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Subtle Shifts

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.

Splitting The Weekend

Two games, one win.

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!

Playing Pepper 2010: Florida Marlins

Last year before the season began, I posed five questions to a blogger for each team, so as to get to know the rest of baseball.  I focus so heavily on the Cardinals that sometimes the rest of MLB can pass me by.  That went very well, so much so that it spawned not only a postseason edition but was part of the impetus for the formation of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

So this year, I've brought Playing Pepper back, with a little bit of a twist.  Instead of five questions, I posed 10 questions, and this year every team got the same set.  Plus, tapping into those BBA connections, I sent them to every blogger representing that team in the BBA.

We'll try to do two a day in a general alphabetical order, but things may change depending on responses.

Florida Marlins
2009 Finish: 87-75, second in the NL East

It used to be that if the Marlins had a plus .500 season, they won the World Series.  Their first two titles came in their first two winning seasons.  The team has grown up a little, I guess you'd say, and now can have a successful season without holding a trophy.  Hmmm, when you think about it, is that a positive step?

David from Marlins Die-Hards was nice enough to give us a look at the Florida team through the Playing Pepper Ten.
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Stumbling Down The Stretch

Like I said last night, who would have thought going into this home stand that the only game the Cardinals would win would be the game started by Todd Wellemeyer?

The Cardinals again struggled to put anything resembling a consistent offense on the field yesterday, piling up hits but never with a runner in scoring position.  The Marlins continued to give the Redbirds chances.  They just wouldn't take them.

Still, with a game that had them down 3-0 before they even batted due to a barrage of singles, to be able to put the tying run on first in the ninth with one out says something about the resiliency of the team.  There are times in the past where that would have been a game where they packed it in and just took the loss.  Not anymore.

You do have a little bit of concern about the effectiveness of Joel Pineiro.  After a long string of low-run outings, he's now posted a 4.62 ERA in September.  Whether that's some of the law of averages coming into play, where some of those grounders are getting through instead of being caught, I don't know.  He's not walking any more batters (5 in 25.1 innings), so command doesn't seem to be the problem, unless the sinker is staying in the strike zone more.

Tough to know where to go with the Hero and the Goat, because there are some decent choices for both tags.  On the upside, Skip Schumaker got two hits in the leadoff slot and Albert Pujols got two hits plus drove in a run with that HBP in the ninth.  I think I'll go with Yadier Molina, though, for his two hits and breaking the scoring seal.

On the down side, you have Pineiro, who did allow four runs and ten hits in five and a third, but settled in after a rough first.  You have Rick Ankiel, who went zero for three with two strikeouts in front of Pujols.  The worst, though, probably has to be Matt Holliday, who did get one hit, but left seven on base and rapped into the game-ending double play.  Been a rough homestand for Holliday, but hopefully he and the rest of the team can gear up for the Cubs this weekend.

Thankfully, Milwaukee did the Cards a favor and the magic number now stands at 9 even with the loss.  I really hope that the Brew Crew can win this afternoon in Wrigley to get it down to 8.  Besides the obvious, if they don't, then we'll likely skip right over 6 in the magic number countdown.  And this year, of all years, skipping six would just seem so wrong.  Seriously wrong.

Tomorrow it's UCB Project Day!  Been a while since we have had one of these, since we skipped August and July was the live blog.  Tomorrow, the participating blogs will put out their rankings of the Top 7 Prospects in the Cardinal system.  Which may be an appropriate day, as Memphis could close out the PCL Championship tomorrow evening after their win last night.  So be sure to check them all out!

A Game Of Inches

Bases loaded.  One out.  Albert Pujols at the plate.  Everything you'd want, as a Cardinals fan, in a scoreless game.

Two out.  Runner on first.  Adam Wainwright on the mound.  As a Cardinal fan, you feel pretty good about getting out of the inning.

