Recently in Ryan Ludwick Category

Time For a Breather

So, like I said yesterday, a Cardinal win and a Cub loss and they go into the break 4 1/2 games out.

The Hero is pretty obvious.  Aaron Miles hits a three-run bomb and a two-run triple, even if he did have a boneheaded fielding play in the game as well, which cost the Cards early.  I thought the Cards would tee off on Snell, since they kept fouling off his pitches, but he survived longer and did better than I expected.  The rest of the Pirates staff, well, not as much.  Good to see Glaus go yard again and Molina to keep hitting.  I'm really impressed with Yadi's .300+ average.  He's become a force at the plate as well as behind it.

The Goat would go to Joel Pineiro.  There's really nothing about that pitching line that looks good.  10 hits, six runs, three walks in less than six innings?  Yuck.  The staff is going to have to have someone step up (or have Wainwright come back strong and early) or things may start to get out of hand.

I meant to watch the Futures Game yesterday but it slipped my mind.  There's a thread on the game at the Clubhouse and a wrapup in the DFR at the new and improved Future Redbirds.

It's a breather in Cardinal Nation today, as Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols will be sitting on the field tonight watching the big bombs going off.  The rest of the team is home resting up and probably already thinking about Jake Peavy.

It Came From The Backyard

In the old days, before the draft, Ryan Howard probably would have wound up in the Cardinal organization.  Local guy, good talent, the bird dog would have gotten the scout and he'd have signed a deal with the Redbirds.

Nowadays, of course, it doesn't work that way, but Howard apparently thinks it should have.  He holds some sort of grudge against the Cardinals, at least.  With two more home runs yesterday, he has 11 against his old hometown team.  With his low batting average and propensity for striking out, pitchers are tempted to pitch to him.  From now on, though, it may be wise to consider walking him.

As noted in the PD game story, July has been a terrible month for the Cardinals.  They are averaging 2.7 runs a game and sporting a 3-6 record that could have easily been worse.  (It's sad that the Cardinals have scored 25 runs in nine games when the Phillies earlier in the year just needed one game to get to 20 against the Redbird staff.)

The UCB roundtable is going on via e-mail and one of the questions is what is the biggest need, the bullpen or the offense.  I said the bullpen when I made my answers, but with these kind of numbers, I very well may have been wrong.  You have to figure that things will turn around somewhat--Glaus will get hot again, Ludwick will make some adjustments--so maybe that offense is there hidden.  But it may need a boost from an outside source.

Anyway, let's lay out the labels.  Hero would probably go to Albert Pujols, who was 2 for 4.  If anyone had been on in front of him, maybe he could have done some damage.  Which leads us to our Goat, Adam Kennedy.  0-4 in the leadoff spot is not what the team needed.

So the Cards fall into third, a half-game behind Milwaukee and 4.5 behind the Cubs.  It'll take a good series against the Pirates to get second back, I believe.

The series starts with Kyle Lohse going against Zach Duke.  Lohse has done pretty well against the Pirate hitters, which may be a very good thing if the offense doesn't start clicking.  Keeping the score down would be a very good thing.  Duke has quietly started to pitch pretty well.  The Cardinals hung a loss on him May 30, but after that he had a 3.13 ERA in June and continued to drop his ERA until his last outing against the Brewers.  St. Louis has had success against him, especially Pujols.

In other news, the Cardinals put Rasmus on the DL.  It doesn't seem to be a torn groin, but they are going to do an MRI on it.  That doesn't really sound good.  Hopefully it's something that a couple of weeks of rest will take care of, because I want Mozeliak to have that option of Rasmus coming up when he's talking trade for the rest of the month.  Putting Rasmus in the lineup could be the spark the offense needs.

Brian Burwell writes a good column on the end of Mark Mulder's career.   It really is a sad thing when someone can't do what they love anymore.

That's probably it for the weekend for me.  I'll be back on Monday to catch up.

Holiday Happenings

I really did mean to get to the computer this holiday weekend, but it didn't happen.  Let's take a look at the games in our own special way and then hit some of the other happenings.

