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Recently in Minnesota Twins Category

Playing Pepper 2011: Minnesota Twins

Posted on March 10, 2011 at 12:31 PM
Two years ago, I started a series I called Playing Pepper, where I asked questions of bloggers of each major league team about the season to come.  Not only was that informative and entertaining, it led to the spawning of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  With spring training coming up, it's time to get back into shape by again playing a little pepper.

Minnesota Twins (94-68, 6 GA and first in the AL Central; lost in the ALDS)

Last year was a big year for the Twins.  They moved outside to a beautiful new open-air stadium and then christened it with a divisional title (that, for the first time in a couple of years, didn't take Game 163) and, while October was shorter than expected, there was still a lot of hope for the future.  It's a long way from the contraction talks and there is no shame in being a Twins fan in baseball today.

What about 2011?  Can they continue to be the class of the division?  Three Minnesota bloggers will let us know.

Around the horn, it's Andrew Kneeland of Twins Target, part of the Bloguin network.  Andrew's got an interesting look at social media and baseball coverage going on so check it out.  Also, you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.  

He'll toss to Wally Fish, who has done a number of different blogs but has now settled at Puckett's Pond on the FanSided network.  Wally's also the MLB Director for FanSided and can be found Tweeting and Facebooking.

Wrapping it up will be Cody Christie.  Like me, Cody doesn't live in the state of his favorite team, as noted by his blog North Dakota Twins Fan.  As with the others, you can also find him over on Twitter.

The guys talk about a main cog returning from Tommy John surgery after the jump, something that would probably perk up the ears of Cardinals fans.
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Freese-ing Them Out

Posted on March 8, 2011 at 11:45 AM
We've been waiting for David Freese to get into the ballgame.  Apparently, so has he.

On a day where everyone was hitting, perhaps the loudest noise of all for Cardinal fans was the sound of Freese's bat as he stroked two hits and collected three RBI, all without injuring himself.
He also handled his only chance in the field without incident as well, bolstering optimism that the third base conundrum will be less of an issue than we expected.  (Side note: you can see Derrick Goold discussing Freese in this video.)

Even with his strong start, though, the Cardinals aren't going to deviate from the plan.  Freese will sit today when they take on the Boston Red Sox and still alternate days playing and not playing.  Cardinal fans are breathing a little easier today, though, with him finally getting on the field.

Freese wasn't the only one that had a strong day yesterday.  When you win 10-4 over the Twins, I guess that's not too surprising.  Looking at the pitching first, Jake Westbrook went three scoreless innings before stumbling a bit in the fourth.  Still, 3 2/3 innings with just one run allowed is much better than the 50-pitch two inning outing he had in his first shot.  Every pitcher is key this year, of course, but having Westbrook eat innings will be very valuable to a pen that may get used a lot every fifth day.

Lance Lynn didn't have quite the same type of outing this time as he did in his first appearance.  He allowed two earned runs in his two innings, with two walks and a strikeout.  He wasn't helped at all by Colby Rasmus's error in center, dropping a fly ball that might have changed the complexion of the inning.  The Twins announcers were talking about him trying to get people to chase the off-speed stuff and it just wasn't working, as he'd get ahead of batters but not be able to put them away.  I'm sure there was a discussion between him and the pitching coach on that after the game.

Jon Jay, Allen Craig, and Matt Carpenter all wound up with two hits, with both of Jay's being doubles.  Carpenter and Jay also tallied two RBI.  I had no idea that Carpenter was five for eight this spring.  I realize that Dennis makes a strong point urging caution with the results from the spring, with good reason, but it is nice to see the kid having an impact.  If Freese does go down, it could be Carpenter getting the call, especially if Nick Punto isn't going to be available.  (Are you like me?  Have you quickly forgotten Punto is part of this team?)  He'll at least have some confidence that he can compete at the big league level and probably will start out in Memphis, being just a phone call away.