Yet neither of those situations panned out the way that Cardinal Nation was hoping.  Pujols did get a sac fly out of the deal, driving in the only run of the night, but if he hits the ball a little better (the game story quotes him as saying that was one of his worst at-bats of the year) that could have been his record-setting grand slam.

Wainwright had been brilliant all game long, looking to push to the forefront of the Cy Young race after Chris Carpenter's slipup on Sunday and Tim Lincecum's down time with injury.  Instead, the curve ball to Dan Uggla, while still a good one in my opinion, didn't drop enough and the ball carried over the wall.

So instead of a tight 1-0 win with the magic number slipping into single digits, the Cardinals instead gave a game back to the Cubs.  It's not quite to 2006 proportions yet, but after going a month-plus without allowing any ground to Chicago, the Cards have now lost three games in a little over a week.  Another loss this afternoon coupled with a Cubs win and this weekend becomes a little more interesting for the baby bears.

Last night's Goat had to be Matt Holliday, who had probably his worst game as a Cardinal.  He went 0-4, struck out twice and left five runners on, including the two left after Pujols's sac fly.  A solid hit there might have changed the game outcome as well.

I missed the last couple of innings, but it sounds like Mitchell Boggs made an impact coming out of the pen last night.  I still wonder if they won't make Boggs the fourth starter in the playoffs if Kyle Lohse can't go and they want John Smoltz as a reliever.

Because I missed logging the opener of the series, let me quickly hit that game.  Hero would be Colby Rasmus, with his three hits including the big home run that put the game out of reach.  Goat would be Todd Wellemeyer, who likely won't be seen in October after an outing like that.  And as a note, Pujols had an interesting night.  Two for two, which is normal, but the other at-bats were a collection of how to have a plate appearance without getting an at-bat: walk, sac fly, hit by pitch.

Another afternoon game before a day off, giving the Cardinals a lot of rest (and sends fans scrambling for things to do).  Joel Pineiro goes for St. Louis.  The Marlins have done well against him in the past, so we'll see if the general 2009 rule of ignoring past results for Pineiro works this time as well.  He didn't face Florida earlier in the season.

The Marlins throw out their ace, Josh Johnson.  Johnson's having a very good year and has already faced the Cardinals once, allowing three runs in seven innings and getting a no-decision.  He's had tolerable success in the past against St. Louis (for example, Pujols only has one hit off of him, but it was a home run) and could befuddle this offense once again.

Lots of general housekeeping stuff.  First off, Fox Sports Midwest is running their live blog during today's game, with the best comments or questions making the TV broadcast.  Also, it appears that Joe Strauss will be doing his weekly chat during the game, which would be a first, I'd think.

Tonight, it's the weekly UCB Radio Hour.  This week it'll be yours truly along with Mike from Stan Musial's Stance.  If the technology works the way we think it will, we'll have some of Mike's interview with Viva El Birdos founder Larry Borowsky, talking about a possible playoff matchup with the Rockies.

Unlike prior years, when we at CardsClubhouse would e-mail reporters, dig up news and piece together the Cardinals' upcoming schedule, this year MLB released all the 2010 schedules at the same time.  Nice to see the Cardinals getting to go to the traditional opener in Cincinnati, but I've often said that I think the "crown jewels" of baseball, teams like the Yanks, Reds, Red Sox, Cardinals, maybe a couple of others, should always open the season at home.  Just seems right somehow.

Tom Verducci has named his all-decade team and Player of the Decade.  I don't think you'll be shocked to see his results.

Enjoy afternoon baseball and maybe when we gather again, the magic number will be that much closer to zero!

Wrapping Up The Road Trip

OK, where were we?  Ah, yes, catchup time.  Let's just hit the highlights, since you all know what's happened.

Thursday at Florida (6-5 win)
Hero: Ryan Franklin.  Rick Ankiel was close with three hits and three runs, but having Franklin go almost two innings and lock down a come-from-behind game was huge.

Goat: Todd Wellemeyer.  Two home runs to Ross Gload?  Really?  Close second was Brendan Ryan, with his 0-5 in the leadoff slot.