Thursday
Hero: Yadier Molina.  Two hits, including a double.  There wasn't much to choose from in this game.
Goat: Mitchell Boggs.  Give up 10 runs, you probably are going to get the goat.

Friday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  #300 and the only run the Cardinals scored.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  Popping out with two on and one out and striking out (even if umpire-aided) to start the ninth.

Saturday:
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Home run and game winning hit.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  0-4 with 3 K.

Sunday:
Hero: Adam Kennedy.  Two hits are pretty nice for a guy that didn't even start.
Goat: Russ Springer.  Could have chosen any of the pitchers, but two runs in an inning pretty much put the game out of reach.

Some big shifts in the roster on Sunday.  Brian Barton goes on the DL with a hand injury.  How realistic this injury is remains debatable, since it allows the Cards to put the Rule V player on the DL and not lose him.  We'll see if he's back before September.  Joe Mather comes up to take his slot.  Cesar Izturis is back, as Boggs takes that beating and works on it in Memphis.

And, of course, the big news is that Mark Mulder is going to start.  Which is not all that bad of an idea, but the execution leaves a little something to be desired.  I mean, to start him against that offense in that park?  I know that there is a day off today and the All-Star Break is coming (congrats to AP and Ludwick for their nods) but it seems like the bullpen is going to get a lot of work this week.  Even in a best-case scenario, he can't go past five innings, can he?

And what to do with Wellemeyer?  It is starting to look like he's coming back to earth.

Gotta run, unfortunately.  Try to do better tomorrow.

Another Heartbreaker

For the second day in a row the bullpen couldn't protect a lead.  Albert Pujols capped a superior effort in his first game off the DL with an RBI single in the ninth to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead; but Ryan Franklin allowed a game-tying HR to Gary Sheffield in the home half of the inning, and Mike Parisi walked in the winning run in the tenth.  3-2 Tigers.

Lots of things to be frustrated about.  Can't hold a late lead.  2-11 with runners in scoring position.  Our #4 and #5 hitters, Glaus and Ludwick, went 0 for 6 and stranded 13 runners (I recognize that's a little misleading; some of those runners are double-counted).  Not to mention that they led the last 2 games in the eighth or later and lost them both.  So, instead of potentially being 5-1 on the road trip headed to KC, they're 3-3.  At least Chicago got blown off the field by Baltimore; the Cardinals remain 4.5 games out of first in the Central.

Heroes and Goats?  Pretty simple for this game.  Hero is Albert Pujols.  Welcome back, AP, we missed you.  4-4 with a walk; did he really sit for 2 weeks?  I couldn't tell based on how he hit the ball.   He missed a HR in his third at bat by about 15 feet, lining the ball off the wall in left.  Goats are Ron Villone and Mike Parisi, for each walking in a run.  Dishonorable mention goes to the Cardinal offense other than AP, for that 2 for 11 RISP stinker.

So on to KC.  Cardinals announced yesterday that Mitchell Boggs will start Saturday, not Mark Mulder.  This is a good thing, as I mentioned earlier in the week.  Your complete match-ups:  Piniero vs Gil Meche tonight.  Boggs vs Kyle Davies tomorrow.  Looper vs Brian Bannister Sunday, in a rematch of the 18 June game in St Louis; Braden outpitched Bannister, but the Royals won 3-2.  The good news is we miss the Royals best pitcher, in Zach Greinke; however Meche won 15 games last year, and Davies is unbeaten in 3 starts this, so the series won't be a picnic.  Not to mention the Royals are tied with Minnesota for the best interleague record in the Majors (12-3).  Should be fun.

Two closing notes:  Cardinals put Randy Flores on the 15-day DL when they activated AP.  Tendinitis in the right ankle was cited as the reason.  Finally, Dan should be back posting starting on Monday.  I may have one more post this weekend, but that will be it for me.  It's been fun; hopefully you've enjoyed reading what I've written, and will consider stopping by the old homestead in the future.

Cheers, God Bless, and Go Cardinals.

