Cards @ Giants – 4/13

Update (8:15 pm):  Game over.  Cards lose.  Who’s to blame?  I guess no one, but maybe everyone.  You can’t win ‘em all, but I thought this one would be a tougher fought battle than it turned out to be.  

In the beginning, I thought it was brilliant for Tony La Russa to have Aaron Miles sacrifice the runner over to third in the first inning.  Normally, with no one out, you’d like to play for the big inning, but with Tim Lincecum on the hill for the Giants, scoring early might be the difference in the game.  Well, I was wrong. The Cards missed out on an early scoring opportunity, and Joel Pineiro’s first start of the year left a lot to be desired.  He allowed 6 runs on 10 hits in only 3 2/3 innings.

It was no surprise that the offense struggled against Lincecum, but you can’t help but wonder if the outcome would have been different if Albert Pujols and the rest of the regulars would have been in there. Ultimately, the Cards had scoring opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize.  That seems to be the theme here in the early part of the season.  Today’s final, Giants win 7-4.  Here’s the full recap and box score.

Now at 9-4, but still in first place by a half game in the Central, the Cards will take tomorrow off before hosting the Brew Crew for three games at Busch.  The upcoming series might be the first true test for Redbirds.  Luckily, the club won’t have to face Milwaukee’s best hurlers, Ben Sheets and Yovani Gallardo. With the front of the rotation starting for the Cardinals, I expect them to win two of three.  It’s times like this when I wish I was back in St. Louis.

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The Cards will try to end the road trip on a high note today, hoping to head back to St. Louis with a 10-3 record.  Joel Pineiro takes the ball for the Redbirds.  The Giants counter with young flamethrower Tim Lincecum.

Yesterday, I speculated that Albert Pujols would get the day off.  I had no idea that Troy Glaus and Cesar Izturis would also be out of the lineup.  Actually, I’m not too surprised.  In years past, Tony La Russa has been known to give several players rest on the same day, especially in the final game of a series.

Here’s today’s lineups:

St. Louis Cardinals

1. Skip Schumaker  LF
2. Aaron Miles  SS
3. Rick Ankiel  CF
4. Ryan Ludwick  RF
5. Chris Duncan  1B
6. Rico Washington  3B
7. Yadier Molina  C
8. Joel Pineiro  P
9. Adam Kennedy  2B

San Francisco Giants

1. Fred Lewis  LF
2. Eugenio Valez  2B
3. Randy Winn  CF
4. Bengie Molina  C
5. Jose Castillo  3B
6. John Bowker  RF
7. Rich Aurilia  1B
8. Brian Bocock  SS
9. Tim Lincecum  P

I’ll have more after the game, and if you missed it, check out this morning’s post.  Let’s go Cardinals!

Cards Can’t Spoil Astros’ Opener

The winning streak may have come to an end, but the streak of brilliant outings by the Cardinals’ starting staff remains intact.  What started out as a pitchers’ duel between St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer and Houston’s Wandy Rodriguez, ended with some offensive fireworks.

Wellemeyer took a two-hit shutout into the seventh before surrendering back-to-back home runs to Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee.  His night was through after seven, allowing the 2 runs on 5 hits, while striking out 7.  I was very impressed with his performance, even without the bloody nose.  Both starters were very good, but Rodriguez was slightly better.  The Cards managed to string only 3 hits against him in 7 1/3 innings.

The game really changed gears in the ninth, when the Cards rallied to tie it at three, but ultimately lost it on a Miguel Tejada walk-off in the bottom half off of rookie Kyle McClellan.  It’s certainly a blow to the young righty, but I feel worse for Wellemeyer.  He pitched a terrific game, save the solo home runs from two of the league’s best.  The Cards flashed the leather tonight too, with great plays from Aaron Miles, Troy Glaus, and Cesar Izturis.  Here’s the full box score.

So while we’re not raising our glasses to another Cardinal victory, we do have reason to lift ‘em up.  From Anheuser Busch:

In case you didn’t know, today April 7, 2008 is a solemn and joyous anniversary in the annals of beer history. It’s the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition for beer in the United States.

During the summer of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned on the platform that he would repeal Prohibition (he called it the “stupendous blunder”), put American workers back on the job and help end the Depression. 
So, of course it’s no surprise that he won the election by a landslide.

True to his word, with one stroke of the pen 20 days after taking office, he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, making 3.2% beer once again legal in the U.S. This meant that Lager Beer which was predominantly 
3.2% alcohol by weight would precede heavier beer styles and hard liquor by almost 8 full months.

