Pujols Leads Cards to Seventh Win

With tonight’s 6-4 win over the Houston Astros, the Cardinals take their third straight series to start the season.  With Milwaukee’s loss to Cincinnati, the Redbirds stand alone in first place in the Central.

The story in this one was Albert Pujols.  Coming into tonight’s game, Pujols had just one RBI, and no home runs.  Perhaps fueled by the earlier altercation with Houston’s Brandon Backe, Albert teed off on Astros’ pitching, going 3-4, with a walk, 2 home runs and 3 RBI.  Isn’t there a saying about not waking a sleeping giant?  This could be the time when Albert really starts to heat up.  I can’t wait until Backe has to pitch against the Redbirds.

Cardinal lead-off hitter Skip Schumaker broke out of his funk, getting on base four times, with three hits and a walk.  Each of the first three Cardinal batters scored twice.  Braden Looper was solid, and the bullpen was equally as effective.  Closer Jason Isringhausen recorded his league leading fifth save, and has yet to allow a run.  For more, check out the full recap and box score.

All in all, it was another entertaining series from Minute Maid.  It seems like every time the Cardinals visit Houston, you can count on seeing some good games.  Right now, however, it’s tough to gauge just how good this Cardinal team is.  Colorado didn’t play like the reigning NL champs, and both Washington and Houston are considered sub-par teams.  Next up, the Birds fly out to the Barry-less Bay, to face the Giants.  Although also considered a non-contender, San Francisco does have some good arms, something the Cards haven’t faced much of yet.

Reyes Gets the Win

Who would have thought?  The once mighty St. Louis Cardinals, clearly on the decline (according to the “experts”), start the 2008 season 6-2.  Maybe the ease of the April schedule should get some credit for the hot start. Obviously the outstanding pitching performances from the starting five weren’t going to last forever.  Most of us would have been happy to be a .500 club right now.  Either way, a win is a win.

Credit this one to Anthony Reyes.  After starter Brad Thompson ran up his pitch count in the third, he was only able to go four innings, striking out five, but leaving the game down 3-2.  Tony La Russa called upon Reyes for long relief, who faced only one over the minimum in three innings of work. His only blemish was a two out triple given up to the slumping Hunter Pence, before inducing a ground out from Lance Berkman.  Reyes now has half as many wins as he did in all of 2007.

Cardinal third baseman Troy Glaus provided the two go-ahead RBI on a double in the eighth.  Ryan Franklin pitched a scoreless bottom half, and Jason Isringhausen closed it out with his fourth save of the season in as many chances.  Here’s the full box score.

If tonight was an audition for Thompson to keep his spot in the rotation, he may have failed.  I’m not disappointed in his outing by any means, but it’s been reported that Joel Pineiro, after his rehab assignment, would slot into the rotation for Sunday, Thompson’s spot.  If that were the case, one would assume that Thompson joins the guys in the bullpen, and Kelvin Jimenez would be optioned back to Memphis.

The Cards have a chance tomorrow to start the year with three straight series wins.  Braden Looper gets the ball for the Redbirds, opposed by Houston’s Chris Sampson.

Finally, according to Matthew Leach, the Cardinals’ beat writer for MLB.com, lefty starter Mark Mulder is another step closer in his battle back to join the rotation.  Find that story here.  A healthy Mulder would displace another Cardinal starter, most likely Todd Wellemeyer or Braden Looper.  The way things have started, I’d be hesitant to replace any of them.

Dramatic Win for the Cardinals

The score was a lot closer than it should have been, but the Cardinals held on, beating the Nationals 5-4 for their third straight victory.  Braden Looper pitched a good game for the Cards, leaving after six, with a 5-1 lead.  The bullpen nearly surrendered that lead in the seventh.  Here’s the full recap and box score.

Offensively, it was nice to see rookie outfielder Brian Barton lead things off with a double, and it’s always great to see Rick Ankiel go deep.  I think my favorite part of his home run, however, was the call by Dan McLaughlin. Home team broadcasters have every right to be biased with their commentary, and Dan and Al Hrabosky are no exception.  They’re great.  On the disappointing side, Troy Glaus went 0 for 3, with two strikeouts and 4 LOB.  His defense wasn’t any better tonight either.  I guess it’s normal for a guy to be pressing as much as Glaus is right now.  He’s with a new team, with some big shoes to fill in front of the best fans in baseball.  I know he wants to impress, and I’m sure he will eventually.

It wouldn’t be fair to not mention Kyle McClellan.  If it weren’t for his performance, I’m not sure the Cardinals win this one.  Tony La Russa hasn’t wasted any time putting the kid in the toughest situations.  I’m glad to see they have so much confidence in him.

