog post, you have to take it.)

Tom from CardinalsGM mentioned on Twitter yesterday that it was the point where he started to take results seriously. There is just over two weeks left. A lot of the guys that never were going to make it have been weeded out and sent to minor league camp. Starters are starting to go five, six, seven innings. The regulars will be playing. Things that happen from now on are going to have a huge impact on the decisions that are left to be made.

So if Garcia goes out and throws on Monday like he's been throwing the rest of the spring, that very well may put him in the lead in the fifth starter derby after being on the outside looking in for so long. That's what spring is all about, right? The unexpected making a run. A young third baseman making it so that you can't leave him off the roster. The hometown pitcher fighting his way onto the roster. There is a reason spring training lasts this long!

Approval rating time! Even though I didn't plan it this way, so far every day has been one new person and one person we rated last year, and today is no different.

If we'd have rated Mark McGwire last year, it would have been as the disgraced and retired icon. You'd have to have factored in the uncertainty (well, at least proven uncertainty) of his steroid usage and how you felt about all of that. It's a new year, however, and we aren't rating just the icon, but the hitting coach who has made his confession. It was possibly the most interesting name on the approval ballot.

McGwire wound up higher than I thought, with 64 people giving him an average score of 73.2%. There was an outlier of 5, but the next-lowest was 20, while his high was one 100. A lot in the 70-80 range, it looks like.

On the other hand, we have Yadier Molina. A lot of Molina love last year, as he piled up the second-highest rating at 93.4%. Not a lot has changed with Yadi, and this year he drops just a bit to 92.0%. That'll put him behind Carp this year as well (likely) behind Albert.

Cards play a split-squad schedule today. The noon game features St. Louis playing against their complex partners, the Marlins. Not sure who is going in that game, though it should be Chris Carpenter, I'd expect. The game is also supposed to be on FSN, so if you are in the viewing area, you get a lunchtime treat.

Most of us would have probably rather they televised the other game, however. This evening, 5 PM start, the Cards go over to Washington and face Stephen Strasburg again. Not only that, but McClellan tries to hold off Garcia for that fifth slot with a strong start. Should be a lot of interesting things out of that one!

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Off Day Miscellany

Posted on March 18, 2010 at 8:17 AM

I hate off days, even in the spring. Yeah, I know they are necessary, but once you get in the habit of seeing or hearing baseball on a daily basis, those gaps really can throw you off.

The Cards have another day off next Tuesday and have the Sunday before the season free as well. Otherwise, it's all baseball all the time until the beginning of the season.

The day off meant things were pretty quiet in Cardinal camp. Allen Craig has been a popular focus this off-season, with a story earlier this week by Matthew Leach and now a feature by Derrick Goold. I don't think there's much doubt now that Craig makes this team as a backup, though I guess a slump here at the end of the spring could see him back in Memphis. I just hope that he'll be able to keep hitting even with only semi-regular work, pinch-hitting and the like. If he needs to be in there every day to keep his swing working, that's going to be a problem.

Not much time and not much to talk about today, so let's get to the Cardinal Approval Ratings. Today, we look at the skipper and the number three starter.

Tony La Russa has always been a polarizing figure in St. Louis and there's no doubt people will register opinions on him. Last year, he checked in with a 79.1% rating. Then he led the Cardinals to another divisional title. Would that be reflected in this year's mark?

Perhaps it was, as TLR moved up to an 80.6% level this year. Interestingly, there were two of the 67 voters that didn't give him a rating, something that surprised me. Two 100s and a 38 made up the range of the votes.

Kyle Lohse was just under TLR last year, with a 77.3% mark. That was after a successful 2008, even. So with an injury plagued and ineffective 2009 now in the books, where will Lohse stand?

Lohse tumbled almost 11 points to a 66.8% rating this year. Three people didn't vote, his high-water mark was 85, and there was at least one zero in the mix.

Cards take on the Braves today with Rich Hill making another important start in his bid for the fifth starter slot. Should be a fun game to listen to, if you can!