Most fans are more focused on the other Carpenter, however.  Chris Carpenter may have to miss Friday's start, as he felt a twinge in his hamstring going less than full bore during Sunday's session.  However, he went again today and reported no problems, so it may be that he gets back on the mound Friday.  We'll see how the evaluation Wednesday goes.  You know they aren't going to rush him, but he does need a couple of starts to help build up to going deep into games.

The other injury from last week, Mitchell Boggs,  threw at full speed yesterday and reported no problems.  Sounds like that back issue is...wait for it....behind him, though I worry that might be something that flares up during the season.  There will likely be suitable fill-ins at Memphis, though, if it does.

Time for today's approval ratings.  We start off with the closer of the Redbirds, Ryan Franklin.  Franklin has never been the strongest of statistical candidates and he has his detractors as well.  That said, he's gotten the job more times than not, which will bring some warm and fuzzy feelings to a fan base.  Last year, he polled at a 69.7% clip, with his late season 2009 collapse still fresh in people's minds.

After another year of pitching the ninth, this year Franklin moves up to 72.8%.  Some people thought that he "doesn't have what it takes anymore" while others rated him much more highly.  For the record, I gave him an 86, because he has been fairly reliable, plus I gave him bonus points for his Twitter presence.

Dave Duncan is our management person of the day.  While his good friend Tony La Russa could be considered the lightening rod for this organization, Duncan tends to miss out on a lot of stuff thrown Tony's way.  Last year, he was marked at 87%, making him one of the highest non-players surveyed.

Duncan makes it three years in a row with rising stock as he gets a 87.9% from this year's polled Cardinal fans.  Duncan was considered "as good as it gets" but one did note he always looked like he was at a funeral in the dugout.  To complete the record, he got a 94 from me.

Our media member for the day is the Cat, Jim Hayes, from Fox Sports MW.  Jim typically does pieces for the pregame show, as well as interviews of the players before the game.  He will also join the guys in the booth during the third inning to talk about different aspects.  Fair disclosure: I met Jim as part of the FSMW tour last year and, while I liked him before, that time spent probably helped push to his 95% rating from me.

Hayes seems to be a love-him-or-hate-him kind of figure, as he wound up with a respectable 76.1%, but there was a lot of deviation in the scores, as there were a few 100s and a few in the 50-60 range.  He was termed "a clown" by one while another one loved his inside jokes with the players and announcers.  I've had this discussion on Twitter before, so I know he doesn't suit everyone's taste, but I think he enlivens the broadcast notably.

Cards are on KMOX again today, taking on the Red Sox.  Jaime Garcia will be on the mound looking to continue where he left off last time out.

The Name of the Game Is Pitching

Posted on March 7, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Three different games, three interesting pitching lines.  Granted, one of them was interesting in the car-wreck sort of way, but it may have a lot of bearing on the 2011 Cardinals.

First up was Kyle Lohse on Friday.  Lohse has the potential to make or break this rotation, at least to some degree.  If he's strong, he's an overqualified fourth starter.  If he's off, a rotation missing Adam Wainwright gets a whole lot weaker.  Strength prevailed on Friday, as he only gave up one run in three innings of play.  More importantly, his command was strong. Thirty strikes to only 11 balls in his outing and he struck out Brett Wallace with a changeup to end his outing.  He seems to be getting his full array of pitches back and if he can regularly control them, he should be closer to the 2008 version of Lohse than the subsequent ones, though to be fair he started 2009 off strong as well until the injuries started coming into play. 

Some aren't going to believe it until they see it, though, and it's tough to argue with that mindset.  The team's been burned on Lohse a couple of times and they've overpaid him during that stretch.  A team that has to watch their expenses like the Cardinals really needs to get their money's worth out of Lohse this year.

Then it was Kyle McClellan's turn on Saturday.  I lauded Lance Lynn for coming out when the pressure was on and throwing a wonderful outing.  McClellan didn't rest on his projected laurels, though.  He also went three innings, allowing no runs and just a couple of hits.  McClellan seems to really want to start and is making sure no one takes that slot away from him.  If Lynn, McClellan and Brandon Dickson continue to pitch like this, it could be a very fun spring.

