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Recently in Toronto Blue Jays CategoryHappily Ever AfterPosted on October 30, 2011 at 1:37 AM
Once upon a time, there was a baseball team.This baseball team wasn't the richest team, though it wasn't poor by any means. It wasn't the strongest team and it wasn't by any means the fastest team. It wasn't even considered the best team within its region, much less in all the land. This team had many players that made up its merry band. It had the Warrior, who could battle teams with amazing firepower and also could undermine them with guts and guile, depending on the situation. It had the Young Gun, a man who started building his legend early and then continued to develop it. There was the Legend, one known far and wide as the most intimidating, the most amazing, the most everything of players. Aiding the Legend was the Hired Hand, imported indirectly from the mountain tribes to help the Legend in his times of trial. To go along with these two was the Rival, a man that had started out as a fierce member of an opposing tribe, only to become a trusted member of this team. There were others, of course. The Local, the Phenom, the Lefty, the Poet, the Gunslinger, the Finisher. All sorts of names and characters made up this unique team. Every year, the Lords of Baseball held a contest in the fall of the year, when the leaves were changing and the north winds began to blow. This contest was to see just which team would be able to hold the title of Best Team and feast on the adoration of those that followed these brave and intrepid men. Teams came from far and wide, down long and winding roads, to get to the tournament, well knowing that only eight of them would be allowed inside the gates once they arrived at their destination. Filed Under: Arizona Diamondbacks
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| St. Louis Cardinals
| Texas Rangers
| Toronto Blue Jays
Comments (6)
Cardinals Move OnPosted on July 28, 2011 at 9:15 AM
After all the news of the day, it was almost anti-climactic when the Cards had to go out and actually play a game. Unfortunately, the ending was of the same mold.There weren't a lot of positive performances to go on, as Bud Norris was at it again. I'll give the Hero tag to Matt Holliday for his two-for-three performance last night. You could have also gone with Chris Carpenter, who pitched well again, with eight strikeouts and two runs in seven innings. Carpenter is showing no signs of turning back into a pumpkin, as it were, so he should give the Cards a significant weapon down the stretch of what is turning into a three-way race. The Goat would be Mitchell Boggs. Not only did he give up the deciding two runs in the game, but he was very shaky in his first inning of work as well, being a bit lucky not to have allowed any runs there as he loaded the bases with one out. Boggs seems to have these kind of games, going from very effective at times to very iffy. With the new arms coming for the pen and with Boggs having options, it'll be interesting to see if he goes down to make room. I don't know that he will or that he should, but that doesn't mean much. Really thought the Cards were going to be able to at least force extras with Albert Pujols up, runners on second and third, and two outs. A base hit would have been enough, but instead he struck out to end the game and cap his 0-5 night. It seems to me that Pujols, save for his 4-5 game in Pittsburgh, has been fine with the long ball but isn't hitting for much average. His season number now is .274, at least seven points off of his season high. As much as I like the homers, a 3-4 night with a double on a semi-regular basis would not go amiss either. Last night the top three hitters in the lineup combined for 0-13. It's a good thing Carpenter was on his game, because it's not easy to score many runs when that happens. Of course, today is still a reaction day as the trade continues to be analyzed and discussed. It was interesting to see some of the comments from the people involved. For example, the main piece in the deal, Colby Rasmus. I think the takeaway from everything that he said yesterday, besides the boilerplate "It happens, enjoyed my time here, etc." was "I hope he's happy" in reference to Tony La Russa. If nothing else, the Rasmus family seems to think that it was La Russa that got Colby out of town. Cole over at Redbird Report picked up some comments from Tony Rasmus in a Toronto paper that paint a different picture than the official line. While I think you take some of Papa Rasmus's comments with a grain of salt--he's been known to admit that he likes to stir the pot on line, and I expect an interview would be no different--that combined with Colby's brother (not the one recently drafted by the Cards) Tweeting about "unfair treatment" makes you wonder exactly how things were playing out over there. One of the other pieces that left was Trever Miller. Miller made some comments on his way out, and took most of the blame, with the caveat that he though if he'd pitched regularly he'd have been better. There's only one problem with that. When he was pitching regularly, he wasn't getting people out, which is why TLR lost confidence in him and stopped using him. For example, let's look back at that five-appearance, no-out streak he ran in April. He threw on 4/17, then 4/23, then three straight days 4/26-4/28. You can't get much