Not Quite "Lonborg and Champagne", but We'll Take It

This blog's title is a reference to the famous Boston Globe headline before Game 7 of the 1967 World Series.  Jim Lonborg had already beaten the Cardinals twice in that series, throwing 2 complete games, allowing a total of 4 hits and a run.  Of course, allowing his opponent, Bob Gibson, to see that headline before the game was probably the worst thing the Red Sox could have done; Gibby dominated, and the Cardinals tasted the bubbly.

I was reminded of that when Mickey Lolich trotted out to throw out the first pitch, especially considering the Cardinals had one only once at Comerica since 2000 (but what a once - Game 1 of the '06 World Series).

The result?  The boys won their third game of the road trip, 8-4 over them Tigers.  The game had chills (Cabrera's home run that wasn't), thrills (Schumaker's pinch hit 2-RBI single in the sixth) and head scratchers (how did Barton get caught off third in the first?).  But what matters is the Redbirds FINALLY picked up a game on the Cubs.  It's been 3 weeks (since June 7, specifically) since they gained ground on Chicago.  Let's hope they don't have to wait another 3 weeks to pick up another game.

Heroes and Goats:  it's tough today.  Since LaRussa pegged Brendan Ryan "the star of the game" I won't disagree with him.  Brendan had a nice multi-hit game, and his two-RBI double in the seventh iced the game.  Goat:  We'll go with Brian Barton (tough call) and Rick Ankiel (not so tough) for getting caught off/picked off, respectively, on the basepaths.

Other news/notes:  Albert Pujols' rehab is going well, and he may return as DH in this series.  Otherwise we'll see him in the KC series this weekend.  LaRussa thinks any infielder can play first, an interesting opinion I don't agree with (there's a lot of footwork required around the bag that most people don't think about), although you can't argue with the results (Kennedy played well last night).  Mark Mulder's next rehab step is uncertain. 

One final thing:  Get out and VOTE for our all-stars.  25 votes per email address and as many as you can fill out at the ballpark.  Ryan Ludwick, Albert, and Yadier should be all-stars this season; don't leave it up to Clint Hurdle to have them added to the roster.

Catching Up (Again)

Our office just went to doing 40 hours in four days, so as to have Friday off, which meant I've been away from the computer for most of the weekend.  Let's recap, then discuss:

Thursday (vs. Cincy)
Hero: Troy Glaus.  1-4, but drove in both runs with a homer.
Goat: Randy Flores.  Both he and Mark Worrell were credited with two runs in the box score, but Flores let them all score.  A bases-loaded walk and then a bases-clearing triple?  Ouch.

Friday
Hero: Skip Schumaker.  As much as anyone can be in a 20-2 game.  Three hits, including a home run.
Goat: Pick a pitcher.  I guess I'd have to go with Todd Wellemeyer, since his eight runs in three and 1/3 innings really put the game out of reach.  Ron Villone's six in an inning and two thirds was pretty ghastly as well, and Worrell, Russ Springer and Ryan Franklin didn't cover themselves with glory either.  When the best pitcher of the night is Aaron Miles, that's a bad night.

Saturday
Hero: Kyle Lohse.  To come out the afternoon after that shelling and to shut down the same offense is pretty impressive. Runner up to Ryan Ludwick for his acting job.
Goat: Rick Ankiel.  0-4 with two left on.

Sunday
Hero: Can we say Tom Gordon?  No, the rules say just Cardinal players.  So it comes down to Schumaker and Glaus again, both with two hits and a home run.  We'll go with Skip this time, since he left one fewer man on base and his home run came in a tighter game.  (Granted, Glaus's was just a couple of batters later, but you have to drawn the line somewhere.)
Goat: Randy Flores.  You come in with two on and two out. Then you walk two guys, forcing in a run?  Springer wasn't much better, walking in another one, but at least he got an out.

