Recently in Tyler Johnson Category

Continuing to Falter

Last night's game was one the Cardinals really needed to win, in my opinion.  Fresh start, home game, opponent the Cards usually beat, everything was in their favor.  And when Albert Pujols ties it up with a long ball, you have to feel the tide has turned.

Instead, they leave the bases loaded in the ninth and the bullpen implodes in the tenth.  The latter is not that surprising, given the way the relievers have gone about their business this year.  A lot of the good fortune from last year is evening out this year.  Ron Villone had been pretty good most of this year, but he got the Goat label from last night.  When you face 8 batters, six of them reach base and four score, that's a rough night.

I thought Pujols would probably get the Hero tag, but after reading more about the game (I didn't get to see it), it's pretty obvious that Troy Glaus should get it.  Hitting one of those rare three-run home runs and going 2-5 is a good sign out of him.  Hopefully he'll have a few more home runs by this time next month.

The Cards have to shake that off and get back at it tonight.  If Joel Pineiro is on like he was last time, there's a solid chance they'll make a game of it.  Pineiro pitched six strong innings against the Brewers before faltering in the seventh.  Still, it was more the bullpen's fault he didn't get a win than his own.  Unfortunately, a number of Pirate hitters have had good success off of him in the past.  However, he did defeat the Bucs back on April 24, when he threw seven innings of one-run ball.

Paul Maholm goes for the Cardinals, meaning the Redbirds face yet another lefty.  Albert Pujols and Jason LaRue have had the most success against him, which may mean Tony sits Yadier Molina tonight and has him ready for the afternoon game tomorrow.  Maholm hasn't gone against the Cardinals this year.

Just taking a guess at the lineup.........

Barton
Miles
Pujols
Ludwick
Glaus
Ankiel
LaRue
Pineiro
Izturis

Check with Bernie's forum or the CardsClubhouse game thread later to see if I come at all close.

A few things to hit around the horn:

*John Mozeliak apparently is willing to be accessible.  He recently had a chat on MLB.com and today he'll go for his second chat at the PD website.  Somebody ask him when he's getting a blog.  He can join us in the United Cardinal Bloggers!

*It's a chat doubleheader at the PD, with Cardinal writer Joe Strauss taking his weekly turn in the tank after Mozeliak's done.

*Apparently the Cubs may sign Jim Edmonds.  I think Will Leitch summed it up quite well:  "It is rare to find anything that Cubs fans and Cardinals fans agree on. The horror of Jim Edmonds in a Cubs uniform is one of them."  Along with the Cub blogs in that Deadspin story, you can also see what fellow Blogs by Fans member Cobra Brigade thinks about it by following this link.  It does beg the question, though: Will Jim still get a standing O when he comes to St. Louis in a Cub uniform?  I think probably so.  John Mabry always was welcomed warmly, even when in Cub blue.

*I don't think anyone's really shocked that Tyler Johnson needs surgery.  I definitely wasn't.

If I get a chance, I'll do another version of Around the Blogs this afternoon, see what people are saying much better than me.

Dashing Reyesd Hopes

First off, a happy Easter weekend to all of you.  I've said before this year that Lent is the spring training for Christians, which makes Easter our Opening Day.

Secondly, the UCB roundtable continues.  Here's Thursday's, brought to you by Rockin' the Red, and Mike on the Cards should have yesterday's transcript up soon.  I'll be posting my questions soon (if I can come up with something we haven't covered yet!) and should have the transcript up Monday or Tuesday.

The biggest story today seems to be that Brad Thompson will be the fifth starter, supplanting Anthony Reyes.  This just seems like another blow to Reyes, who seems to have twerked off someone in the organization.  (That someone likely wears sunglasses and sits in the dugout, but that's just a guess.)  Yes, Thompson has had a pretty good spring.  A 2.38 ERA and less than a hit an inning does look pretty good compared to Reyes's 4.85 with 17 hits in 13 innings.

Reyes has had four starts this spring.  Two of those he didn't allow a run, including his last outing.  He has 11/2 K/BB ration, which seems pretty good to me.  Almost a strikeout an inning.  (Thompson is 10/3, which is good as well, of course.)  When you look past the ERA, the numbers for the two are pretty similar, especially since Thompson has only started one game this spring.