more regular than that for a LOOGY. It wasn't until July until he really didn't get regular work, but by then the damage was done. Kyle McClellan was affected by the deal and he says he's fine with going to the bullpen. Fine might be an overstatement, really. Watching him on FSMW yesterday it seemed like he was going to take one for the team and he couldn't really complain about it, but he wasn't thrilled. You can't blame him--he's wanted to be a starter for a long time now and got a chance to do it this year. He didn't completely pitch himself out of the job (though if he was still going like he was going in April, the Cards either don't make this move or don't get him out of the rotation) and has to be pleased that he at least showed the team (and other teams) that he could do it. He strengthens the bullpen now, though, and that's a positive from this situation. Most likely, with a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook next year already set with Chris Carpenter looking like he might return and the Cards talking about making new guy Marc Rzepczynski a starter, McClellan could become a trade chip in the offseason and he's done nothing to damage his value. Tony La Russa continues to insist that the team shouldn't choose a manager over a player and that he had nothing to do with the deal. Perhaps that's true, but there have been a number of players (J.D. Drew, Adam Kennedy, Scott Rolen, Brendan Ryan) that got into that doghouse and none of them are still here while the manager is. With the comments from Tony Rasmus and the fact that the Cards were working on an extension with Rasmus before TLR ruined it with his public comments, there's no doubt that he's been significantly involved in this decision. For some, that's a failure of being a manager and I'm not going to say I disagree. I do want to take issue with one point, though, that was brought up in the UCB Radio Hour last night and probably will be mentioned by a number of people aggravated with La Russa's actions. Tony La Russa is a very good manager. Doesn't mean he's always right, doesn't mean that he was right in this case. However, a person doesn't stay in the game managing 30+ years with no gaps without knowing what he is doing. You look at the two teams that were affected by the death of a teammate, in '02 and '07. Both of those teams were able to overcome that, though the '07 team fell short of the playoffs. Look at this year. With all the injuries, most Cardinal fans would have been ecstatic with second place if you'd told them all of these players would go down before the season. No matter the personnel, the TLR era in St. Louis has been a rousing success and we should remember that. Does that mean that it's not time for TLR to go, that he should continue to be manager in perpetuity? I don't know about that. I think there should be some sort of accountability when comments are made that change the whole course of an organization. What that should be is up to the powers that be. Finally, this from John Mozeliak: "Was there a chance he [Colby] was going in the wrong direction? I'll let you answer that." It seems that the club realized there was a chance that he wasn't going to get any better. If he doesn't, if he doesn't come out of his shell being outside of St. Louis, perhaps we'll look back on this trade much differently in 4-5 years. I remember the outcry when the Mark Mulder deal was made. People were so worked up about it because they couldn't believe the Cards would trade such a prospect. Of course, that was Daric Barton, who has done little to warrant that gnashing of teeth in his career. If it wasn't for the fact Dan Haren blossomed, that trade would just be a footnote. One last point I want to make about the deal. While there seems to be little thought that these players to be named later will be much of anything (they've been described as low-level prospects), either they or the "significant" cash that are coming back must be key. I feel like there's a player in Toronto's system that Mozeliak really wants, and he did pretty well picking out David Freese from San Diego for Jim Edmonds and Makiel Cleto from Seattle for Brendan Ryan. To me, that's the only reason you turn down the Tampa Bay offer of Jeff Niemann and JP Howell and a prospect. The story is that Mo was holding out for James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson, which I understand, but that's not the quality he got from Toronto. I don't think anyone puts Edwin Jackson in the same class as those two, and the differences in contracts is significant as well. Niemann would be under team control for five more years at a fairly minimum salary, something that'd be good when you are budgeting for Albert Pujols. It's true Howell would have a free agent at the end of the year, but easier to resign him than Jackson. Tampa Bay's package, on the face of it, was a much better blend of the now and the not yet. I have to believe that the PTBNL will give us some of that "not yet" out of this deal as well. Lance Berkman got an injection in his shoulder yesterday and should be back in the lineup today. The outfield depth has taken a hit, so we really need Berkman to be healthy down the stretch. Hopefully that will be the case. Couple of lefties go today. Jaime Garcia at home is a good thing, as we all know. Here's him against the Houston club:
Wandy Rodriguez vs. Cardinals has always been a tough matchup.