Wonderful thing about baseball.  The Cards scored less in the series than the Phillies did in the first game, yet they won two of three.  It really proved that momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher.  The Cards still couldn't gain any game on the Cubs, but it could have been much worse.  Sitting 3.5 out at this time of year is pretty much beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

And best wishes to Yadier Molina.  That was a nasty collision in the ninth inning.  All reports seem to indicate that it wasn't as severe as it appeared on the field (I thought it was great to hear "Yadi! Yadi! Yadi!" as he was being taken off) and it should "just" be a concussion.  Hopefully he'll rejoin the team quickly--with Pujols and Wainwright already being down,  you'd hate to see Molina be out as well.

Lot of activity this weekend, with Joe Mather and Mark Worrell going back to Memphis in exchange for Jason Isringhausen and Anthony Reyes.  Izzy's definitely saying all the right things, so hopefully he's got his mindset right and he'll be able to restore order to the ninth inning soon.  Reyes already got a win in his first game back and apparently will be used out of the pen as a long relief guy, though he could start for Wellemeyer Thursday if there are medical questions.  In other words, we may not see him again for a week.

Speaking of medical questions, Chris Carpenter is getting a second opinion after being shut down last week.  I don't think a lot of people are surprised.  Carpenter was being talked about as being back in the next couple of weeks, but that seemed like a stretch for the surgery he had.  Besides, it's the Cardinals and pitching.  Everyone has at least one setback that extends the return timetable.  It'd be nice to hear that it's not needing more surgery or that it isn't anything serious, but that may be too much to ask.

The rehab calvary might actually be close to arriving, though.  Mark Mulder had a very impressive outing in Springfield Saturday, getting up into the 90s on the gun and throwing five shutout innings.  Granted, he's been good before in the minors, but he never was throwing that hard.  Matt Clement was a little less impressive, but he had a decent outing.  We'll see if the innings continue to take a toll on him, however.  Personally, I'm a little more excited about Mulder now.  I don't know if it'll hold up, but as excited as people that should know are about this new arm slot and seeing the first results, it's very encouraging.

Day off today for the Redbirds (Yadi needs it, for sure) before the Royals series starts Tuesday.  I'll take a look at the pitching matchup, etc. then.

Good First Step

The Cards could have come out flat, wallowing in the one-two punch of their top players being taken from them for a time.  Instead, they decided the best way to work through the adversity was to make someone else pay for it.  A few more games like that and the loss of Wainwright and Pujols might not be quite as devastating.

Not much doubt that the Hero of the piece was Braden Looper.  A complete game shutout anywhere, especially for a converted reliever, would get you kudos, but to do it in the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark is even more impressive.  It's not like the wind was blowing in--the Cards did smash three home runs--but he "made it look easy" as my Reds fan father in law said when he called for his weekly chat.

A number of players could have challenged Looper for the title.  Ryan Ludwick hit another home run.  Jason LaRue--yes, that Jason LaRue--broke out of his power outage with a home run in a two-hit night.  Rick Ankiel went deep.  Even Chris Duncan contributed, getting a hit in four trips and making a sparkling defensive play at first.

As hard as it was to narrow down the Hero, it is equally tough to name a Goat.  It comes down to Aaron Miles and Troy Glaus, both of whom were 0-3.  Miles had two walks, but also a strikeout.  Glaus walked once and didn't K.  Both scored a run.  Miles left two on, while Glaus only left one, so he gets the tag.

The Cards have already won the series, but they go for the sweep tomorrow evening.  It could be a tough task, depending on what Joel Pineiro brings from the disabled list.  Pineiro hasn't thrown since May 20, when he allowed three runs in 5.2 innings to San Diego.  He faced the Reds earlier in the year, throwing seven scoreless innings.  Corey Patterson has had the most success against him in the past, so he'll probably get a start.

The Reds counter with Bronson Arroyo.  Arroyo has struggled some this year, posting a 5.74 ERA.  However, his ERA stood at 7.56 when he faced the Cardinals back in April and he was able to get a victory, allowing only three runs in six innings.  He's done a pretty good job against the Cardinals in the past, but Ludwick and Ankiel both have had success against him.