So, at 12:01 a.m. on April 7, 1933, beer was back. 25,000 people celebrated here at our St. Louis Brewery that night and the rest of the country listened to a special live broadcast from August “Gussie” Busch, Jr. that was carried on radio stations coast to coast. Happy days were here again!

So today on the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, raise a glass to the wisdom and fortitude of great men like Gussie Busch and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with a Budweiser, the Great American Lager.

Click here to listen to the broadcast.

The Cardinals will try to even the series tomorrow, with Brad Thompson facing Shawn Chacon.  The first series loss of the year is on the line.

Cards Kill Mets

The Cardinals got off to a hot start against the Mets today in Port St. Lucie, scoring three runs in the first.  The Cards kept up the hot hitting throughout the game, scoring in five different innings, including a six run ninth.

The Cards’ bats were booming, scoring 14 runs on 21 hits.  Skip Schumaker, Brian Barton, Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel, and Rico Washington all had multi-hit games.  Ankiel and Colby Rasmus each hit home runs, and Chris Duncan contributed with a two RBI single in the first.

I was forced to watch the Mets’ telecast, but it turned out to be not as bad as I thought it would be.  The best comment from the New York announcers:  ”If you take the joy out of Reyes’ game, there’d be no Jose Reyes.”  Isn’t that the truth.

A few other observations from today’s game:

• El Duque was not good at all.
• Aaron Miles isn’t a third baseman.
• Cesaer Izturis was very sharp with the leather today.  Very sharp.
• Ankiel’s homerun was all torso, after he double clutched.
• Barton loves the first pitch.
• Bobby Knight was dressed in red, hanging out in the Mets’ dugout.
• Kyle McClellan is ready for the major leagues.
• Todd Wellemeyer looked good.
• Colby Rasmus will be in St. Louis sooner than you think.

14-4 was the final.  For a full recap of today’s game, along with the box score, click here.

I may even have a third post for you today, so keep your pants on.  Less than eight days now until the games count.  The Redbirds may surprise some people.

UCB Roundtable Discussion

The United Cardinal Bloggers Group is winding down the roundtable discussions, with one more debate to be posted on Monday.  Yesterday I posted three questions to the group for open discussion.  In addition to me, we had four other Cardinal bloggers participate:

• Daniel from C70 at the Bat
• Haedar from Redbird Ramblings
• Bryan from Rockin’ the Red
• Michael from Stan Musial’s Stance

Here are the questions, and everyone’s thoughts:

1.)  Yesterday, there was some talk about who you’ve been impressed with up to this point in Spring Training.  What about the opposite?  Which players are you surprised to see having a disappointing spring? Do you think they’ll turn it around?

Daniel:  There haven’t been a lot of disappointments.  There’s disappointment in the same old same old with injuries, as noted with Tyler Johnson still not throwing.  Izturis, to me, has been the biggest on-field disappointment, though.  I know he’s not much of a hitter, so the average wasn’t that disappointing, but the fielding?  He’s making an error a game, it seems like, and I know TLR is big on him, but right now, it’s not looking so good.

Haedar:  Gotta agree with Daniel and say Izturis.  He was never known for his offense, but he is supposed to be a high caliber defensive player and at least put up an average of .250, but he’s made tons of errors this spring and is hitting around .150.  Tony is being stubborn and  stating that he is the starting shortstop to avoid the “Spivey 2008″ tag.  If Cesar keeps this up, he will be relegated to the bench in no time.

Bryan:  Cesar Izturis has definitely been the most disappointing player this spring.  And to add to it, Tony La Russa has been equally as disappointing with his rigid position that Izturis is still doing well defensively and should still start.  I’m not sure Cesar has anything left in the tank anymore.  Molina’s slow start is disconcerting, but I think he’ll turn it around at some point.  Blake Hawksworth really disappointed me this spring, as this was a chance to make a good impression on the big league club.  I’m not too optimistic about him.

Michael:  Duncan’s horrible spring at the plate was a surprise to me.  Also to see Molina regress at the plate, after the progress he showed during last season, has been disappointing.  The other disappointment was Clement’s physical readiness not being what we expected/hoped it would be at the start of spring training. I hadn’t been aware of Izturis’ struggles with the glove until I saw your guys’ comments.

Daniel:  I’d like to see Molina hit better in the spring, but I wouldn’t say I was worried enough to call it a disappointment.  If it continues well into April, then that might be a different story.

Me:  Of course Izturis is the big one.  I was okay with the signing when it happened, and was willing to watch a sacrifice in offense for a defensive upgrade at short.  Turns out Izturis sucks with the glove too.  Tyler Johnson disappoints me too.  Last year, despite changing his jersey number and his hairstyle, he still got knocked around a bit.  I read that he had a baby, and was maturing quickly.  To hear that a little more work in the off season might have prevented his injury was very disappointing.