 Filed Under: Heroes and Goats
| Houston Astros
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Keeping You Informed: Rasmus To JaysPosted on July 27, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Here's the official release:CARDINALS
& BLUE JAYS ANNOUNCE MULTI-PLAYER DEAL; The
Cardinals have acquired right handed pitcher Edwin Jackson, right
handed reliever Octavio Dotel, left handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski
(pronounced Zep-CHIN-ski), outfielder Corey Patterson and three players to
be named later or cash considerations. "We
feel that this deal strengthens us in a number of key areas," said Cardinals'
Senior Vice President/ General Manager John Mozeliak. "Trades of this nature are never easy to make,
but we felt that it was important to solidify a number of areas on our ball club
to better position ourselves for what looks to be a highly competitive
divisional race." Rzepczynski,
25, was 2-3 with a 2.97 ERA and 10 Holds for Dotel,
37, had a 2-1 mark, one save, four Holds and a 3.68 ERA in 36 games for the
Jays this season and he has 106 career saves, combining for a career-high 36 in
2004 with Patterson,
31, was batting .252 this year with 6 homers, 33 RBI and 13 steals. His career marks include a .253 BA with 118
HR's, 428 RBI and 218 steals. Patterson
hit a career-high 24 homers for the Cubs in 2004 and he swiped a career-best 45
steals for  Worldview ShakingPosted on July 27, 2011 at 3:23 PM
I'm a positive guy. I give people the benefit of the doubt, figure there are things that aren't in evidence that I don't know, and generally expect that people running a business or a baseball team or anything of that nature know what they are doing.Which is why the earth has apparently tilted on its axis today. I was waiting to write anything until it was official. Lots of rumors and talk out there, especially as the deadline gets closer. You never want to come out and talk about something that doesn't actually happen. However, with PJ Walters tweeting about Toronto and Colby Rasmus's brother doing the same, it's a pretty safe bet that the trade, as we know it, will be happening. So it's Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller (who is expected to be flipped to the White Sox), Brian Tallet, and PJ Walters for Edwin Jackson (whom the Jays received earlier today from the White Sox), Marc Rzepczynski (whose name I will never spell right without looking it up), Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson. There is apparently money changing hands as the commish has to approve it (as he does with any trade involving more than $1 million), but so far, nothing has changed to indicate that isn't the case. (Late note: Apparently the Cards could get another reliever from the White Sox if Miller is dealt.) That's the deal. That's what John Mozeliak has apparently signed off on. Then it was like a million voices cried out at once on Twitter and nothing is going to silence them. The blog posts are already being written and keep trickling in. Colby Rasmus is a trending topic. And I have to agree with the prevailing sentiment, which is, "That's it? That's the deal?" The Cardinals have traded a young, cost-controlled (to a degree--Rasmus will be arbitration eligible after this year, I believe), quality player at a premium position for a rental pitcher and some relievers? You trade a guy that could have been part of the core of the team for three more years for, at best, a LOOGY and a draft pick past this season? There is just not that much to like about this deal. Yes, the Cardinals needed left-handed relief help. We get that and I agree wholeheartedly. Rzepcynski has been very effective against lefties this year and he's not been that bad against righties, either. However, if you go into this year's splits (and it's small sample size, true), he's been worse away from Rogers Center and been worse on grass by significant margins. For his career it's the same way, though it isn't as pronounced. I'll give you that he fits a need, but he's not worth giving up Rasmus for. Apparently, the club thinks he can be a starter (he's been one in the minors) because they've determined that no matter what your position in the majors, it's the wrong one. Pip did a great breakdown of why you don't trade Rasmus for Jackson yesterday, showing that yet again the man is on the bleeding edge of things and that apparently the front office isn't reading the blogs as much as we thought they might. To get someone that projects, as Pip says, "between Lohse and Westbrook" for the rest of the year isn't exactly the impact player that we thought the team was looking for before it moved the centerfielder. With Scott Boras as his agent and the state of the pitching staff in the next couple of years, I can't imagine any way Jackson is back with this team next year unless someone gets traded. As for Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson.....nobody told me we'd gotten into a time machine and shown up in 2004. Dotel's been passable this year, I guess, but he's 37 years old and has been up and down. Not sure who he'd be an upgrade on. He's not going to take Lance Lynn's place in the 8th, I don't think. He's not better than Jason Motte or Mitchell Boggs. Where does he fit? Corey Patterson, well, ugh. Besides the whole "former Cub" thing, he's one of those guys that's hung around long enough to get the "veteran" tag that apparently is so appealing to some parts of the Cardinal decision making tree. He's been better the last couple of years, but the last time he was in the NL Central, with both the Reds and the Brewers, he was a disaster. He's filler, a guy that plays once a week or so on a lot of teams (which means he'll likely start tonight, but that's another story.) (Now, since things move fast and I don't write that way, a couple of things have happened since I started this. The first is that it has been officially announced. I'll post the press release when I get it--actually, just got it so it'll go up after this post. The second is that the Cards get either three players to be named later or cash. If they are able to get some quality from the PTBNL list, perhaps this deal doesn't look as bad. Flip side of that is if there were top prospects