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Dark Horse Comes Galloping Up The Stretch

Posted on March 22, 2010 at 7:56 AM
Filed Under: Approval Ratings | St. Louis Cardinals
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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Heroes
Matt Carpenter (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Rafael Furcal (3)
Matt Holliday (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
David Freese (2)
Yadier Molina (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Allen Craig (1)
Jaime Garcia (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Matt Holliday (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
David Freese (2)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Jason Motte (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 6
Happy Flight Opportunities: 9
Happy Flight %: 67%

Through 5/9

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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