Daniel:  The only thing I’ll add is that I’m not sure that more work would have prevented his injury.  It might have helped, but this seriously sounds like a surgery thing coming pretty soon, in which case more work might have blown it out earlier or at best delayed the problem.

2.)  Opening Day is just ten days away.  There are a lot of new faces on this year’s team.  How would you grade John Mozeliak in his first off season as GM?  What were his best and worst moves?

Daniel:  Still a little hard to judge Mozeliak since a few moves were made while he was interim GM and some still haven’t really panned out.  All in all, though, I think he’s doing a pretty good job.  If he’s one of the reasons so many young guys are still in camp or got long looks this spring, he jumps up another notch.  His next big test will be the amateur draft.  If they can get a quality draft in, he’ll move even farther up.

Haedar:  Can’t really grade him accurately at this point but he’s made some good and some bad moves.  The two worst moves of the offseason were signing both Izturis and Miles to guaranteed deals instead of minor league deals with invitations to spring training.  The best move came a day or so ago locking up Wainwright long term.

Bryan:  I would give Mozeliak a B so far.  It was probably a B- before the Lohse signing, but the signing was such a good deal that he has to get a B.  On the other hand, the Miles re-signing was a very questionable move (and still is, considering Miles’ terrible spring so far).  Trading Rolen was good for the team, trading Edmonds was neutral (although it opened up a position in our already crowded outfield), and the Izturis signing was just plain bad.  Overall, however, I’m very satisfied with the direction this team is going.

Michael:  Mozeliak:  average or slightly better than average so far, but it’s still too early to tell.  I’m not a big fan of Lohse after watching him get torched in Cincinnati for the past few years, but with our starters in disarray again Mozeliak didn’t have much choice but to sign another pitcher.  He at least got Lohse on the relative cheap.  Hell, he can’t be any worse than Kip Wells, right?  Managing to move Rolen for more than a used glove and a bucket of baseballs was a victory.  The Miles signing, I agree with all, is a head scratcher unless viewed through the “Tony wanted him” prism.  Signing Wainwright yesterday was a great move.

Daniel:  The middle infield situation definitely is Mozeliak’s biggest drawback.  Especially when he himself admits he’d have signed Adam Everett if he had thought he’d been nontendered.  (Though that wouldn’t have helped with the offense, it’d done wonders defensively.)  Adding Miles to the mix was really unnecessary save to appease La Russa, I’d guess.

Me:  Overall:  B+.  With the exception of Miles and Gonzalez, I think the Cards made all the right moves. The Molina and Wainwright deals are by far the best.  Payroll flexibility is much better than it has been in recent years.  We’ll see what they do come draft time.

3.)  How much better (or worse depending on your answer to question 2) is this team compared to last year’s squad?  How many wins will the Cards have at the end of the season, and where do they finish?

Daniel:  I think this squad might be a little better than last year.  I think the pitching will be better, at least on the whole.  The offense is pretty intriguing.  If Kennedy hits like he has this spring and Molina hits like he did last year, there’s only Izturis as a “OK, nothing is happening here” spot in the lineup.  I’m still holding out hope for a .500 season.

Haedar:  I think the starters are a little better, the offense is better, or at least has more potential to put up better power numbers, but the bullpen will not be as good because people will be moving in and out and therefore some integral parts will not know their main role.  I think most bullpens can be decent as long as the guys in it know what their main role is and in what situation they are called upon to pitch.  With a lot of injured players coming back from the DL, there is going to be a lot of shifting around and some pitchers will not get comfortable in their temporary role.

Bryan:  I think the team is better than last year, but a few injuries could really turn this season into a disaster.  I think 80-85 wins is a very optimistic prediction, but I’ll go ahead and make it.  I’m confident in our outfield and returning pitchers.  Still don’t think that’ll be good enough for anything but third.

Michael:  Even with all the moves the team has tread water overall since last season ended.  The bullpen is still a plus but didn’t improve; the starters overall are still a minus and didn’t improve; the lineup is a wash; the bench is slightly better.  It seems all our eggs for a good team are in the respective rehab baskets of Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement.  I expect they’ll finish within +0, -10 games of .500 with the team they have now.

Haedar:  I think the Cardinals’ record will get worse before it gets better.  That’s to the tune of 75 wins this season.