on that list, chances are the Cards get them now rather than later.) As Bernie Miklasz Tweeted, there's little upside to this deal. Does it help the Cards this season? There's an argument there, I would guess. It depends on what Jackson does in the starting rotation, because I don't think the bullpen was as bad as it was earlier in the year and so the moves probably not do much for it. It's a gamble, though. Can Jon Jay hit like he's been hitting on a regular basis? Remember his tail spin last year after Ryan Ludwick was moved. Can Allen Craig step in and be a dependable fourth outfielder? There's a chance the offense is a bit weaker, especially if Rasmus still had a positive streak in him. This was not an overwhelming trade, which is what Mozeliak said would need to happen to move Rasmus. This, for all intents and purposes, was Scott Rolen all over again. (We could hope that it's JD Drew and that one of the PTBNL is an Adam Wainwright, but I think that's pushing it.) Rolen had to leave because he and TLR couldn't get along anymore. It happened with Brendan Ryan this last season. Which means that it begs the question: who actually is running this team? I've been a La Russa fan for a long while, but I said back with Rolen that you can't let the manager get a situation to the point where you have to give up on a player that can help you. Especially in this situation, when TLR might not be back next year and Rasmus could be a future contributor, you don't give him away for spare parts. Yet that seems, right now, exactly what they've done. There's a dynamic in play in St. Louis decision making that doesn't seem to be anywhere else and I don't think it's a positive one for the club. We knew Rasmus was going to leave sometime, though. If nothing else, he'd have walked as a free agent in a few years and he probably did need to go somewhere else to have his potential realized. It's just....this way? When the reports are you could have gotten a starter, a lefty reliever, and a prospect from Tampa Bay? Are the draft picks that apparently were such a focus better than current young talent? However, what's done is done. Harping on it won't help anything, won't get it undone. Years later there are still people talking about the Mark Mulder deal and, while this one has the potential of that one, there's nothing the fan base can do about it. Although Joe Strauss now suggests the Cardinals could move Motte and Boggs for Heath Bell. We might be doing this same up-in-arms reaction again before it's all said and done. It's not over until the buzzer sounds on Sunday. Remember, though, you can talk about it tonight during the UCB Radio Hour!  Struggling For Silver LiningsPosted on June 26, 2011 at 3:46 PM
It's Sunday afternoon and, as I write this, the Cardinals are still playing the Blue Jays, though it just got a bit out of hand and odds are we now know how it is going to end. I want to recap the last few days before talking about the state of the team.Wednesday (4-0 loss vs Philadelphia) Hero: Lance Berkman. Two of the team's six hits. Goat: Matt Holliday. 0-4 on a night when they really needed his bat. Notes: I actually had written this game up on Thursday, but got the weirdest error ever when I went to use the Baseball Reference linker, replacing my post with one from Tomahawk Take. (It was easily the best post I've ever written, full of insight, deep thinking, and....no, not really. You didn't miss much.) Kyle Lohse pitched pretty well, but made a couple of mistakes and that was all the Phillies needed with Cliff Lee on the mound. I'm fairly sure Lee remembered his last time, when he walked six, and was determined not to do that again. Thursday (12-2 win vs Philadelphia) Hero: Chris Carpenter. Carp's had his rough times this year, but he was on this night. Seven strikeouts in seven innings with just one run allowed. The more you look at Carp's numbers outside of win/loss, the more picking up his option might be the best thing for the club. Even if you get outings like this just 60% of the time instead of 90%, it still is worth it. Goat: Daniel Descalso. Everyone's getting hits, most people are getting two, but Descalso can't break through with a knock. Did get a walk, though, so his evening wasn't a complete waste. Notes: Berkman goes yard, Holliday gets two hits, everyone is just hunky-dory. Even when you factor in that Roy Oswalt went on the DL after this game, you still had to be pretty positive about the game, since the Cards hit just about every pitcher Philadelphia threw at them. Friday (5-4 loss vs. Toronto) Hero: Matt Holliday. His two-run homer late in the game looked like it could be the thing the Cards needed to come back in this game. Goat: Fernando Salas. Salas has really struggled this month with the long ball. Sure, it was Jose Bautista, who is crushing everyone, but it's a tough thing to live with after the team had rallied to tie it up. Notes: Nice to see Colby Rasmus go yard, even if it was his only hit. Some great work by Mitchell Boggs (who only went 2/3rds of an inning, but the two strikeouts he got were key) and Lance Lynn, who in a just world would have had the Cards pull out a win for him. Saturday (6-3 loss vs. Toronto) Hero: Jon Jay. Two for three with a run scored on a night where the offense didn't do a lot. Goat: Jaime Garcia. Descalso's throwing error didn't help matters at all, but Garcia did walk the pitcher--an American League pitcher at that, though Carlos Villanueva has been in the NL before--and allowed the long ball that put the Jays well in command. Garcia in the past has talked about letting his focus slip and it seemed to in that inning. Notes: 0-fers for Holliday and Berkman, so when your 3-4 guys can't get anything done, it's going to be a long night. (Holliday did drive in the first run, but it was on a double play after the first two batters had reached.) Sunday (5-0 loss vs. Toronto) Hero: Mitchell Boggs. 