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Garcia Makes A Statement

Posted on March 17, 2010 at 10:18 AM

Even though the Cardinals lost to the Nationals yesterday, they were able to take something away from it. Jaime Garcia isn't interested in Memphis.

Garcia struck out seven batters in three innings, allowing no runs and just one hit and a walk. Of course, you adjust that for competition, since the Nationals aren't known for a dominating offense and some of those that Garcia faced won't be in the big leagues to start the season, if ever, but seven out of nine is a pretty good ratio in any league.

On Twitter, Matthew Leach, Andrew from Pitchers Hit Eighth, and I discussed Garcia's role with the team. Leach said that his preference was to have Garcia go down to Memphis, be the staff ace, and be ready in case anyone faltered or was injured. Andrew was ready for him to take the fifth slot, something that I championed in the offseason.

I think I'd still like to see Garcia in the last slot in the rotation, but I can understand the concern that he won't be able to give enough innings that way. I'm really expecting to see him go north with the team, but as the long man in the bullpen. He won't get many innings behind Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, but the rest of the rotation could use a solid long reliever behind them, I think. I know Tony La Russa has mentioned possibly using him as they did Wainwright, letting him be the bullpen guy before transitioning into a starter role. And, hey, that's the way the Cardinals do it, right? Always taking from the pen to fill the rotation?

Apparently Washington figured out something. After 11 walks on Sunday, they didn't issue a single pass in yesterday's game.

Bill DeWitt is happy with the team and feels that it is deep enough to be successful. He's got a point, since Memphis did win the PCL last year. Of course, any injury to Albert Pujols would be a major blow, but there's no way to get enough depth to offset something like that. There seems to be enough in the middle infield, especially since Brendan Ryan really does look like he'll be back for Opening Day, and the back end of the rotation and the bullpen should have some spare parts hanging around in Memphis.

What was most welcome to hear out of that article was the fact that the Cards are planning to spend quite a bit of money on the draft. I think they've really learned their lesson from the Rick Porcello/Pete Kozma decision and they've seen what spending on a top player can get for them in Shelby Miller, whose stay in his first Cardinal camp has been much more extended than expected. So root for some talented players to slip through on signability issues!

Let's take our next two in the Cardinal Approval Ratings, Matt Holliday and Cardinal broadcaster Al Hrbrosky. Obviously, Holliday wasn't asked about in the prior year, as he was sitting in Oakland (even thought St. Louis had pursued him). I was interested to see how fans would balance his production and his return against his big money contract and his holding out for the same.

The contract, etc. may have had an impact, but Holliday still comes in with an adequte 84.5%. For a guy that has yet to establish a huge connection with the best fans in baseball, that's not too shabby and it will probably go up next year. A couple of 100s for the guy, with a low of 50 out of the 67 voters.

Hrbrosky did get a rating last year, a low mark of 53.9%. That was actually the worst rating anyone got back in 2009. So, another year of Al in the booth, and how did people take to it? Not well, it would appear.

Hrbrosky dropped to a 46.2% level this year. It looks like there are a lot of people that mute the TV when they are watching FSN. Out of the 64 that registered an opinion, there were at least three zeros and only one 100.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. I have to say, I am so glad that the Cards are off today. I seriously hate those green jerseys and hats they break out for this day. If you want a more reasonable way to get in the mood, check out Fungoes today!

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Dealing With The "Rumor"

Posted on March 16, 2010 at 8:05 AM

I guess not surprisingly, the biggest thing coming out of Cardinals camp yesterday was a Seinfeldian discussion about nothing.

Look, no one took that "trade rumor" involving Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard the least bit seriously. No one thought that it might happen, that the teams really had talked about it, etc. I think most everyone realized that, at best, it was a trial balloon floated within the Philadelphia organization.

However, everyone had to comment about it, and especially Tony La Russa seemed to be a bit worked up about it.

