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The World Series Reprise Continues

Before we get to the upcoming series with Detroit, lets pause for a moment and remember Sunday's game.  From all accounts, it was a doozy.  Piniero pitched great; Lester was slightly better.  Paplebon was proven human.  There were clutch hits (Kennedy in the ninth off the Sox closer), timely pitching (see McClellan in the 10th and Izzy in the eleventh), and off your seat drama (Duncan cut down at home).  I only wish I could have seen it.

Congrats to Nick Stavinoha, who got his first ML hit on Sunday in the sixth.

I'll award the Hero for this game to 2 folks:  Joel Piniero, who shook off my dire predictions of doom to throw 7+ innings and allow only 2 runs, and Aaron Miles, for his 5-hit effort.  Anytime your name is linked to Don Mattingly's (the last visiting player to have 5 hits in a game at Fenway) that's good.  Goat?  Mike Parisi.  Sorry, Mike.

Although the sting of losing that 2004 world series will always remain (granted, the sting will eventually fade to almost nothing as time passes), the Cardinals have won both regular season series from Boston since (in 2005 and this past weekend).  We haven't been so lucky with the Tigers, getting swept in Detroit last year.  Looper, Reyes, and Thompson were the victims during that May Series at Comerica.  Looper gets another crack at them today, facing Kenny Rogers.  The best pitching matchup of the series, however, is tomorrow, as Kyle Lohse meets rookie wunderkind Armando (don't call me Andres) Galarraga.  Wellemeyer's balky elbow will face hit or miss Nate Robertson in the finale Thursday.

The Cardinals, a team that has not shown much plate discipline lately, would be well served to be deliberate at the plate and run up the pitch counts early.  That would get the starter out and get us to their bullpen; other than Zumaya (who's just back off the DL), it is one of the worst in the AL.

One other item worth discussing today:  Mark Mulder's name has been bandied about for a possible start in Kansas City this weekend.  He was scratched from his rehab tune-up last night.  Despite two surgeries and countless hours rehabbing his shoulder, Mark's never gotten his arm back to the form he displayed as one of the Oakland A's anchors in the first part of this decade; whether it's a loss of velocity due to diminished strength in the arm following the surgeries, or his elusive arm slot issues, he isn't the same pitcher he was in 2004.  Also, as he progresses higher in the minors he's gotten slapped around pretty good by AA/AAA hitters.  I don't see how he's even an option at this point for a spot start with the big club.  Mark deserves all the credit in the world for his determination to get back on the field and resurrect his career.  I just don't think it's going to happen.

Frankly if Mulder's name appears as a better option for a spot start than Anthony Reyes from here on out (once Reyes returns from the DL), there's something seriously wrong with the thinking in the front office.

(PS - There was no Mitchell Boggs on the 1970s A's teams; the guy I was thinking of is Mitchell Page.)

Home Stretch

A while back, the United Cardinal Bloggers (some of who did the roundtable that you can find below) put out their predictions for the way the different standings around the league would pan out.  Daniel at Redbirds Fun told me at the time he typically waited until closer to the regular season, and you can now find his selections at his blog.

Not your traditional Opening Day, but the Red Sox and Athletics have kicked the season off in Japan.  Looks like Boston's in good shape to win this one in extra innings.  Our network friends at Who Made You Mirabelli? and Beantown West will likely be all over this, albeit from the Boston perspective.

Cards won another one yesterday, 8-4 over the Twins.  13 hits for the Redbirds, so most everyone had a good day.  Even Cesar Izturis drove in two with a single in his only AB.  You know it's a good day when something like that happens!  (He did get caught stealing, however.)  Colby Rasmus again made the trip and drew a walk.  Being that the Cards don't have another road trip, that may be his last appearance with the big squad in the spring.

Brad Thompson threw a pretty decent outing, two runs in five innings.  He even struck out four, which usually isn't a big part of his game.  The only pitcher with a rough day was Chris Perez, who allowed two runs in the ninth and was yanked before he could finish it.  That probably seals his demotion to Memphis, but he will see St. Louis sometime this summer, barring injury.

It really is the home stretch for the Cardinals.  They have home games today and tomorrow against the Nationals and Orioles, respectively.  Then, on Thursday, they are the "road team" for the last Fins and Feathers game against ST roommates Florida.  Friday and Saturday has them playing in Springfield, MO against their AA team before heading to St. Louis to start off the season on Monday.

Joel Pineiro pitched against AAA batters yesterday and did pretty well.   According to the article by Matthew Leach, if all goes well Pineiro could be back with the major league club by mid-April.  I don't know what the odds are of that happening.  I'm sure they go up dramatically if he doesn't report pain today.

There's an article up today about the pitching of Thompson and Todd Wellemeyer.  I don't know that they should bear the brunt of the outrage of Anthony Reyes not being in the rotation.  I still don't think Wellemeyer can keep up his numbers if he had to stay in the rotation for a whole year.  Thompson would probably have a better chance, but I do think of him as a reliever as well.  The biggest problem is that we've got these guys plus Braden Looper when our top prospect of a couple of years ago languishes.  It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Rick Ankiel is hitting .369 for the spring, coupling the average with power.  If anyone had said 8 years ago that Ankiel would be our cleanup hitter, it would have been a joke about a weak offense.  He's definitely developed into a reasonable alternative in that slot.  Of course, the jury is out on whether he can continue to be effective until the regular season gets started, but I think he'll be fine.

This offense really has me excited about the 2008 season.  There should be a lot less of "oh, we aren't going to score" this year.  Last year, if Pujols or Molina weren't coming up, a lot of times scoring opportunities were wasted.  There will be a lot more firepower in the lineup this year, it appears.

Mr. Goold is on the ball again today, bringing us the lineup.  Anthony Reyes is on the mound and hopefully will have another great start.

1. Skip Schumaker, RF
2. Brian Barton, LF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Troy Glaus, 3B
5. Rick Ankiel, CF
6. Jason LaRue, C
   
7. Aaron Miles, 2B
8. Anthony Reyes, RHP
9. Cesar Izturis, SS

The bullpen is stocked with LHP Ron Villone, LHP Randy Flores, RHP Ryan Franklin, RHP Jason Isringhausen, RHP Kelvin Jimenez, RHP  Hugo Castellanos.

Also on the Network: √ Yanks Beat A Lefty? [Depressed Fan] √ Yanks Start Second Half With "W" [Green Pinstripes] √ All-Star Breather: The Giants Catchers [El Lefty Malo] √ Rock Is Dead; Shea Stadium July 18, 2008 [Loge 13] √ Citi Field Revealed (FYI: No Loge Here) [Loge 13] √ My Rifle, My Pony and Me [Beantown West] √ Quick Chicago roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Giants Reveal New Stadium Ticket Plans [Loge 13]