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. He's definitely looked good in his return from Memphis, though he didn't look bad before he went down. Goat: Kyle McClellan. After giving up a second-inning homer, it looked like McClellan would settle down. After a while, though, he either ran out of gas or the Jays figured him out, as he Notes: It's always going to be a tough assignment to go up against Ricky Romero, but it'd been nice if some of the bats had shown up. Berkman's error was an issue as well, but McClellan just couldn't get out of the inning. So now the Cards have lost five of six since Albert Pujols went down. They've done it in a mix of ways, by being dominated by good pitching, by losing due to the bullpen, and by just not being good enough to get over the hump. They are still in the pennant race, of course, but this weekend didn't help them out much. Milwaukee is working on finishing off the sweep of the Twins, so the Cards would be three back going into their off-day tomorrow. (Also, I must confess my hubris as, before the series, I poked some fun at our resident Blue Jays fan in these parts. Don't ask me how he got this far South, something about forgetting to return home for the winter. Anyway, I believe he enjoyed this weekend way more than he should have. Would have appreciated the Cards bailing me out!) The Cards haven't been completely complacent, though, shuffling the bullpen around. Miguel Batista was released since last we talked (part of that post that got erased) and Raul Valdes has been called up as well as Lynn, with Makeil Cleto being sent down. Save for Salas's issue in the ninth on Friday, the bullpen has been pretty solid. Ryan Franklin gave up a run in his now-infrequent appearance on the mound and there have been runs allowed here and there, but they haven't factored into the decision, for the most part. Speaking of Franklin, why exactly is the team carrying 13 pitchers if Franklin's only going to pitch once in a blue moon? If you can't ever use him, why is he on the roster? I think I saw where Jake Westbrook had more appearances this month than Franklin does. He's well and truly buried, so does that really help the club? While we are on the topic of player usage, what is up with Mark Hamilton? When Pujols went down, they brought Hamilton up with the idea that, while he probably wouldn't play every day and there was the idea that first would keep Berkman healthier (though Berkman said that he though the outfield was easier, without having to run back and forth to the bag all the time), Hamilton still would see some time in the field. Since he came up, the Cards have played six straight games and, in all six (save today, where as of this moment he still hasn't appeared), he's only gotten one pinch-hit at-bat. I don't know if Hamilton can hit in the bigs. He's had great success in the minors, though, and remember that Allen Craig didn't really start hitting the ball until he got some regular playing time. I get that Hamilton wasn't in there today because Romero is a lefty. But why not have him in there last night against Villanueva? Either rest Berkman a bit or put him back in the outfield. I'm sure there is some reasoning to all of this, but it seems right now that Hamilton should have stayed in Memphis and someone else (don't know who, of course) promoted. I'm guessing that, with the DH in play when the club goes to Baltimore and Tampa Bay, Hamilton will get some time at first while Berkman DHs (or vice versa). Then again, with David Freese coming off the DL on Tuesday, it's possible that Freese will DH to get him up to speed and we'd have the same situation. (Also possible Hamilton goes down when Freese comes up, though it'd make more sense for it to be Andrew Brown.) Bill Ivie and I will be on Gateway To Baseball Heaven tonight at 9:30 Central and I'm sure we'll talk some about all of this. The Cardinals are coming to the end of June at a crossroads. They can't afford to get too far back, but what can they do about it? What should they do about it? Join us in the chat room, if you want, to give your opinions. Cardinals get to take on the old Browns on Tuesday. We'll look at the starting pitchers Monday night or Tuesday and talk about whatever roster gyrations are done to get Freese and Nick Punto into Cardinal red then as well!  Filed Under: Heroes and Goats
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Playing Pepper 2011: Toronto Blue JaysPosted on March 17, 2011 at 10:13 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. Toronto Blue Jays (85-77, 11 GB and fourth in the AL East) 85 wins. In the AL West, that would have put the Jays second and third in any other division. Yet since they have the misfortune to play in the powerhouse AL East, that eight-games-over-.500 mark was just good enough to beat out Baltimore. At times, it just doesn't seem fair. It's possible that misery, or at least misfortune, does love company because Toronto is one of the largest chapters in the BBA. I was able to get three of those quality writers to sit down with the Playing Pepper questions. Chris writes Infield Fly, a baseball blog with Toronto tendencies. You can follow him on Twitter for a little north of the border flavor. The Blue Jay Hunter is written by Ian Hunter, the president of the Toronto chapter of the BBA. As with Chris, you can also follow him on Twitter to get his thoughts. Finally, Jeremy writes from the cheap seats at his blog 500 Level Fan. Along with the other two, he has Twitter but also has a Facebook group as well. Jose Bautista and other nuggets of info after the jump! Continue ReadingMea CulpasPosted on June 28, 2010 at 11:48 AM