On paper, at least, the Cards should have the advantage.  It could turn into a high scoring affair, though, if Pineiro has some rust on the arm.

After the jump, a couple of housekeeping items:

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First the Ace, Then the King

The Cards won a game last night.  But they lost so much more.

This rag-tag group has been surprising people, sticking around in a race people said they had no business being in.  2.5 games made them better than preseason favorite Milwaukee and, if the Cubs weren't playing out of their mind at home, they could easily be on top of the NL Central.

That all got a lot more difficult last night when Number Five crashed to the ground, screaming in pain.  Knowing that he had to sit out a couple of days when he just tweaked it, it was immediately obvious this was going to be a DL trip.  How long, we don't know.  Dr. Paletta is seeing Pujols today, which of course brings trepidation to the hearts of many a Cardinal fan.  We know it'll be at least two weeks.  Hopefully it won't extend past that.

Chris Duncan has been recalled from Memphis, touching off a lot of the kind of angst only he can provide.  It's true he's not shown the Memphis trip was a success, hitting .160 in his time down there.  I'm not sure what he's shown to get the recall.  Maybe he's getting good swings down there, I don't know.  I would expect, however, that the fact he is on the 40-man roster played a large part in his selection.  Most of the other options, including Josh Phelps, would have to be added, which means someone would have to be taken off.  That's going to be a tough enough call once Colby Rasmus is ready to come up, something that is getting closer to being an option with his rebound from his slow start.  The only thing that troubles me about Duncan was the statement I read at CCH where Al Hrbrosky said Duncan would have come back up this week anyway.  I'd love to know the reasoning behind that.

If this is a short-term thing, the Cards should be able to weather the storm.  They are well ahead of the third place team in the division and have a three game lead in the wild-card standings over Florida.  Even without Pujols, they could probably tread water for the next couple of weeks if the pitching can stay strong.  They have two more with Cincy, a three game set with the Phillies, then series with KC, Boston, and Detroit.  Philly and Boston would be the toughest of the matchups.  At least Philadelphia would be at home.

If he's out until, say, the All-Star Break, things get a lot more uncertain.  The beginning of July sees the Cards host the Mets and Cubs, two series that they really need to be able to compete in.  There's only so long Ludwick and Ankiel can hold the offense together, especially since they'll be pitched to a lot differently now with the big thumper out of the lineup.

Losing Pujols and Wainwright on back to back days is a tough thing to deal with.  How the Cardinals respond will be interesting to watch.  Imagine taking Santana and Wright off the Mets or Ramirez and Beckett off the Red Sox.  Of course, those teams have a deeper supporting cast, but they'd still feel the impact.  What will happen when the supporting cast is a little less proven?

The only positives are that Joel Pineiro will be back, taking the hill on Thursday, and Todd Wellemeyer will be able to make his start against the Phillies.  Pitching will be even more important while Pujols is on the DL.

Speaking of, Braden Looper and Johnny Cueto tangle tonight.  Looper had a good start against the Reds in April, throwing six innings and allowing two runs.   He's got good career numbers against the Red hitters as well.  Cueto was bombed in the first series between these two teams, not making it out of the second.  He's struggled since then, the hype that surrounded him in the spring fairly dissipated by now.

Cards need to shake off having a different first baseman and continue this improbable run.  Of course, that's easier said than done.

Oh, and before I forget, let's give Ryan Ludwick the Hero title for his 4-5 outing, including a home run and four RBI.  I'd give Mitchell Boggs runner-up status, because that was a pretty solid first start, especially in that bandbox.  Goat would be Cesar Izturis, just because he was the only one with a hitless night.  It was a good game all around, save the injury to Pujols, which meant it was a terrible night.

Removing The Ace From the House of Cards

I was off the Net, as it were, yesterday, so I had to do a double take when I saw the thread title at CCH last night.

Wainwright to the DL?  Say it ain't so!

"Surgery is not looking like something that is going to be needed," Wainwright said. He added that the finger felt Monday as it did Saturday: "I can't bend it like I should be able to. It's like a bad jammed finger. The weird thing is there's no swelling. It needs time."

