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Off Day Breather

Posted on April 8, 2011 at 9:30 AM
Filed Under: San Francisco Giants | St. Louis Cardinals
No wins or losses for the Cardinals yesterday, just the flight from the heart of the country to the West Coast.  No word on whether Matt Holliday will be playing while he's out there, but I expect that he'll at least try to get into the cage some soon, perhaps even today.  It's a 10-game road trip that may test the Cardinals somewhat, especially if Holliday isn't available until close to the end of it.  The road wasn't all that good to them last year, but perhaps that will be different in 2011.

There was a rumor last year at the Social Media Night that 60 Minutes was going to be doing a feature on Albert Pujols.  This Sunday, that comes to fruition as the CBS news magazine airs a story on the first baseman, complete with an interview and following him to the Dominican to see his off-field efforts.  You can see a short clip over here and it will follow the final round of the Masters, so be sure to keep your eyes open or set your DVR.

Allen Craig has been picking up the slack with Matt Holliday out.  Interesting how he did so much work with Mark McGwire in the offseason.  We saw good results out of other players McGwire worked with outside of the structure of an official hitting coach, such as Skip Schumaker, but those results didn't necessarily translate to when McGwire was with them on a daily basis.  

So far, Craig has avoided that problem (if there is one) and looks to make the bench a much stronger place, either because he's in it or he's taking the place of one of the starters.  For a while there it seemed Allen Craig was person non grata in the organization (a role that seems now reserved for Bryan Anderson) but he's taken his opportunity and seized upon it, so much so that he will likely be a key piece in the post-2011 landscape for the Redbirds.

Today, in the Giants' home opener, Jake Westbrook takes the mound against Jonathan Sanchez.  Here's what Westbrook has done against those guys in the orange and black:

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF GDP
Miguel Tejada 39 37 12 1 0 0 7 1 3 .324 .359 .351 .710 0 0 2
Aubrey Huff 27 21 8 2 0 0 5 4 0 .381 .444 .476 .921 0 2 1
Aaron Rowand 22 21 5 0 0 0 2 0 3 .238 .273 .238 .511 0 0 0
Mark DeRosa 11 11 4 1 0 0 3 0 1 .364 .364 .455 .818 0 0 1
Andres Torres 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .200 .200 .200 .400 1 0 0
Madison Bumgarner 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Pat Burrell 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .333 .000 .333 0 0 0
Mike Fontenot 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Buster Posey 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0
Freddy Sanchez 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Pablo Sandoval 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .333 .333 1.333 1.667 0 0 0
Total 123 112 35 5 0 1 20 6 15 .313 .352 .384 .736 1 2 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/8/2011.

Being that Westbrook has spent most of his time in the American League, it's not a surprise that those that have faced him the most are AL retreads.  Many of the young stars haven't seen him that much yet, though if Westbrook's command is like it was on Saturday, it won't matter, they'll hit him anyway.  A good start out of Westbrook would go a long way toward relieving some concerns Cardinal fans have about him.

On the flip side, here's Jonathan Sanchez vs. the Cardinals:
  
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS HBP GDP
Matt Holliday 23 18 4 1 0 0 3 4 4 .222 .391 .278 .669 1 0
Ryan Theriot 9 7 3 0 0 1 2 1 0 .429 .500 .857 1.357 0 0
Albert Pujols 6 5 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 .800 .833 1.000 1.833 0 0
Skip Schumaker 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0
Yadier Molina 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .333 .600 .333 .933 0 0
Lance Berkman 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0
Total 53 43 12 2 0 1 5 8 9 .279 .404 .395 .799 1 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/8/2011.

The guy that has faced him the most won't be in the lineup and you have to like Pujols's numbers against Sanchez, even if it is--say it with me, now--a small sample size.  Could it be that AP gets things rolling this afternoon?  We'll have to wait and see.  Game's at 3:35 Central, so remember that when you are making your plans to watch or listen to the game.

I hope to get part two of the UCB weekend story up this afternoon, so check back for that.  Part one can be found below this post.  Also, the plan is to move this blog to a new server this weekend.  Should be late on Saturday and likely won't cause any disruption for anyone reading it, but in case something goes wrong, you'll know why.  Enjoy your weekend!


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Heroes

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

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)

    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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