While taking my regular weekend sabbatical from blogging, I got to thinking about some of the posts that I've written this week and I realized I've strayed a little bit from what the general tone of this blog usually is.Back in my very first entry, before I swapped Wordpress for Blogs By Fans or started up the United Cardinal Bloggers, I wrote the following: "I root for the Cardinals and typically give them and management the benefit of the doubt. I'll criticize when necessary, but I'm not big on general bashing." While I don't think my posts have been bashing per se, I don't think I've been giving management enough of the benefit of the doubt. Look, the number of moves that have gone toward veterans and away from younger players is not necessarily a philosophy that most of us on the internet would espouse. When you see things like that, one straw on top of another, it becomes difficult to keep any optimism about the moves. Fact is, though, management has more information and insight on these things than we do, especially people like me sitting a state away and watching a few innings and reading some articles on a daily basis. There's a reason they think that Blake Hawksworth should start, that signing Jeff Suppan is a good idea. And, honestly, most often they are right, or at least are right for a while. Criticism is fine and good, but kudos are due when it pans out and, so far, most everything has at least not blown up in their faces. Let's get to the last four games before talking about the team in general. Apparently I should have never said anything about not having pitching woes with Adam Wainwright on the hill. I had no idea I was such a powerful jinx. Waino seems to be having a little trouble settling into games. For the year, his first 15 pitches have been hit at a .305 clip. His only run against Oakland was allowed in the first inning. Seattle got him for two in the first. In fact, you'd have to go back to his complete game shutout against the Brewers to find a game where he didn't allow at least one run--and usually more than one--in the first frame. He gave up three in Toronto and then allowed two more in his shortest outing since Sept. 13, 2008 against Pittsburgh. Not what you want to see out of Wainwright and not what you expect to see out of him. We'll see if he's able to dodge that first inning bullet against Arizona on Tuesday. Tough to find a Hero in a game where the team is shutout on five hits, so we'll give it to Fernando Salas. He threw two scoreless innings at a time when the pen needed a little extra boost and, though he did allow four baserunners in that time, he worked out of trouble. How is it not possible, though, that this juggernaut that we as fans thought we had going into the season has yet to sweep a three game series? They got the four gamer against the Braves back in April (part of their season-long five game winning streak) and took a short two-gamer against the Nationals, but that's it. When you go for the sweep with Wainwright on the mound and don't get it, you start to wonder just how snake bit you are. Filed Under: Arizona Diamondbacks
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Another Chance To SweepPosted on June 24, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Pitching duels are a lot of fun. At least, they are when you come out on the winning side. I'm not sure Ian thought last night's game was as enjoyable as we did. Bernie Miklasz Tweeted last night that Chris Carpenter honors Bob Gibson by going out there and competing with less than his best stuff. As we've seen this year, Carpenter hasn't been that dominating figure in 2010, completely closing the opponent down, but he's still gone out there and competed, working out of jams, giving the opponent little to nothing on the scoreboard. Carp walked four, showing he didn't have his best command, but he mitigated that by allowing only three hits and getting a double play. I don't know what kind of extra motivation Toronto gives to him, but can we get them over into the NL Central? I will say I heard Buster Olney on Baseball Tonight saying the gap between Chris Carpenter and Ubaldo Jimenez for the NL Cy Young "just closed." However, Carp's not even the best pitcher on his own team this year. Is anyone really putting him in the Cy Young race? A 9-1 record and a 2.63 ERA is nice, but in this year of the pitcher, I'm not sure that'd be enough. Don't get me wrong, though--if the media wants to put him in the race, I'm all for it. I also thought it was a turning point for Matt Holliday. Sure, Holliday has gone off for the last week, crushing home runs and the like. Last night, though, he came up with a runner in scoring position in a crucial two-out spot. Two weeks ago, he'd have struck out on that pitch (which was ball four), but now that he's clicking he got the key base hit. I don't know when or if they'll move him back to the cleanup slot, but he's got to be enjoying his ride in front of Albert Pujols right now. Speaking of, good to see Pujols get some hits last night. Four hits, including a double. Too bad he couldn't have gotten one after Holliday's hit in the ninth for insurance, but asking for five hits is a bridge too far, I think. However, I want to get into the aftermath of his eighth-inning double. Yesterday, we talked about the relative insanity of Brendan Ryan trying to bunt a runner on second over with two outs. If you thought that was going to be the craziest move of the week, you lose. Last night both imitated and topped it. In case you didn't see the game, know that before the game started, the buzz was about the fact that Nick Stavinoha was going to be hitting fourth as the DH. Now, Stavinoha has done a nice job off the bench. In fact, if you are going to put Stav in as the DH, compared to the other options that are readily available (i.e., not counting Memphis), Stav's a perfectly reasonable choice, especially since Ryan Ludwick was battling leg cramps. But fourth? Really? I mean, it looked like Tony La Russa had just made out the lineup as if Ludwick was playing, then was too lazy to rework it when he couldn't go. Move David Freese or Colby Rasmus (even with a lefty on the mound) up there. Stavinoha is a six-seven hitter, at best. Still, that's where he sat. So TLR has determined that Stavinoha is 1) a good enough hitter to be the designated hitter, i.e., hitting is all that he has to do and 2) he's good enough to hit fourth. These are keys for my coming rant. OK, so as I say, Pujols is on second with nobody out to start the eighth inning. Yes, it's a 0-0 game, but Stavinoha, your cleanup designated hitter, is coming up next. So, what does La Russa do? Orders the sacrifice bunt. Are you getting this? You are saying that a player that is good enough to be the designated hitter AND good enough to hit fourth in your lineup isn't good enough to swing away in that situation. Besides the general fact that, unless it's the pitcher batter, I don't want to see anyone bunting right there, but never, ever should a cleanup hitter be bunting in the majors. And for the second straight night, it doesn't work. This time, Stavinoha bunts it and Pujols gets caught in