I guess what bugs me, besides the fact that I think Thompson is a great relief pitcher when he's on, but he's not necessarily a starter, is this quote from Duncan:

"For that role, you aren't sitting on the edge of your chair not knowing what's going to happen every time he goes out there."

Yet, for all of that, the Cardinals continue to throw Braden Looper into the starting rotation.  He of the 7.98 spring ERA, 7 walks to 6 strikeouts, and 20 hits in 14.2 innings.  And he's a better option that Anthony Reyes?  Looper was almost the definition of "edge of your chair" last year after his strong start.  Either he was going to pitch well or he was going to blow up.  You never quite knew.

Someone, I think it was at VEB, mentioned that they thought the comments earlier in the week by LaRussa saying that they wanted to make the "least disruptive" decision meant that they'd probably start Thompson and move him to the bullpen when Clement, Pineiro etc. were ready to go, because that'd be less disruptive than sending out Reyes then.  Seems like something this group would do.

I thought over the winter that Reyes might need a new organization, though I was glad when he wasn't traded, figuring they'd make a commitment to him.  The first thought might still be the correct one.

In other news, apparently Brendan Ryan has gone and gotten himself hurt, which means that D'Angelo Jimenez might actually make the Opening Day roster.  Hopefully this injury won't give LaRussa an opportunity to send Ryan down to the minors to "catch up" while carrying another weak but veteran infielder on the major league squad.

I see Ron Villone has his ERA in the 1 range.  He could be in the Percival/Springer mold as a veteran who revives his career in the Cardinal bullpen.  Which will be good, since apparently Tyler Johnson won't be around anytime soon.  (Anyone want to lay odds on when they announce he needs surgery?)

Today's game has a lot of interest on the mound.  First off, Kyle Lohse makes his Cardinal debut, which is enough to get bloggers ready to go.  Then, apparently, Mark Mulder may face hitters.  That could give us some information on how long he's going to be out.  If a good Mark Mulder joins this club in May, the people who are selling on the Cardinals might get a surprise.  (EDIT: They were minor league hitters, but the results looked pretty nice.)

The game is on the Cardinal Radio Network and apparently FSN as well.  Looking forward to seeing the results!

A Little More Conversation

So yesterday, I mentioned that Looper was hitting the wall. I didn't realize that he was going to hit it going 60 mph. The FSN was again not being shown down here last night (something I will definitely have to check on if it continues after my vacation) so I was spared the graphic violence that was Pittsburgh against the Cardinal pitching staff. Even Jack Bauer winced under that kind of torture. Mike Maroth has likely thrown his last pitches for the Cardinals, as a move will have to be made this weekend to activate Tyler Johnson. If he won't accept an assignment to Memphis, I'd think he would be DFAd. Something has to give, even in this clubhouse where mediocre results are considered a positive step.

Also, in the game thread at the Clubhouse yesterday, I tossed in this note: "The Pittsburgh starter is 0-3 with an ERA about 7. This typically means the Cardinals will struggle to get three hits in the game." Sometimes I wish this team wasn't quite as predictable as it is.

Speaking of predictable, I had to laugh at the line in the official site's game preview: "Opposing Reyes will be Shane Youman, a pitcher who has two qualities that suggest he'll have a good chance against the Redbirds: he's left-handed, and they've never seen him before." There's no doubt left-handed soft tossers drive the Cards up the wall. This has been an organizational weakness for at least 4-5 years, even during the strong 2004-2005 campaigns. When my son (now 2 1/2) started throwing balls, he did it left-handed (sadly, I think he's moved over to righty status now) and I was fairly sure that he could keep the Cards down for six innings as well.

I've got hope, though. I believe Anthony Reyes can come out and take care of this Pirates team and the Cards will be able to score enough to win the game for him. We've got an early start (before noon here in the Central time zone) so we'll find out soon enough, but my gut feeling is that Reyes knows he's pitching to stay out of Memphis, because even with Maroth's struggles, you can't rule out this regime sending him back down if he struggles.

I don't usually do predictions, but I'm saying a 3-1 Cardinal win in a very quickly played game.

Programming note: I am leaving tomorrow on a week-long trip, hitting St. Louis tomorrow and then spending the rest of the time in Ohio (Reds country). I don't expect to have much internet access or be able to keep up quite as much with the Cards, so don't expect another post here until the 12th or 13th, somewhere in there. Hopefully the Cubs will be out of first place and the Cards closing in on the top spot by time I get back.

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]