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Bullpen Troubles Strike Kiddie Corps

Posted on April 28, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Filed Under: Heroes and Goats | Houston Astros | St. Louis Cardinals
Well, then, that was fun, wasn't it?

Being that this has a reputation for a positive part of the internet, let's take a look at what went right first.  First off, the Hero tag will go to Kyle Lohse, as he continues his remarkable run of pitching.  Coming off of his complete game shutout of Washington, he throws another seven scoreless in just under 100 pitches, coming out in part due to a head cold (that apparently is making its way around the clubhouse--better that than Tony La Russa's conjunctivitis/shingles, though!).  Lohse continues to provide outstanding results and really has eased some of the questions we had around this rotation.  It is a long season and we are only a month into it, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why he can't keep contributing throughout the year.

There were a lot of offensive highlights last night, with Yadier Molina being the only player that didn't get a hit.  Two hit nights were common as well, and Matt Holliday got three hits, including a home run.  It wasn't the most orthodox lineup, with Nick Punto and David Freese 1-2 and Jon Jay hitting eighth, but it was definitely effective.

It was interesting that before the game we were talking on Twitter about Tyler Greene.  I was of the impression that he hadn't done much in the majors this year, until it was pointed out that, in a small sample, he was hitting close to .300 and had 5 steals.  We agreed that perhaps Greene needed a better PR firm (or that I should pay more attention, but like THAT'S going to happen) and Greene apparently agreed, having one of those two hit nights and parking a home run in the Crawford Boxes as well.  

On the down side, the team did hit into five double plays.  Albert Pujols added to his total and Holliday, who had other issues in the late innings, rapped into one in his last at-bat, the only time he didn't reach base last night.

However, the real problems came from the bullpen.  A team that's up 6-0 in the eighth really shouldn't get down to having the tying run at second in the ninth, you know?  Where do you place the blame there?

I originally was going to give the Goat to Ryan Franklin.  I mean, the man threw a grand total of four pitches in the game, two of which were hit hard.  That said, one of those balls really should have been caught by Holliday and if that happens, it might have made for a completely different inning.  Besides, Franklin's already the Goat leader, no need to pile on.

I was surprised that La Russa went and got him after just two batters.  I realize the lefty was coming up, but Franklin's gotten them out before.  That's why I'm going with Trever Miller as my Goat, because for the fourth straight outing, Miller came in to face one man and was unable to retire him.  Last night, it was a walk, which at least temporarily kept a run from scoring, but that's really just not acceptable.  However, since Brian Tallet is still a week or so away from returning, we're going to see Miller in these situations often.  It just reminds me of how Dennys Reyes was last year, completely incapable at times of being an effective LOOGY.

Fernando Salas came in and mainly got out of the inning, though the two runners scored and Salas allowed one of his own as well.  His first out was on a ground ball that just couldn't get turned, so things might have been different if it'd been a runner on third with two out instead of the corners with one gone, but who knows.  For the most part, Salas did a fine job with the situation he was in.

Eduardo Sanchez came in for the save in the ninth since Mitchell Boggs had thrown so many pitches the night before.  The phenom hadn't been dinged this season, but that changed quickly.  He struck out his first batter, so it seemed like everything was proceeding as planned, but then after a one-out single, Jason Bourgeois drove one into the gap in left center for a triple.  Sanchez got out of that with a sac fly, but then a double over Lance Berkman's head, which Berkman admitted after the game he'd have gotten if they hadn't been playing "in in", put the tying run on.  Sanchez got noted Cardinal killer Hunter Pence to strike out on a nasty pitch and preserved the win, though with a lot of angst.

Watching the game last night, it really seemed like the bullpen was falling apart.  Going through the play-by-play, though, it seems apparent that if Salas hadn't had bases loaded when he came in or a double play could have been turned, he would have gotten out of it relatively fine.  Sanchez gave up the triple, but other than that it was a normal single and a double that should have been caught.  In other words, I don't think we have to worry too much about these guys based on this outing.  I'd still rather the young guns in the game than the grizzled vets.

Speaking of those grizzled vets, it was interesting to note that Miguel Batista, along with his many other talents, is now the translator for Sanchez.  If you ever think the Renaissance Man concept is dead, talk to Batista.

One of the reasons for the different-looking lineup was that Ryan Theriot was out with a rib cage issue.  Theriot doesn't seem to think it really is a problem and, if things go well in workouts today, he could be back in the lineup tonight.  If not, well, I'm sure Greene wouldn't mind another start.

Today, Kyle McClellan goes up against Nelson Figueroa.  I forgot to get the Baseball Reference charts before getting behind my work firewall, but they probably wouldn't tell us much about McClellan vs. the Astros anyway.  Figueroa last faced the Cards last September, when he threw five innings and allowed only two runs in route to a win.  He also faced them some out of the bullpen back in August and was able to corral them.  We'll see if this new offense can solve him a little better.

This is most likely the last you'll hear from me this week.  Tomorrow is the annual BBQ at my church, which I will get to before the crack of dawn and leave not long before sunset.  It's a lot of fun, but obviously it doesn't leave much for blogging.

My next post will be a special one as well.  Right now, according to the monthly totals on the left side of this blog, counting this there have been 1,015 entries.  However, 16 of those are tagged with "guest bloggers", meaning I really didn't have anything to do with it.  So, when next I come to you, it'll be post 1,000.  We'll look back a little then, perhaps.  Enjoy your weekend!

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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Jaime Garcia (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

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

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
Jason Motte (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

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

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

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

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

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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