a rundown. So the result was one out, runner at second--exactly the situation it would have been in the worst case scenario of him swinging away. I hope that two failures will at least make La Russa think twice about pulling that stunt again anytime soon. So, if I could give a Goat to TLR, I would. However, I stick to players, which means that David Freese gets the tag with his 0-4, three strikeout night. Ricky Romero was a tough guy to figure out, so you can't blame Freese entirely, but it still was a night to forget. In other news, it does look like the Cardinals are just going to have bullpen games the next three times the fifth starter slot comes up between now and the All-Star Break. Which means that Adam Ottavino and PJ Walters really have no place in this organization. Seriously, you are going to wear down the bullpen on a regular basis like that? Perhaps Ottavino and Walters wouldn't give you more than five innings (though at least it would be possible that they could), but that's likely one more inning than Blake Hawksworth will give you, plus you'll take him out of commission for a while, meaning he couldn't be a reliever. You'd basically be playing with a short pitching staff. And with Jeff Suppan, who likely will never go over six innings, going the day before, you are going to need Carpenter and Adam Wainwright to go complete games and Jaime Garcia to keep his command and go seven on a regular basis. If you don't like Ottavino and Walters, fine. I'm not saying they are going to be world-beaters. They are #4, #5 starters, most likely, guys that at least can give you a little upside. I can understand you not wanting to plug them into the rotation (though I still don't understand coming out and saying that while they are on the big league roster). If that's the case, though, you have to make some sort of deal for a veteran innings-eater arm. I'm not talking about a Cliff Lee or a Roy Oswalt or a Dan Haren. Those guys would be great, but they're going to cost a lot in money and prospects. (Though if you could get Oswalt and have him rework his contract somewhat, that'd be interesting.) What about guys like Kevin Millwood (who still may cost a bit in talent, but definitely less than the other guys) and Jake Westbrook? Heck, if you can find someone that's under reasonable contract for next year as well, go after them, because there are holes in the 2011 rotation that it doesn't look like the minor league system can fill. As Justin and I said last night at the end of the UCB Radio Hour, this team seems a little like it is lacking an identity. It should be able to get the engine in gear and pull away from the Reds, but it hasn't been able to do that yet. Running bullpen games, even if it is against teams like Kansas City and Milwaukee, is a good way to lose ground on a team that just doesn't seem like it's going away. At least for one night, though, we don't have pitching woes. Adam Wainwright takes the hill against the Jays, looking again for a sweep. Seven times this season the Cards have won the first two games of a three-game series, including this one. Six times, they've lost the third one. Hopefully that changes tonight. A look at what Wainwright has done against the birds of blue:
As for Brandon Morrow, only Holliday has seen him and went 0-2. Morrow's a righty that has command issues, according to Ian's analysis last night, so if the Cardinals are patient, they'll get good pitches and will get into the Jays' pen faster. We'll see if they are able to do that this evening. Sorry for the cranky tone of the post. That really wasn't my intention when I sat down to write! Hopefully the Cardinals will keep winning and get me in a better mood this weekend!
Cards Soar In Foreign LandPosted on June 23, 2010 at 7:21 AM
You know, when the discussion of launching pad stadiums comes up, I never think of Toronto's Rogers Center. Wrigley, Coors, even the old Atlanta stadium that started the nickname. However, if last night is any indication, Rogers Center is right up there with the rest of them. The Cardinals played the long ball better, smashing four, while Jose Bautista got to 20 with his two blasts. Of course, Toronto leads the majors in home runs, but I did some quick figuring. They hit an average of 1.52 per game, but if you just look at their home rate, it's 1.71. A pretty significant jump. I know there are more stats out there, including park factors, that would indicate whether it was the park that was the cause, but I'm not able to find them right now. Maybe we'll talk to Ian about that tonight on UCB Radio Hour. Another spectacular night for Matt Holliday. The way he's been hitting against American League teams, you'd have thought he'd have torn it up for Oakland last year. If he's going to be comparable to the Holliday that the Cardinals saw last year, this offense really should get on track soon. Nice to see Colby Rasmus pinch hit and break his slump with a home run. Of course, is anyone really surprised that the Cardinals lost their DH last night and had to pinch-hit with Aaron Miles? This is Tony La Russa we are talking about. Being able to juggle a lineup and mess with the fringes of baseball rules is ideal for him. I could have almost guaranteed that at least one time this week he'd have done that. Jaime Garcia pitched pretty well also. The two-run home run by Bautista guaranteed he was going to have his ERA creep up, but you'll take three runs in six innings, especially when there were no walks involved in that. Garcia might have been able to go seven, since he was only at 89 pitches, but by that time the Cards were up 6-3 and there didn't seem to be any reason to push him. Tough night for Brendan Ryan, who went 0-4 and wasn't able to get down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth. Of course, with nobody out and a runner on second, even with the struggles Ryan has had this year, I think I want him up there swinging away. He's probably just as likely to move the runner with a ground ball and might even get a hit, priming a big inning. It's really bad when it doesn't work, since Randy Winn (who had doubled to start the inning and had a pretty good game himself) never did come around to score. Looks like Ryan is going to be a bit on the