The Cardinals only managed one run off of Houston after scoring 10 on them the day before.  It took Colby Rasmus reaching on a Wallace error and coming around on singles by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday to win this one.  Also interesting to note that all the starters went at least eight innings in this game (save McClellan, of course).  Seems a bit early in spring for that to be happening--would think there were still enough player that the team needed to evaluate for Pujols to get his third or fourth at-bat.  Still over three weeks left in the spring.

Sunday's results weren't nearly as good for the Cards, as they fell 7-2.  The biggest reason why was that Jason Motte allowed five runs in his inning of work.  Dathan, who came out of the bullpen to relieve a sick Bill Ivie last night on Gateway To Baseball Heaven, and I speculated that Motte was just working on some of his offspeed pitches, trying to get something else consistently working.  That doesn't seem to be the case, as he was out there "just chucking."

That's really not what you want to hear about the guy that may take over the closing role at some point this year if Ryan Franklin struggles at all.  Motte's had enough times in the past where he's been lit up that he's got to know he can't just rely on smoking things past batters. I remember a quote I read a long time back, "These are major league hitters.  Eventually, they'd time bullets."

Like to think this kind of outing was a wake-up call for Motte.  If nothing else, he's gotten a value lesson on throwing rather than pitching.

The Cardinals only put up two against the Marlins a one run game the night before.  Very hard to get a feel for anything this early in the spring, of course, but you'd hate to think that the stop and start, feast and famine offensive threat was returning again this year.  That was one of the things Lance Berkman was supposed to help stop, keeping the lineup turning over.

Of course, he actually has to be in the ballgame.  He did play DH the last couple of days, which means he should have impacted the offense still, but he continues to be nursing different aches and pains.  Will these things work out as he gets back into actual playing shape?  I know he worked out a lot this offseason and got his weight down and everything, but there's a difference between working out and actually playing.  Hopefully he'll be back out in the outfield very soon.

If he's not, maybe Tyler Greene will be.  Greene started in center yesterday against Florida and that has to only add to his chances of making the team.  This is a day after he made a nice play in the hole at short against Houston.  If he's not the main utility guy come March 31, it'd be a huge shock.  Once he gets acclimated to the majors, he could be a pretty potent threat off the bench.

There was a public declaration early in the weekend that David Freese would start Sunday. It may not be surprising to you to know that he actually didn't, because Saturday he fouled a ball off his foot in batting practice.  This would be a warning sign that things were descending into parody, into the "you-can't-make-this-stuff-up" realm, but thankfully he's in the lineup for today's game against Minnesota.  Unless a bat slips out of someone's hands and conks him in the back after he drinks JoBu's rum.

Ryan Franklin turned 38 this weekend and, despite his earlier thoughts about retiring at the end of this year, he's not slowing down.  I don't think Franklin's a Cardinal next year--a successful season probably puts him out of the budget-conscious team's range, a less than successful one and they won't want him back--but he's been much more effective in the closer role than I ever thought.  I expected a big letdown last year and it really never game.  Plus, if you aren't following him on Twitter, you really should.  He's good about at least responding to just about any Tweet directed at him.

Chris Carpenter threw off a mound this weekend, missing his start on Sunday due to that hamstring injury.  He is still feeling it right now and couldn't go full bore in his bullpen session, but it apparently is getting better.  I don't know if he'll miss another start or not, but if so that might be more of an opportunity for the staff to see Lynn or Dickson.  

Interesting story about Allen Craig working on getting the inside pitch.  He worked with Mark McGwire this offseason and so far, the spring results are positive.  I think Craig is one of the more intriguing possibilities for this team this year, what with being able to move around some or be a pinch hitter with pop.  We'll see if he can keep this going through the spring and then into the season.