I half expected everyone to just laugh it off and go about their business, but TLR really was disgusted and aggravated about the whole thing. Perhaps he's getting an inkling about how the contract situation with AP could be a distraction during the year. I don't think it will be--Albert's said he's not talking during the season and John Mozeliak said emphatically yesterday that he wouldn't be traded--but when you go through 162 games, things get brought up, rehashed, etc.

Of course, the easiest way for this whole thing to be resolved would be to have Albert instruct his agents to get something done before spring training is over. That's about the only way he's not going to have to at least listen to numerous contract questions throughout this year and possibly next. He's right, though, once the process gets going, it could only take a day or so to get it lined out. I'm not completely ruling out a new deal before the start of the season, though if the Cards haven't tendered an official proposal yet, then it's a lot less likely.

Albert's staying and there's no news on the contract. So what else happened yesterday?

Well, Brad Penny got hit hard and that's not a figure of speech. Besides the fact that he got plunked a couple of times--hopefully this won't affect him, like it did with Kyle Lohse last year--he didn't have his best outing. It was tolerable, of course, and the Cardinals were in line to win the game until a blown save in the bottom of the ninth, but hopefully he can improve on that in his next outing. He should have three more starts in the spring, so this would be the time to see him build toward the season.

A few more players were sent over to the minor league camp, but Shelby Miller has stayed with the big leaguers. The Cards must like what they see out of him right now. Since he pitched Sunday, he'd be roughly in line to go again Friday in relief, so we'll see if he sticks around to get another appearance in a spring training game. Being as Friday is a split-squad day, I'm sure that he will see some time in one of them, then be sent down. This has to be much more than he expected this spring, since he wasn't even invited to big league camp until after it opened.

It is starting to sound like Allen Craig just might shake his John Gall status and get a legitimate shot at the big league bench this year. The fact that he continues to hit at such a high level doesn't hurt him a bit. Could we see a bench of Jason LaRue, Julio Lugo, Allen Craig, Joe Mather and Tyler Greene? It'd be on the young side, but it'd be pretty intriguing and give Tony a lot to work with for his lineup manipulations.

Today's two members of the Cardinal Approval Ratings are Dave Duncan and Ryan Franklin. Last year, Duncan wound up with an 84.2% mark and then went out and had two Cy Young candidates and a pitching staff that, on the whole, was very successful. So this year, he moves on up to 87%. Looks like about four 100s and a low of 50 out of the 67 that cast an opinion.

Franklin wasn't on the list last year. Why should he have been? This time last year he looked like he'd be just another middle reliever. Instead, he stepped in and had a strong year as a closer, at least until the last month. Still, when the 66 votes were tallied, he managed a 69.7% mark as many people still don't trust him in that role (and I include myself in that category). No 100s for the man with the funky beard, so his ranged from a high of 90 to a low of 6.

Cardinals get Washington again today, this time without Stephen Strasburg. Hopefully they'll be able to have the same kind of success they had Sunday. If nothing else, they may get plenty of taking practice.

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Fun At The Old Ballpark

Posted on March 15, 2010 at 8:11 AM

The Cardinals seem to have righted the ship and are moving in a positive direction, winning both games of the weekend. Before we talk about that, though, let's discuss the topic making the rounds: Buster Olney's report of a Albert Pujols/Ryan Howard trade.

First off, the Olney report is probably accurate, because when you read it, all it says was that Philadelphia might have had some sort of internal conversation about this. I completely believe that. I figure a lot of teams talk about what they'd give for AP, especially now that he's in the latter part of his contract. I doubt that it ever made it to the level of formal offer, though.

If you want a great rejection of this deal (from a Phillies fan, no less), look over at Crashburn Alley. You can also check out Mike at Stan Musial's Stance. To go along with what they've said, let me make just a couple more points.

One, the Cardinals are willing to commit crazy amounts of money to Albert Pujols and Albert Pujols only. If, for some reason, Pujols was to walk, I don't think they'd spend 75% of that money on another player, which is probably what they'd have to do to keep Howard. John Mozeliak would be much more likely to go for a team-wide upgrade, if possible, than to try to sink so much into one player.

