in the words of Penn and Teller, BULLSHIT!

You know, it's not like A-rey hasn't been given the opportunity to establish himself. The guy has been given 37 starts in the last 2 seasons, with a 7-22 record and an ERA of about 5.50. I think the reasoning behind this decision is more based on Larussa/Duncan still thinking that in a month they'll be adding Pineiro and Clement back to the rotation and it's easier to remove a Thompson/Wellemeyer/Looper than it is Reyes because they'll have to send him down. Personally, I dream of a rotation with no Reyes/Thompson/Wellemeyer/Looper. I think all these guys are sub-.500 pitchers with ERA of 5.00 +. To put it simply, I don't think it really matters a whole lot because they all suck.

Let's hope we'll be talking about a July rotation of

Wainwright
Carpenter
Mulder
Pineiro
Lohse/Clement

A quick look at the career numbers of the Cardinals 10 starters:

Wainwright - 3.61 16-13
Looper - 3.88 46-44
Thompson - 4.00 13 - 8
Carpenter - 4.10 100-69
Mulder - 4.18 103-60
Clement - 4.47 87-86
Pineiro - 4.47 65-60
Lohse - 4.82 63-74
Wellemeyer - 4.98 9-10
Reyes - 5.42 8-23

Of course, I didn't post these stats to illustrate that Thompson and Wellemeyer are more deserving. I posted them to illustrate that Reyes just simply hasn't gotten the job done. I personally think his days wearing the birds on bat are over, but I'll always remember game 1 of the W.S. and that near no-hitter against the white sox.

that Reyes will go in the rotation, and Thompson or Wellmayer (or both) in the pen. They are much more useful there, due to the few starts for the 5th starter in the first month, and due to the uncertainty of some starting pitchers (Looper, Pinero).

GO CARDS!!!

http://tinyurl.com/2kjurd

http://tinyurl.com/2kjurd

My first post didnt show up, or I somehow missed it...so better not brag on me! : )

Interesting article...think Duncan will see it? Admit it if he did....?

and it is troublesome. However, I think if he can get it up to 88 he'll be on the mound in saint louis. Thats another thing about Larussa/Duncan: mis-evaluating injuries. uggh...just let them recover and if they don't get back to at least over 90 percent healthy then keep them out.

And I know it was just wishfull thinking, but I hoped Looper was out and Reyes and Thompson both made the roatation. It seams to me that bewtween the three of them it is Loop that should loose the spot, and go to the pen.

I don't really have a problem with Wellemeyer & Thompson in the rotation. The dumb thing is the fact that Looper has been a "lock" for the rotation despite the fact he sucked last year and he has sucked horribly in Spring Training. The guy was a so-so relief pitcher. He's an ugly starter with NO upside. Sigh.

It's been pretty obvious to anyone who's been coherent for the last 2 years or so that Duncan, in particular, and LaRussa also just doesn't like Reyes. They never have really had any intention of giving him major-league starts unless they were forced into doing it. It's astounding that beginning the year w/ Wellemeyer and Thompson in the rotation doesn't constitute being "forced" into starting Reyes, but I guess it doesn't.

What I don't get is this insistence that we not try him in the bullpen. There's this CW that says he's not going to do well in the 'pen but now...what do we have to lose? Could he not, w/ a hard fastball and a changeup make himself into a pretty good reliever? Why not? Is the injury risk still that great -- considering it's been about 5-6 years since he was injured? It makes no sense to send him to AAA to have him start games again. We know what he can do in AAA -- he's been much better than Thompson and Wellemeyer, BTW. Let's see if he can make himself into a setup man or possibly even a closer. What is there to lose?

seen from Looper is what you"ll get from him going foward, somewhat erratic with occasional good starts.

I would also like to see Reyes get a full opportunity to prove he can't be a winner. In his whole time with the Cards, he has had to feel like a bird in a cage or a monkey on a hot seat.

My only concern with Reyes is he works to slow and deliberate. I think he out thinks himself. He obviously has minor league confidence but hasn't gained major league confidence...and the Cards have seemed not to recgonized or done anything to help in the matter.

I think if Reyes could end up with a team that is not hunting all over hell and creation for for a starting five, and was given a slot to prove himself, he would slowly come around and be better than a league average starter.

I just hope he doesn't throw his arm away trying to impress before that happens. I wouldn't mind seeing Looper move back to the pen as long relief and ocassional spot starter and Reyes get his shot now. That would end all speculation and controversy.

of the article. As many know, I'm not exactly a huge Wellemeyer fan. I think he'd make an OK reliever, but he was poor as a starter last year. In the article, Duncan states, of Wellemeyer, "I like what I've seen so far with him. One of our concerns was (elevated) pitch counts. He's done a good job controlling those."