The first cuts of the spring were made, and Zack Cox and Shelby Miller were sent out.  This isn't a big surprise, being that neither of them were going to make the team, but I thought it was interesting in Miller's case because he stuck around so long in spring last year, getting 3-4 outings.  This year, he threw two scoreless innings, while Cox had a very good game in Berkman's stead last week.  We could see them again--it's not that far from major league camp if they need someone to fill in on a split-squad game or so--but a little bit of the luster leaves camp with them.

Before I get into today's Cardinal Approval Ratings, a quick link.  Chris Jaffe has written another interesting article with a Cardinal tie-in.  This time, it's about managerial milestones that are coming up in 2011.  Obviously, when those words are bandied about, Tony La Russa tends to make the list.

OK, approval ratings.  As those that voted (this year, 62 different entries, though not all voted for every person) know, this year they are broken up into three groups: Players, Management, and Media.  Every day between now and when I get them done (sometime next week), I'll reveal the voting on one of each of the groups.  I want to note that a couple of the voters used descriptions instead of numbers for their vote.  I have translated those into numeric values using my best judgement.

Today's player is Chris Carpenter.  Last year, Carp rated the third highest among polled players, coming in at 93.6%.  He then went out and had a slightly-less-than-standard Carpenter year, but stayed healthy for the whole season.

This year, Carpenter scores a 86.9% from all 62 voters.  I personally ranked him pretty high (94), but I would expect that there was a little recognition that he wasn't the Cy Young guy he was in the past.  At least one commenter was not impressed with his personality, saying that Carpenter "comes across arrogant, whiny, hot-headed and entitled."  One man's arrogant is another man's focused, so your mileage may vary.

The first management subject is the principal owner, Bill DeWitt Jr.  The man that signs the checks always stands out in the fanbase's mind, and yet five people did not rate him in the poll.  Last year, he received an 83% mark, but after a year where the team didn't make the playoffs and then were embroiled in Pujols negotiations that were unfulfilled, that marked slid to 71%, a three-year low.  (Fair disclosure: I put him down at 91.  You'll find I'm a fairly easy grader.)  Comments included that he's "consistently failed to field a competitive team" (which I strongly disagree with) and he "will score higher when he signs Pujols."

Our media member for the day is Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold.  Derrick's never been rated in these polls before, but he's regularly posting on his Bird Land blog as well as writing stories and interacting on Twitter.  I'm guessing media members are a little more interesting to us bloggers than some other fans, since there were only 47 ratings on him.  Those that did rate him, though, had a generally positive impression, as he tallied a 87.8% mark.  Interesting how people are perceived, though.  One commenter said that he "willing to tell Cards fans what they don't want to hear," while another indicated he was unwilling to step on any toes.  (BTW, my score for him: 90.)

A couple of Playing Peppers in the hopper for today, so be sure to check back on those!

Back Against It

Posted on March 9, 2010 at 7:55 AM
The biggest news from Cardinals camp yesterday didn't come out of the matchup between the Cards and the Red Sox, between Chris Carpenter and Josh Beckett.  The news of the day was made before the game even started and hopefully hasn't put the team's back to the wall.

Albert Pujols didn't make the trip yesterday as scheduled due to back stiffness, instead seeing a chiropractor for an adjustment.  Now, anytime Pujols has so much as a hangnail, Cardinal Nation starts grabbing the paper bags, having hyperventilation of the non-prospect kind.  For good reason, of course--as Pujols goes, so go the Cardinals.  Even with the solid club that John Mozeliak has put together for 2010, the foundation is AP and without him, it's a much tougher climb.

If the reports coming out of the team are true, this is more precautionary than anything, that if it was the regular season he might play through it.  We'll see more when he takes the field on Wednesday and hopefully this will be the last report of such things.  It'd be a shame for him to finally have that elbow feeling good to be then sidelined by his back.