Adam Wainwright takes the ball tomorrow, hoping to continue to build on the success of the starting rotation.  Thus far, Cardinal starters have allowed only 2 runs in 22 2/3 innings.  A win tomorrow would cement the second straight series win.

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.

Cards Sign Lohse

Yesterday, I lobbied for the club to add starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, and several others agreed (see Bernie Miklasz, Viva El Birdos, and Rockin’ the Red).  Today, the Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal with the free agent, pending tomorrow’s physical.  The contract is worth a guaranteed $4.25 million, with $100,000 in incentives for each of 160, 170, 180, and 200 innings.  Joe Strauss has more on the story.

This is good news for the Redbirds.  They needed another starter that can take the ball every fifth day and eat innings.  Kyle Lohse is just that guy. The trick now is going to be getting him game ready in only three weeks’ time.

Lohse joins a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, and the best two of Todd Wellemeyer, Anthony Reyes, and Brad Thompson.  Four other starters are still trying to get healthy.  If all the cards fall into place, by mid-season the team will have a surplus of starting pitchers, and that’s not a bad problem to have.

According to Derrick Goold, backup catcher Jason Larue, a former teammate of Lohse, thinks the pitcher has great stuff, but needs direction.  If that’s the case, the Cardinals should be a perfect fit.  Under the direction of Dave Duncan and Yadier Molina, Lohse should be able to put it all together to become a more complete pitcher.

And how about the Cardinals’ brass?  Way to go Mozeliak and Dewitt for not dragging their feet on this one. Although we’re not ready to start printing playoff tickets just yet, I think the move will put Cards fans at ease for a little while.

Changing Landscape

The Cardinals starting rotation is in complete disarray, and the club may have finally decided to “look further” into adding help from the outside. The list of pitchers on the mend but “progressing nicely” is getting longer by the day.  Already Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Matt Clement won’t be ready for the start of the season, and now it seems that Joel Pineiro might not be either.

“I’m not assuming he won’t be there opening day,” said pitching coach Dave Duncan.  ”I’m assuming he won’t be there until he starts throwing again.”

Duncan goes on to say that he’s never gone this deep into spring with so much uncertainty surrounding the rotation.

Cards’ GM John Mozeliak has slightly changed his tune by inquiring about free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse.

“I think given the Pineiro situation, the landscape has changed to some degree,” said Mozeliak.

Read more on the state of the Cardinals staff from Joe Strauss, and hat tip to Kurt Hunzeker and Bird Land for the credit on the above logo.

Lohse, 29, pitched for both Cincinnati and Philadelphia last season, going a combined 9-12 with a 4.63 ERA.  For his career, Lohse is 63-74, with a 4.82 ERA.  View all of his stats here.

Without any additions, the Cardinals rotation consists of only two pitchers that started more than 20 games last season:  Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper.  Until the rehabbing pitchers return, the other three spots would fill out with some combination of Anthony Reyes, Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, or even one of the youngsters, Mike Parisi or Kyle McClellan.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with any of those pitchers, and I wouldn’t mind seeing one of them in the rotation, but not three.  It seems like adding a guy like Lohse would make sense.  When you think about it, Pineiro made only 11 starts in ‘07, and Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement combined for just 4.  That is a lot of uncertainty to be riding on.  Lohse made 32 starts last year, and has made 30 or more in five of the last six seasons.

“The key concern is how do we bridge the gap until we get our pitchers back,” Mozeliak said.

I say bring in Kyle Lohse.

Notes From Camp

The Cards were on the road today, playing the Nationals at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida.  Braden Looper pitched well in his first start of the spring, but the Redbirds lost 3-2.  Check out the box score from today’s game here.

Many players stayed back in Jupiter today, and as usual, Derrick Goold has all the info, along with some amusing anecdotes, including a few Cardinals shooting a series of commercials for the team’s new slogan: Play Like A Cardinal.  Read all about it over at Bird Land.

According to beat writer Matthew Leach, the Cards are still waiting for Tyler Johnson’s MRI results.  Tony La Russa acknowledges the importance of a healthy Johnson (Tyler).

“We’re not real deep there,” La Russa said of left-handed relievers,  ”so what Tyler does is important, and if we don’t have him, it’s a setback.”

The Cardinals have another road game tomorrow.  They’ll head to Ft. Lauderdale to face the Baltimore Orioles.  Anthony Reyes will get the start.  He pitched well last Thursday, throwing three scoreless innings against the Mets.  Now that the Cards have lost three in a row, I’d say they’re due for a win tomorrow.

Finally, the long anticipated release of MLB 08 The Show, for PS3, is this week.  I liked last year’s game a lot, and will probably end up getting this one too.  Check out one of the trailers for the game here, and some gameplay with the Cardinals and Cubs, here.  Some of the Cardinal players and coaches recently had their heads digitally mapped for the new games.  Check out the video.

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.