Notes: I'm glad to know that Colby Rasmus actually had a physical reason for not starting this game, but I'm also glad that it wasn't enough to keep him out of the game entirely.  Nice bit of pinch-hitting for the rookie.

Friday at Cleveland (7-3 loss)
Hero: Albert Pujols.  Two hits, including a home run.

Goat: Dennys Reyes.  It's hard to pick a bullpenner to take the tag, but Reyes had a hit, a walk, and a run in zero innings pitched.  Jason Motte and Kyle McClellan did their best to put the game out of reach as well.

Notes: Mark DeRosa really wanted to showcase himself in this series, it seems like, and it started early....you know the game is changing when you have two steals, from Pujols and Ryan Ludwick.

Saturday at Cleveland (3-1 win)
Hero: Albert Pujols.  Two homers will do that.  Brad Thompson had a strong outing as well, which always is good (and, in my mind, surprising) to see.

Goat: Rick Ankiel.  Not the day to go 0-4 in front of Pujols.

Notes: What's up with Yadier Molina?  His fourth steal of the year.

Sunday at Cleveland (3-0 loss)
Hero: Yadier Molina.  Kept the Cards from being no-hit.

Goat: Nick Stavinoha.  Lots of people went zero for Sunday, but Nick left four on base while he was doing it.  Ankiel didn't do much either, striking out three times.

Notes: What can you really say about an almost no-hitter?

So now what?  The Cardinals sit a game out of first place and could have been tied for the top slot had the Cleveland bullpen been able to, I don't know, get someone out last night against Milwaukee.  That said, there are few in Cardinal Nation that feel extremely strongly that this is a playoff team.

I mean, DeRosa would be nice, but would that really be the missing piece of the puzzle, when Brad Thompson and Todd Wellemeyer are in the rotation?  I hate to lump Wellemeyer in that group, but it's starting to look like he's not going to revert to the 2008 form for any long stretch of time, for whatever reason.

We've seen a little more offense in the last few days, but does anyone think that April's returning?  Pujols is Pujols, of course, and Rasmus has looked pretty good.  You still have the fact that Ludwick's BABIP is so low, which means he should be primed for a bounce, and Ankiel has looked a little better recently.  Still, even if those four get going white-hot, you have to have people getting on for them.

Skip Schumaker isn't helping out as much as I was thinking in the leadoff slot.  Brendan Ryan has shown some life, but you can't completely count on him yet.  We know that third base has been such a void that the front office is moving Khalil Greene over there (more on that in a bit).  Molina's settled into the .260 range instead of the .300 range.  Where do you start fixing?

Not that this season is over by any stretch, don't get me wrong.  With a healthy Chris Carpenter and an effective Adam Wainwright, the Cards shouldn't go too long between wins.  The problem is going to be figuring out just what can get them into position and if the front office has enough bullets to make it all happen.

Khalil Greene to third, huh?  I wouldn't have thought it, though I see where he was a third baseman in college, so it's not a complete shock.  And with the Cardinal propensity to move anything that's not nailed down (i.e. Pujols), you had to guess something like this would happen.  It does seem strange to give a guy with anxiety issues something new to do in front of a huge fanbase, but maybe if he's having to think more about what he's doing he'll be less worried about how he's doing it.  I also think this should be an effort to keep the Cards from appearing desparate in trade talks.  Whether either will work, I don't know.

Of course, with an off-day yesterday, it gives time for a topic to be fleshed out.  This time, as it will be often in the next couple of years, it's Pujols.  Bernie Mikalsz says sign him already, Brian Burwell says, hey, maybe he doesn't want to sign right now, ever think of that?

What there needs to be is honest dialogue between Pujols and his representatives and the front office.  Even if they aren't talking specific terms, they need to be letting him know this is what they are trying to do, this is why they think it'll work.  Pujols has been adamant about wanting to win, but he wants to do it in St. Louis if at all possible.  I think if the front office keeps him in the loop, as it were, it'll bode well for them when it's time to talk numbers.