Me:  I think it depends on how you look at it.  Before Opening Day ‘07, the Cards looked good.  The pitchers all had good springs (even Wells), and no one thought they’d finish under .500.  A ton of injuries changed the outlook dramatically.  I’m optimistic about the offense.  I think the potential to score a lot more runs is there.  The starting pitching may be a wash, and I agree that the bullpen could be worse this year.  I’m also wondering if the clubhouse will miss Edmonds, Rolen, and Eck.

That’s it.  Lots of good points from everyone, and I’m sure they’ll be a lot more in the next installment.  I love talking baseball!

Pujols’ Elbow Holding Up

The Cardinals traveled south to face the Baltimore Orioles in Ft. Lauderdale today.  The game comes after a rare off day, where manager Tony La Russa whittled his roster down to maintain only a couple of question marks.  With the final outfield spot merely a technicality, only one spot on the 25-man roster isn’t accounted for.  The final right-handed relief role remains a competition between Kelvin Jimenez, Cliff Politte, Chris Perez, and Kyle McClellan.

Brad Thompson got his first career Grapefruit League start today, going four innings, and allowing two runs on three hits with two strike outs.  The Cards provided plenty of offense for Thompson, finishing the game with 12 runs on 15 hits.  Cardinals’ slugger Albert Pujols put notions of an injured elbow to rest with a productive day at the plate, including a two-run homer in the first, a hit-by-pitch in the second, and an RBI single in the third.

Other highlights include scoreless innings from both Jason Isringhausen and Ryan Franklin.  Leadoff candidate Skip Schumaker continued to make his case, going 3 for 6, with 3 runs scored.  Although I’ve been enjoying ripping on the Cardinals’ new shortstop Cesar Izturis lately, he did manage to go 2 for 4, with a stolen base and 2 runs scored today.  No errors from Cesar today either.  What should I bitch about?  The Cards won 12-3.  Here’s the box score.

It appears Izturis is the starter, regardless of how poorly he performs (or how well Brendan Ryan performs). According to Derrick Goold, Tony La Russa has named Izturis the Opening Day starting shortstop.  Read the full story here.

The Cards are back at Roger Dean tomorrow.  Braden Looper gets the ball, as he tries to get back on track against the Marlins.

Reyes, Cards Win In Green

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  It’s days like today that I miss living in a drinking town like St. Louis.  People here in Miami don’t even know it’s a holiday.

Anyway, the Cardinals played host to the Braves for the second straight day today.  The Cards wore the traditional green jerseys and caps, but didn’t need any luck to beat Atlanta 4-2.  Anthony Reyes got the start, and pitched four solid innings, allowing no runs on three hits, and striking out two.  On offense, Rick Ankiel drove in two with a double, and Aaron Miles and Joe Mather each had an RBI as well.  For those still keeping track, shortstop Cesar Izturis committed his sixth error today, and was 0 for 2 at the plate.  Here’s the full box score.

As predicted, with another round of cuts today, the Cards sent six players back to minor league camp, including top prospect Colby Rasmus.  Joe Mather was also sent down, leaving Brendan Ryan to make the team out of camp.  The final outfield spot is technically still open, but as discussed briefly on Saturday, it will go to Rule 5 pick Brian Barton.  Matthew Leach has more on today’s cuts.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day.  I need to go find some green beer!

Ankiel Powers Cards Past Dodgers

In the Cardinals’ final visit to legendary Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, the Redbirds rode Rick Ankiel’s two home runs and four RBIs to their second straight win. Ankiel improved his batting average to .368.  The final go-ahead runs were actually scored on a wild pitch, but without the damage done by the Cardinal outfielder, the Dodgers win.

The Cardinals’ new shortstop Cesar Izturis went 1 for 3, improving his average to a whopping .125.  Looking not so Gold Glove like, he also committed his fifth error of the spring.  He now has more errors than hits.  Somehow, however, he’s still penciled in as the opening day starter, while the younger and cheaper Brendan Ryan is turning heads with his play but is still vying for a spot on the roster.  With just over two weeks until Opening Day, I’m anxious to see how this one plays out.

The final score today was 6-4 Cards.  View the full box score here.

Tomorrow should be a good one.  Adam Wainwright will take the mound for St. Louis, with Johan Santana slated to pitch for the Mets.  The game will be televised on SNY.

Finally, a couple of quick links.  If you’re apprehensive about the Cardinals’ new president, you’re not the only one.  Check out what Cardinals Diaspora has to say about it.  And the folks at Fungoes applaud GM John Mozeliak on the Lohse signing.  Find it here.

Cards Lose, Johnson Shelved

The Cardinals hoped to extend their winning streak today in a game against the Florida Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium.  Although the pitching was good, the Redbirds lost 3-2.  I was at work all day, and didn’t get to see or hear the game, but I did follow along with the box score.