Secondly, if the Cardinals were going to trade AP (and this also ties somewhat into number one), they'd more likely try to get 2-3 young, under team control top prospects from someone than a straight-up swap of first basemen. The team would need the youth infusion and the way to manage payroll, since attendance would noticeably drop, I believe, with a Pujols trade.

The best thing about this rumor (and it's probably just the first in a long line) is that it gives both sides more momentum to get a deal done, if only to stop these crazy things.

Now to the on-the-field stuff. I was able to catch portions of the Cardinals' win over Houston on Saturday, thanks to it being on KSDK. It was hard to get a real good judge on things, since I was running in and out of the room and the wind looked like it was blowing quite strongly. However, it was good to see Pujols get a couple of hits, Rich Hill do OK (though I did find Rick Horton's comment about him not repeating his delivery interesting) and Ryan Ludwick go yard. Looking forward to watching a bit more this weekend.

Sunday was remarkable, of course, because of who was starting against St. Louis. Stephen Strasburg drew raves from Tony La Russa, so you have to figure he was pretty darn good. The Cards got a couple of singles off of him, but that was it. Thankfully, the rest of the Washington squad was, shall we say, a little more...erratic. I don't care what the conditions, 11 walks seems a bit excessive.

Shelby Miller got into the game as well, a little less hyped than the other first-round pick. Still, that's two scoreless innings for Miller, though he's had to work out of trouble both times. I can't imagine him starting at AA, but I wouldn't be surprised if his positive impression this spring would help him jump there with a good start at A ball.

The Cards have put together a little run and have started to look more like a real team again. (Of course, the record has to look better than the Nationals' 0-10.) They take on the Mets again today, so we'll see if they can keep the wins coming.

There was a really interesting article about Colby Rasmus in the Post-Dispatch. The physical aspects of last season were fairly well documented and his overcoming of that was one reason I expected a big season from him this year. However, to add in the family turmoil as well as the clubhouse that, for some reason, isn't quite welcoming for the rooks, and it's surprising he did as well as he did last year.

Even with the relative youth of some of that clubhouse, you have to figure it's dominated by La Russa and Pujols. And while I don't think they go out of their way to harass first-year players or anything of that nature, and I'm sure they are willing to help when asked, you know that kind of atmosphere has to be pretty intimidating. The expectations are high for anyone that wears Cardinal red, and if you aren't sure you can make them, it could cause some tension.

Rasmus makes a point to say that he thinks it has made him stronger and thankfully he and his dad are reconciled. He may not be completely comfortable in a veteran clubhouse yet, but he's getting there. Which is why, if you still haven't drafted yet, you just might want Colby Jack for your fantasy baseball team.

I promised I'd start releasing the Cardinal Approval Ratings today, so let's get the first couple out of the way.

Chris Carpenter wasn't on last year's ballot, but it's not surprising that Cardinal Nation is right fond of the guy. 67 ballots were turned in and everyone registered an opinion on the ace of the staff. Carp registered at 93.6%, a unsurprising but strong showing. A quick glance shows more than ten 100s and a low score of 75.

Bill DeWitt was on last year's ballot, because you always have to get a feel for what people think of ownership. Before the '09 season, DeWitt rated a 80.2% mark. So, after a season where he opened up to get Matt Holliday and others plus allowed John Mozeliak to sign Shelby Miller, where does he rank with the 64 people that expressed an opinion? 83.0%. A couple of 100s for him and a low of 60 when you toss out the strange (in my mind, at least) outlier of 25.

We'll do a couple more tomorrow, so come back for them!

Still Just Spring Training

Posted on March 6, 2010 at 9:37 AM

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!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | Florida Marlins | New York Mets | St. Louis Cardinals Leave a Comment

Cardinal Comings and Goings

Posted on March 24, 2009 at 8:23 AM

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!

Filed Under: Approval Ratings | St. Louis Cardinals | Washington Nationals Leave a Comment

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