Shouldn't the concern w/ Wellemeyer be his career 5.62 BB/9 IP or his 4.10 BB/9 as a Cardinal last year? This spring he's walked 9 batters in 15 IP. That's 5.4 BB/9 IP -- entirely consistent w/ the rest of his career. I suppose those 4 pitch walks do provide the benefit of helping to keep the pitch count low!

there were rumors of WonderBrad being traded. THis could be an attempt to bolster Brads resume. What I am driving at is are they making Brad out to appear better, which in turn raises his value to other teams? If anything, Brad is the easiest replaceable cog in the machine. THere are several options in the minors that could take his place in the bullpen, and Reyes can take his place in the rotation. THis is a very plausible course of action. What I think is hilarious about this whole situation is how polar opposite they handled this situation compared to Ankiels. I'm not saying they were the same caliber, but they were both top prospects and they babied Ankiel and not Reyes. Kinda interesting if you ask me...

Reyes hasn't pitched particularly well. They send him down and keep Thompson.

whatever.

The real story is how absolutely god awful our rotation is. We are sending out 3 replacement level or worse starters in Looper, Thompson and Wellemeyer. The first two have no outpitch and the last one can't get the ball over the plate. That is a shit-tastic rotation. We haven't seen anything this bad in a while and it's going to be eye opening to fans when things start to go bad. It's not going to go a little bad -- it's going to implode in the apocalyptic sense.

I feel it's all about comparing their value. Maybe Thompson can put up slightly better numbers as a starter, but we KNOW he can pitch in relief, Reyes may turn out to be awful in relief. He's not a relief pitcher while Thompson is used to that role. So doesn't it only make sense to keep Thompson in relief (and I'm someone who enjoys seeing Thompson as a starter). This reminds me a lot of the Ryan Franklin situation. Sure, he could do better than some of our current starters, but we trust him in relief over a lot of the other guys, so we keep him there.

But then again, who knows, maybe Reyes will be a star set-up man by year's end . . .

This is why TRL should never have been brought back, the Cardinals have no shot of finishing .500, let alone competeing. As an organization the owe it to themselves to see what Reyes can do over a full season of consistent starts. If they never had any intention of doing this they should have dealt him months ago.

with the way this organization has handled Reyes. I am not going to argue statistical projections (which I personally think are WAY overused, especially for young players) I just like the guy. I like his 4-seam fastball and his changeup. I wish he had a better curve (and I believe it will come around). I am sad to see him go, but I do believe he will not start another game for the Cards. It's shame, but at least maybe he will get a fair shake somewhere else.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I have been a closet Miles fan for the last year and this is my official coming out. I understand why many don't like him and I respect that, but I like the way he plays the game. I would rather have him start at short than Izturis (I realize that isn't saying much).

There, I feel better. Go cards.

LaRussa announced today that Todd "Hey, let's try pitching around this guy" Wellemeyer will get the ball in the second game of the season.

Hope Wainer has a good first game or else we'll be staring down 0-2 and then probably 1-4 REAL quick.

... why people still think he has so much "upside" is beyond me. yeah, his AAA numbers were great and he pitched two good games in high leverage situations, but he's lost 3-5 mph on his fastball, he's lost control of his change-up, and he's never had a major-league quality breaking ball. not only are his performances sub-par, but his stuff isn't even any good anymore.

i also never understood the notion that this mystical "upside" quality is a reason to give someone a roster spot ahead of someone else who is playing better. give the job to the best player.

Thompson has simply been better than Reyes, for whatever reason, in the past couple of seasons. in 241 career IP, Thompson has an ERA+ of 109. in 206 IP, Reyes has an ERA+ of 81. yeah, i know, relieving is different than starting, yadda yadda yadda. but i'm not sure you can convince me that it's 28 ERA+ points different. in nearly 92 IP as a starter last year, Thompson put up a 4.66 ERA; Reyes pitched 104 innings with a 5.71 ERA. Reyes had twice as many Ks, but more BBs and HRs allowed. Thompson also averaged more innings per start despite not conditioning for the role.

to this point in their career Thompson has simply been a better pitcher than Reyes. he was two years ago, he was last year, and he has been so far this year. TLR and Dunc have noticed this, so they're giving the spot to Thompson. and why not? he's earned it. Reyes hasn't.

the way Reyes has been treated, and believe he just ain't very good? Because both statements are true about me. I don't know how many more chances he needs to show that he can go out for perhaps 3 starts in a row and just get through the first 3 innings without coughing up 4 runs. I hope one of two things happens: 1) Reyes gets traded and almost immediately becomes a stud, so incontrovertibly good that everyone can rub it in LaDuncs' faces over and over; or 2) he gets traded, gets treated fairly and yet never develops into anything special. One way or another, he ought to go somewhere else so we can just stop talking about it.

Strauss believes so. Figures about half of the MLB teams will have scouts watching the game tomorrow. If there is any time Reyes needs to pitch for himself this is it.