Todd Wellemeyer started the game, and was followed by Brad Thompson, Adam Ottavino, and Tyler Herron.  The Marlins only picked up three hits.  All three runs were unearned as Cesar Izturis and David Freese combined for three errors.  Rick Ankiel and Brendan Ryan each had a pair of hits, while leadoff hitter Colby Rasmus went 0 for 3 with a walk.

The biggest news of the day came from the bullpen, when lefty Tyler Johnson was shut down after feeling tightness in his shoulder while warming up.  He was evaluated by the team’s medical staff, and never entered the game.  Johnson is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday.

“Any time you stop a guy from throwing, it’s a concern,” said head trainer Barry Weinberg.  ”Now we just want to make sure that there’s no significant issue.”

Matthew Leach has more on the story.

If Johnson has to miss considerable time, it would seem to open the door for one of the other left-handed relievers in camp, possible Randy’s brother Ron Flores or new Cardinal Ron Villone.

Tomorrow is the second “Fins and Feathers” game of the spring.  This time the Cardinals will be the home team.  Youngster Kyle McClellan will get the start in place of Joel Pineiro.  

2008 Team Projection

As we all know, the Cardinals finished under .500 in 2007, with a record of 78-84.  It was the team’s first losing season since 1999, when they went 75-86.  Most Cardinal fans aren’t expecting a World Championship in ‘08, and many aren’t holding out for a division title either.  I’d guess most of us would be happy to be in the hunt come September, and finish with at least 81 wins to avoid back-to-back losing seasons.

Springtime always brings new optimism and a clean slate.  Every team is even.  Every team is a legitimate contender.  Then Baseball Prospectus releases their team projections, based on PECOTA, a sabermetric system for predicting player performance.  The system is rather accurate each year, and picked the Cards to finish third behind Chicago and Milwaukee last season.  They’ve done it again.  This time, they predict a 72-90 record for this year’s Birds, finishing only ahead of Pittsburgh in the division.  For some, the optimism dwindles.  Not for me.

Sure there’s a lot of question marks penciled throughout the Cardinals’ roster.  We don’t know what to expect from guys like Clement, Mulder, Reyes, Izturis, Kennedy, and maybe some others.  What if Albert needs surgery and is shut down for the year?  What if Looper or Pineiro can’t continue to improve as major assets in the rotation?  What if Ankiel and Duncan can’t better their plate discipline?  The questions could go on.  They way I see it, however, is that if a few things can go right this season, the 2008 Cardinals will be a better team than the one that lost 86 games last year.  Don’t count this club out before the games are played.  Look for a few surprise performances from some unexpected contributors.  No team in the Central is going to run away with the division.  I’m still optimistic.  The Cardinals will contend.

Check out the full projected standings from Baseball Prospectus here, and view each of the Cardinal players projections here.

More Notes and Links

First, I should point out that yesterday was also the birthday of Cardinal Hall of Famer, Dizzy Dean.  I thought about working it into yesterday’s post, but didn’t want to cloud the message I was trying to convey about Albert Pujols.  Check out Dean’s Cooperstown credentials here.

Speaking of Pujols (again), the folks at Cardinals Diaspora pointed out a Tigers blog that gave a nice defensive analysis of all first basemen, and I wanted to pass it along.  Of course Albert ranks at the top.  The entry, by Lee Panas, can be found here.  Thanks CD.

Mathew Leach’s weekly segment, “Around the Horn” is back again.  This time, he looks at the middle infielders.  Check it out here.

The middle infield was also the subject of a question I posted to Jeff Gordon in his Monday chat session over at the Post Dispatch.  Here’s the transcript:

Mike: Greetings Gordo - I’d like to know your thoughts on the middle infield situation. Now that Aaron Miles is back, does this mean that Brendan Ryan starts the year in Memphis? I see only three spots available with Izturis, Kennedy, Miles, Ryan, and Jimenz competing. Is it possible that Izturis pulls a Spivey, and doesn’t make the club? Thanks! Mike from Miami, FL

Jeff Gordon: Anything is possible. Izturis has a solid defensive reputation, so I believe he stays. Jiminez is the longshot. Miles offers Kennedy insurance; he could play a lot if Kennedy is really finished. Ryan’s versatility will make him a strong candidate — but if both Izturis and Kennedy hit well enough to start, he could go back to Memphis as the full-time shortstop. Mozeliak, appropriately, created lots of competition here.

Link.

Finally, Commissioner Bud Selig received a contract extension today.  He’ll be in office through at least 2012.  ESPN has the full story.  I’m not sure of my feelings on this yet, but feel free to leave your own comments.