streaky side this year. After a big push got his average past the Mendoza line with room to spare, he's regressed to a .133 average this week. Perhaps it is time for the Cardinal Diamond Diaries ladies to jump start him again with a Ryan post? A little off the field news, as Shelby Miller and Eduardo Sanchez were named to the Futures Game squad. It'll be fun to see what these guys do in an All-Star setting, especially against some guys that are in higher classifications in Miller's case. I'm also keeping an eye on Astros pitcher Jordan Lyles for personal reasons--he tossed my son and I a ball after warming up at a minor league game we attended. The rotation for the Kansas City series hasn't been completely determined. Jeff Suppan is going on Friday, but the fifth starter slot comes back up Saturday. There's only one more off day until the All-Star Break, so it seems most reasonable to go ahead and pull Adam Ottavino back up and plug him back into the rotation. If La Russa decides to go with one of his patented bullpen games, however, I think you have to take that has a definite vote of no confidence in Ottavino. Would a package of Ottavino, Allen Craig (who, notably, wasn't called up while the Cards need a DH) and Mark Hamilton net a decent #3-#4 starter? Cards try to win the series tonight by sending Chris Carpenter to the mound. Last time he was in Toronto, all he did was throw a one-hitter. I don't think Carpenter has been to that level on a consistent basis this year, but he has shown that, if everything's going right, he's going to be dominant. If it isn't, he's still going to be pretty good. Here's what the current squad of Blue Jays has done against him:
On the flip side, the Cards will be facing Ricky Romero. Romero is having a solid year for Toronto in only his second major league season. The only Cardinal that has faced him is Holliday, who went 1-3 with two strikeouts against him in a game last year. Of course, he's a lefty, which seems to be all the Cardinals see lately, but after they solved Brett Cecil last night, it should give them some confidence in facing Romero. Before I wrap this up, I wanted to give an opinion on something that's circling around the baseball internet right now, the discussion of whether or not Stephen Strasburg should be an All-Star selection. Now, my friend Chris over at Bird Brained has come down on the "I don't think so" side of the equation, but I'm going to take the opposing view. Even though Strasburg was responsible for ruining my iTouch, I think that, if he keeps pitching the way he has, he should be on the All-Star roster. If you've read here for long, you know that I'm not a big fan of the "This Time It Counts" bunch of malarky that Bud Selig and company spew. The All-Star Game, in my mind, is a pure exhibition that is for the fans. If the fans want to see Player X in the starting lineup, commentators and experts need to quit griping about it when they vote him in. I like the managers and players selecting deserving players that might not be voted in. I like the every-team-has-a-representative factor. This is supposed to be a fun game and a showcase for baseball. So what better way to draw attention to the game, to bring in more eyeballs to see the best players, than to put the biggest drawing card on the market in the game? Casual fans that have heard of Strasburg may tune into the game to watch him and get caught up in the rest of it. The ratings for the ASG are never all that strong, so they could use a Strasburg bounce. Get the country talking about him and what he does. And what if he pitches one inning and strikes out two or three guys? The buzz around him only increases, and that's really good for baseball. You are already seeing the attendance bounces around the country when he pitches. What better way to get the game into the national spotlight again? Like I say, if he keeps pitching like this, he's shown he can be an All-Star. If he stumbles, maybe you reconsider. (Which means that, since I've written this, Kansas City will get to him today, most likely.) Remember, 6:07 start for the Cards tonight, 9:30 is the UCB Radio Hour. Come on and join us!
Cardinals Skip The CountryPosted on June 22, 2010 at 8:46 AM
The day off was pretty quiet, save the fact that the Cardinals skipped the country. It's a night of two national anthems tonight as the Battle of the Birds begins in Toronto.You wouldn't think it, but I actually have a friend down here in Arkansas that's a Blue Jays fan, being as he's from Canada and all. So it'd be much nicer for my piece of mind if the Cardinals took this series, and they've got the pitching matchups in their favor, at least slightly. Jaime Garcia goes tonight, and obviously the Jays haven't seen him before. Toronto is sixth in the American League in runs and OPS, so this could be a good test for him. Being unknown should help and I expect he'll continue his strong starting run tonight. Brett Cecil is having a solid year, leading the team in wins and WHIP, and a 3.58 ERA in the AL East is nothing to sneeze at. Plus he's a lefty that only Matt Holliday (0-3) has ever seen before. Good chance this is going to be a 2-1 game. Of course, there's the debate on whether interleague play is really worth it. It seems like finally there are more and more people speaking out and saying it is really not necessary. Rob Rains has a column up today at the Globe-Democrat about it, for example. I've never been a big fan of interleague, as it comes across as a feeling of an exhibition in the middle of the season. I definitely wouldn't miss it if it was ditched, let's put it that way. Remember, we'll be talking about the Blue Jays with Ian from The Blue Jay Hunter tomorrow night on the UCB Radio Hour! Make your plans to join us!
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 HeroesLance 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) GoatsRyan 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% Looking for St. Louis Cardinals Tickets? TicketCity is your source for New York Yankees Tickets and World Series Tickets. Looking for Cardinals tickets? Stop by OnlineSeats. We’ve got Blues seats and even Rams games. Go to the coasts as well and catch a Celtics game or get Dodgers tickets. Referrals |