Today, 1:30 Central, Blog Talk Radio, Ozzie Smith and I talk a little bit.  I plan to ask him about Khalil's move as well as if he's glad he played before bloggers!

Cardinal Bats Make Up For Lost Time

Not much time this morning, but when the Cardinals score 13, you've got to take notice.  So here we go now!

A Cruel Tease

After two and a half innings last night, all looked right with the world.

Runners were reaching base.  Colby Rasmus had actually gotten a hit in the cleanup slot (and I was pretty close with that lineup yesterday, wasn't I?).  Chris Duncan had driven in a run.  Rick Ankiel had driven a ball off the wall, plating two runners though he was thrown out looking for a triple.

Three run lead.  Chris Carpenter on the mound.  Things were looking up.  The losing streak was over and the offense was on its way.  Right?

Not so much.  Carpenter wasn't quite Carpenter, as he gave back two of those runs immediately, then the third a couple of innings later.  The offense continued to struggle, though they did get nine hits in the game.  However, no more runs were forthcoming, leading up to the Goat Play of the Game, Jason Motte's gopherball pitch to Jeremy Hermida.

Still, even with the loss, it was good to see some offense for once.  I mean, the Cards don't put together three run innings that often.  As noted in the Post-Dispatch story, it was only the 4th time in 228 innings they'd been able to do that.  If you pull up the Baseball Reference link, you can see that only 4.8% of the time do they score three or more runs in an inning and just over 70% of the time, they don't score at all.  (Which, actually, isn't out of line with their opponents, who score three 5.3% of the time and don't score 73.8%.)

Of course, the other big news of yesterday was the first-year player draft.  The Cardinals surprised some people by going with Shelby Miller, a high-ceiling high school pitcher from Texas.  He may cost the Cards quite a bit of money, leading Jeff Luhnow to state that it's no slam dunk that it'll get done, though Miller himself seems very excited and ready to go (and, honestly, probably driving his agents crazy knocking down some of their leverage!)

The Cardinals took a catcher and a pitcher, or possibly two pitchers depending on how things go, with their next two picks.  You can get the definitive recap over at Future Redbirds and I understand they'll be liveblogging the draft today, so be sure to check that out.

In news that slipped under the radar a bit, Kyle Lohse apparently will be out longer than some of us anticipated, meaning that Brad Thompson is going to get a lot more starts. The thought is that Thompson will be able to start stretching out and be more effective with regular time.  My fear is that part of what has worked for him so far has been the lack of exposure, something that will catch up with him the more he pitches.  We'll find out soon, I guess.

Tonight, the Cards again try to stop the losing streak with Adam Wainwright on the hill.  If he doesn't do it, it could be a long week.  Wainwright has good numbers against the current Marlins squad and nobody has yet taken him deep.  Chris Volstad goes for the Marlins and has only seen the Cards once, but they are four for ten against him.

Don't forget that tonight, 9:30 Central (so after the game, most likely) is the UCB Radio Hour.  Call in with your comments or questions at 646-929-1758!

Rock Bottom

So possibly the worst four game series in the history of the Cardinals came to a close yesterday not with a bang, because that seems impossible for the team right now, but with the expected whimper.  Without Brendan Ryan, it likely would have been another shutout against a team that, even on a five game winning streak, still sits last in the NL West.

The listlessness of the game actually makes it hard to find a Goat.  Brad Thompson was serviceable as the starter, even if Tony La Russa didn't let him linger around long.  Chris Perez allowed a run in his inning after the Cards had cut the lead to two, but it really was just window dressing.  As I've often pointed out, the Cards have rallied from three or more runs down only twice this year, so once it got to 4-1, you had to feel like it was about over, even with the extra run scored by the Birds.  Maybe that's why we should go with Jason Motte, who gave the Rockies their three run bulge.