The game had some interesting facets as well.  Carpenter wasn't sharp, it sounds like, but he was still fairly effective.  It's always good to see Carp go out there and be the pitcher we know he can be.  After so many injuries, last year seemed like a mirage--if you looked too close, it would vanish and those promises would be empty.  It didn't happen last year, though, and as he said yesterday, you don't really worry about every start being his last.  Well, at least too much.

Brendan Ryan is coming along quicker than expected, according to reports.  Which is not the way Cardinal injuries usually go, but it's a welcome change.  I'm still not 100% that Ryan won't start the year on the DL, but at least now it looks like the chances of that happening are starting to decrease.

It's a big day in prospect circles.  There will be a lot of focus on the Nationals game, where Stephen Strasburg is to make his spring training debut, but closer to home, Shelby Miller is likely to get into today's game against the Twins.  Odds are it'll be his last appearance with the big squad, getting sent to the minor league camp afterwards, but still it'll be intriguing to see him on the mound, giving the team a glimpse of the future.

Adam Wainwright should get the start today against Minnesota, so looking forward to seeing the Wagonmaker back in the saddle.  And i you've not voted in the Cardinal Approval Ratings, best get to it!

Playing Pepper 2010: Minnesota Twins

Posted on March 4, 2010 at 11:18 PM
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.

Minnesota Twins
2009 Finish: 87-76, first in AL Central, lost in ALDS

The Twins captured America's imagination at the end of the season last year, making an amazing run to wind up tied with the Tigers on the last day, then playing an epic Game 163 to advance.  Unfortunately, that was all they could manage, closing the Metrodome on a losing note.

A new season, a new stadium, and a new hope pervades the land of a thousand lakes.  To take us through the upcoming season, we've got Parker from Over The Baggy, Seth from Seth Speaks and Andrew from Twins Target.
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Postseason Playing Pepper: Minnesota Twins

Posted on October 7, 2009 at 11:08 PM
If you were reading this blog before this season started, you may remember a series I did called "Playing Pepper", where I asked five questions of a blogger covering each major league team.  With the season coming to a close, I thought I'd tap into the talents of the newly formed Baseball Bloggers Alliance and ask five new questions of the bloggers covering the postseason teams.

I'll admit it.  I started contacting bloggers about the time the Tigers had just finished splitting with the Twins, so I didn't even contact those diehard Minnesota guys. Silly me!  Seth of Seth Speaks, though, didn't hold it against me and filled me in on those AL Central champs.

C70: What is the Twins' strength going into October?

SS: The strengths of this team are in three of their left-handed bats. Denard Span is the definition of a leadoff hitter. Jason Kubel has taken his play to another level, hitting right around .300 with 27 home runs and over 100 RBI. And obviously Joe Mauer is the AL MVP. He led the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage this year. He is the perfect hitter, and a very good defensive catcher. The other thing that the Twins have going for them is that they have been playing playoff games for the last couple of weeks. They have already been playing must-win games. Oh, and Michael Cuddyer had an amazing September, and even Delmon Young has been a major contributor of late.

C70: What worries you about the team?

SS: The Twins haven't beaten the Yankees in like 13 years (slight exaggeration), but that isn't my biggest concern should the Twins make the playoffs. The fact is that their late season run (won 16 of final 20 games) was so amazing and so unlikely, I would be worried that they accomplished what they could and could take a deep breath. Also, because of their late season run, their pitching staff has really been used and will not be set up as they would want for the playoffs.

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Cardinals Still Searching

Posted on June 30, 2009 at 9:17 AM
After a weekend (and a Monday) where the Cardinals scored eight runs in four games, it's obvious that there are still some issues.  A quick rundown of the games, in the typical style:

Friday vs. Minnesota (3-1 loss)
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Two hits and drove in the only run.  You know it's probably been a rough day when Rick's almost all the offense you can muster.
Goat: Ryan Ludwick.  Zero for four and left three on.  To be fair, there were a number that contended for this.
Notes: Adam Wainwright pitched better than he has in some outings this year, but he still walked too many people and, unfortunately, the smallest glitch and the Cards are in trouble.  There have been too many games where the Cards are down after one and you don't feel like they can come back.