This does not inspire Cardinal fans with confidence.  How many times have we been told that a pitcher or player just "needs rest" and then, three months later, goes under season-ending surgery?  With the Cardinals recent track record with injuries, is there anyone that thinks this is just going to be a 15-day thing?

I recently jammed my finger playing softball, so I get some idea what he's talking about.  Not having swelling to go with it, though, seems concerning.  There's some talk about it being a ruptured tendon, which would mean the season would be over for the Wagonmaker.

So what does this mean for the Cardinal season?  Pitchers are dropping like flies, though it looks like Todd Wellemeyer isn't as bad off as we thought (again, if you believe what you read) and Joel Pineiro could be coming back soon.  Matt Clement's second minor league start wasn't as dazzling as the first, but he's still making progress and will pitch in Springfield again Friday.

Short-term, the Cardinals have to fill holes.  Mitchell Boggs will make his first major league start tonight and there is talk of moving Kyle McClellan into the starter role.  VEB lays out the problems with that and the only real solution out there.  Since Anthony Reyes is sporting a 3.14 ERA in Memphis, skewed by a bad outing two times ago (without that, it's a 2.38 mark) and is striking out a batter an inning, if he doesn't come up during this troubling time, I hope he's traded soon to an organization that will actually use him.

Long-term, catching up with the Cubs without Wainwright might be a tough task, especially if the little bears improve their pitching at the deadline.  I like what Bernie is saying about having the numbers to fill in for injured pitchers, but losing the one guy you could pretty much count on to give you a win is a chore to overcome.  The Cards have to do it, though.  They sit 2.5 back and right now may be the only serious challenger to the Cubs for the NL Central title.  For the good of mankind, they must keep Chicago out of the playoffs!

Cards and Reds square off today with a couple of young pitchers and fresh slates.  Obviously, Boggs hasn't faced the Reds before.  Homer Bailey, just recalled from AAA (the Reds' version of Anthony Reyes, basically) hasn't seen the Redbirds this year, but had a disastrous outing last year against St. Louis, allowing 7 runs in just 3.2 innings last July. Ryan Ludwick hit two home runs off of him, so he'll be ready to go for this evening.

Congrats to Ken Griffey Jr. on hitting #600.  I didn't realize that the Reds played last night until right before ESPN cut in to his AB.  I thought the Cards were going to get a chance to be on the end of both #500 and #600, which would have been neat.  The last game I saw in person was Griffey's #500th in Busch and it couldn't happen to a better player.

A Weekend In Houston

The Cards kept a couple of their trends alive this weekend.  They won a series after dropping the first game, something they've done five times this season.  And they had another game where early scoring was only scoring, though this time the cushion held up.  Let's do the traditional CATB wrap here.

Friday
Hero: Well, it's pretty much either Adam Kennedy or Skip Schumaker, since they are the only ones that got hits in the game.  I've given him the Goat before because he didn't produce in the leadoff slot, so it's only fair to give him the Hero nod when Skip gets two hits in that role.
Goat: Braden Looper.  He wasn't helped by his defense, true, but he really helped dig the big hole.

Saturday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  Not only was he 2-4 with what turned out to be a very big three-run home run, but he hit that home run after Pujols was intentionally walked.  He's going to have to continue to do that so Pujols can have pitches to hit.
Goat: Kyle McClellan. I know he was pressed into service with Adam Wainwright's finger injury, so maybe allowing the runner on second to score would be understandable.  But to allow two others and get the game into an area that allowed Houston to think they had a chance was not a good thing at all.

Sunday
Hero: Brendan Ryan.  Coming up with that game-winning hit was big, especially after Wandy Rodriguez had shut the Cards down until that inning. 
Goat: Albert Pujols.  This is more of a series-award than just particularly this game.  When was the last time Albert went hitless in a series?  (Apparently it was 7 years, at least in Houston.)

Cards get an off day today, then get another chance to be part of a Ken Griffey history celebration this week.

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]