Being a day game, I was actually able to follow the game on Fox Sports Midwest's live blog, via Twitter discussions, and on the CardsClubhouse game thread as well as listening to John Rooney and Mike Shannon on XM Radio.  Reading the comments and discussions, you can tell that Cardinal Nation is very frustrated.  The expectations for Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel are about as low as possible.  People are worried about the pitching staff.  All in all, the natives are restless.

It may be one of the reasons that Bill DeWitt came out and said, yes, we can take on payroll if the situation is right.  While the cynics in Cardinal Nation will say something along the lines of talk is cheap, I think it's an encouraging thing.  Usually the talk is about containing payroll, being able to stretch just a bit.  I think that with attendance being so above what they had projected, there's a good chance a significant amount could be added.  Whether it will or not is a totally different topic, but I think that if a trade isn't made, it's because the two teams couldn't match up, not because the Cards wouldn't take on the contract.

I do hope that John Mozeliak is working the phones pretty hard, though.  The only reason the Cards are still in contention is the fact that the pitching staff had that amazing run in the latter part of May.  Lose a couple of those games, which could have easily happened given the lack of offense, and the Cards are closer to five games out now.  Resting on the "we're 2.5 games out" laurel isn't going to hack it much longer, because it doesn't take long for 2.5 to get to 6 to get to 10.

I think, more than anything, the team needs a mental boost, the knowledge that the club is working for them as well as them working for the club.  I know that a lot of teams are still counting themselves in contention and therefore aren't necessarily willing to part with much, but even a small deal now that leaves you bullets for one closer to the end of July might work from the reinforcement end of things.

Speaking of reinforcement, Khalil Greene is on his way to Memphis to start his rehab assignment.  I honestly didn't expect to see him back in the news so early and wonder if he's really ready for this.  He's saying the right things, the club's saying the right things, and maybe a few days away from the game, with counseling and potentially medication, really did get him on the road to recovery.  You have to hope so, if only for his sake.  Plus if he can get back to an average season for him, that'll help the offense right there.

Tonight, the big club takes the field in Florida while the front office looks to the future.  Chris Carpenter takes to the mound hoping to stop the losing that has gone on since his last outing.  The Marlins basically haven't seen Carpenter before, so they could be in for a long night.  (If, for some reason, Carpenter gets touched up, the wailing and gnashing of teeth in Cardinal Nation goes up 50% tonight.)  Josh Johnson has a touch more experience with the Cards, who have hit him in the limited exposure.  Albert Pujols even has a home run off of him, something that'd be great to see tonight as well.

My guess for the lineup tonight:

Schumaker 4
Ankiel 9
Pujols 3
Rasmus 8
Ludwick 7
Molina 2
Greene 5
Carpenter 1
Ryan 6

I was suggesting Colby Rasmus in that cleanup slot yesterday, and TLR has indicated that, while initially opposed to it, he's coming around to thinking it couldn't be any worse.  Expect to see Colby in that slot tonight.

The front office will be drafting tonight, with no real indications on who they will take.  I know little about the draft--though I hear that Strasburg kid is pretty good, wonder where he'll go--so check out Derrick Goold's wrapup on some possible picks and, of course, keep it tuned to Future Redbirds as they follow and discuss this evening.  I understand you can follow it on Twitter as well, which is pretty neat.  I'd check out some of the MLB Network coverage if I had the station, but you've heard that rant before.

You'd like to think that if the Cards could bust out in a game, maybe they'd get something going.  It'd just be nice to see some crooked numbers for once, though.

Also on the Network: √ Subtle Shifts [C70 At The Bat] √ March Madness 2K10 Open Thread [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ No Love for Aubrey Huff's Glove [El Lefty Malo] √ A Bit Of Shea In WWE's Hall Of Fame [Loge 13] √ Off Day Miscellany [C70 At The Bat] √ Playing Pepper 2010: San Diego Padres [C70 At The Bat] √ Joe Alexander Joins Club Trillion [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Camp Cuts, Quickly [El Lefty Malo]