Saturday vs. Minnesota (5-3 win)
Hero: Albert Pujols.  The only thing keeping the Cards from being in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
Goat: Todd Wellemeyer.  When you get the hook after 2.1 innings when you know your job is on the line, it's not a good day.
Notes: Lost in the Pujols furor was the fact that Skip Schumaker was on both times Pujols went yard as part of his three for four day.  Lost in the Wellemeyer furor was the fact that Colby Rasmus went 0 for 5 and left 6 on.

Sunday vs. Minnesota (6-2 loss)
Hero: Jason LaRue.  Two hits and an RBI.  If he was just a little faster, he could have probably scored a run as well.
Goat: Joel Pineiro.  You hate to give it to a guy who basically made one mistake, but when the Cards have only come back from three down twice this season, being down 3-0 before they get an at-bat makes for a long afternoon.
Notes: Neither ends of the lineup were very good.  Skip as leadoff was 0-4 and Tyler Greene at the 9 hole was 0-3.  So that doesn't really help the lineup turn over when those guys aren't getting on.  Nice to see a solid inning out of Blake Hawksworth.

Monday vs. San Francisco (10-0 loss)
Hero: Albert Pujols, basically by default.  He got one of two hits and the only extra-base hit.
Goat: Chris Duncan, who had two of the eight strikeouts.  But it was Tim Lincecum--the whole team looked bad.
Notes: What can you say besides glad they didn't get no-hit?  I didn't get to see Clayton Mortensen's debut, but it sounds like there were some positives out of it.

Of course, the biggest news from the weekend was the trade for Mark DeRosa.  While it's obvious that it wasn't an immediate impact on the offense (he's 0-7 since slipping on the Birds on the Bat), it was a pretty nice move for John Mozeliak.  The team may regret losing Chris Perez in the future (though, perhaps, not as much as a couple of White Sox batters regret the Indians getting him) but it was a move that needed to be done and right-handed relief pitching is one of the strengths of the organization.  If Jason Motte ever develops a good secondary pitch, chances are he'll take over that closer of the future designation anyway.  I will say I am a bit concerned about the player to be named later, though.

Khalil Greene returned to the disabled list just a little over a week after he was activated from it.  Those that said that he wasn't ready, that the team was rushing him, definitely have more ammunition now.  After that Kansas City series, things looked pretty good, but apparently something triggered a relapse. I would hope that they will be a little more cautious in his return next time.  It's possible, though I expect unlikely, that we won't see him again this season.

So what is it about this offense?  Like I've noted above (and many other times), they've rallied from three runs down twice this season and none since April.  The Cards are 2-19 (.095) when they are behind at the start of the second inning.  Compare that to the other NL Central teams:

Milwaukee 9-12 (.429)
Chicago 7-13 (.350)
Cincinnati 4-20 (.167)
Houston 6-16 (.273)
Pittsburgh 6-16 (.273)

All the teams have roughly 20-25 games like this, where they've trailed going into the second.  Yet all the other teams, even Pittsburgh, are able to at least occasionally make a run and come back in the game.  The Cards have really struggled in this regard.

When the offense is clicking, the team is good.  If they score the serious number or more, they are 18-3.  But the Brewers are 21-3, the Cubs 24-3, the Reds 19-5 in those situations, again showing that they are able to put up the runs on a more consistent basis.

I don't know what the answer is.  I do think that perhaps the aggressive approach isn't quite cutting it.  I know Tim Lincecum is good, but to throw a complete game in 95 pitches?  The Cardinals have seen the fourth-fewest pitches in the National League.  Houston, Atlanta and the Giants are the only teams below them, and only the Giants are being very successful, which is because of their dominating pitching, not their offensive prowness (last night's result notwithstanding).

When you break it down into pitches per plate appearance, it gets even worse, as only the Giants have seen fewer than the 3.63 St. Louis has.  Obviously, that's not necessarily the be-all and end-all since Washington leads the pack, but the second and third teams are the Rockies and Dodgers, two teams that have had quite a bit of success this year.

I understand the theory about being aggressive and you may only get one pitch, but on the whole, the pitches that the Cardinals are facing aren't necessarily that good.  Just because you take one good pitch doesn't mean you won't be getting another one.  Last night, with Lincecum, OK, but people like Francisco Liriano, who has struggled so much this season?  Tim Redding, who held the Cards in check during the Mets series?

Some links and a preview of today's matchup of Cy Youngs after the jump.   
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Playing Pepper 2009: Minnesota Twins

Posted on February 19, 2009 at 11:30 AM
As the players start getting themselves ready for another season, I thought it'd be a good idea to do the same.  I contacted a blogger for each major league team and posted them five questions.  This is the result.  You can find the tentative schedule of teams here and today's main post is right here.

Save for that 1987 World Series (which Cardinal fans wonder how much this had to do with that Twins victory), the Minnesota squad has been one of baseball's best stories.  A team that was threatened with contraction in a very small market has consistently put together a strong product on the field.

The Seth of Seth Speaks took the time to answer some questions on players, management, and contention in 2009.

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Heroes
Lance Berkman (24)
Albert Pujols (19)
Matt Holliday (15)
Chris Carpenter (10)
Kyle Lohse (9)
Yadier Molina (9)
Ryan Theriot (8)
David Freese (7)
Jaime Garcia (7)
Jon Jay (7)
Jake Westbrook (6)
Allen Craig (5)
Kyle McClellan (5)
Colby Rasmus (5)
Edwin Jackson (4)
Skip Schumaker (4)
Daniel Descalso (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Gerald Laird (2)
Nick Punto (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Lance Lynn (1)

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

Goats
Ryan Theriot (12)
Albert Pujols (11)
Jake Westbrook (10)
David Freese (8)
Ryan Franklin (7)
Jaime Garcia (7)
Fernando Salas (7)
Kyle Lohse (6)
Kyle McClellan (6)
Colby Rasmus (6)
Skip Schumaker (6)
Miguel Batista (5)
Chris Carpenter (5)
Daniel Descalso (5)
Matt Holliday (5)
Jon Jay (5)
Jason Motte (5)
Allen Craig (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Tyler Greene (4)
Yadier Molina (4)
Lance Berkman (3)
Mitchell Boggs (3)
Gerald Laird (3)
Edwin Jackson (2)
Trever Miller (2)
Corey Patterson (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Maikel Cleto (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Octavio Dotel (1)
Mark Hamilton (1)
Lance Lynn (1)
Nick Punto (1)
Arthur Rhodes (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Raul Valdes (1)
PJ Walters (1)

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

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2011)
    Adam Wainwright 94.7% (down 0.9%)
    Matt Holliday 91.1% (up 6.6%)
    Albert Pujols 90.4% (down 8.3%)
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Derrick Goold 87.8%
    Chris Carpenter 86.9% (down 6.7%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Mike Shannon 84.9% (down 4.6%)
    John Rooney 84.3% (up 8.1%)
    Yadier Molina 83.7% (down 8.3%)
    Colby Rasmus 81.8% (up 5.0%)
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Jim Hayes 76.1%
    John Mozeliak 74.1% (down 12.0%)
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    Bill Dewitt 71.0% (down 12.0%)
    Tony La Russa 70.8% (down 10.2%)
    BJ Rains 70.4%
    Ricky Horton 69.1%
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Skip Schumaker 64.1% (down 17.0%)
    Al Hrabosky 63.2% (up 19.0%)
    Mark McGwire 62.5% (down 10.7%)
    Dan Lozano 58.7%
    Joe Strauss 57.5%
    Kyle Lohse 55.1% (down 11.7%)

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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