What to do when the best RH hitter of our generation returns to the lineup?

by giveml on Jun 19, 2008 6:23 PM EDT

I am not sure if El Hombre is eligible to return to the lineup on 6/25 or 6/26, but his activation will bring some interesting decisions along with it. First, if he is activated on schedule there will be either three or four DH games left, so the roster mix will probably stay at 13 pitchers. The easy move would be just to send down the current occupant of the Reyes/Thompson/Parisi spot, but that is unlikely unless the pitching staff really performs well on the trip. More likely is that Boston and Detroit will beat the staff up pretty good and we will need all the bodies, especially if the Colonel (who clearly should have been disabled) is unavailable.

If no pitchers are sent out or disabled when EH returns then a position player would have to be taken off the active roster. Barring a dramatic change in performance, the sensible choice is to send Chris Duncan back to Memphis in hopes that he will eventually get his stroke figured out. However, since it really made no sense that Duncan was brought up when EH got hurt, it is unlikely the sensible move will be made. So far, Duncan has hit .161/.188/.161/.349 (yes, that’s a .349 OPS) since his return from Memphis. Only 32 PAs, but pretty evident he needs to continue to play everyday in hope of finding something. I wish I had some inkling that there was some sort of physical problem, ‘cause his continuing struggles are making me lose hope that he will turn around. SleepyCA, I know you are optimistic on Duncan, give me some reason to be.

If the sensible move isn’t taken and Duncan (plus 13 pitchers) stay on the roster then there only seem to be four options, starting with my favorite:

DFA Kennedy and go with three MIs, then give Barden a shot when we go back to playing real baseball again.
Make some sort of trade that creates an everyday starter at one of the MI positions or in LF
Ship Barton back to Cleveland
DL someone (Barton, maybe?)

I think the action taken will show us a little bit about who is really making the decisions on this team. It is looking more like TLR is in charge, but maybe Mo will surprise me and insist Duncan return to Memphis.

If Duncan stays it is pretty safe his tour of duty at 1B is over, so how much does he play and at whose expense? Does Ank the Crank become less than a regular? Does Lud the Stud get the platoon treatment again? Does Skip and his .949 OPS over the last 28 days lose some ABs? Do we go with small sample size “matchups” to determine playing time?

Come on, MO, show me you have an option I haven’t considered!

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

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13 pitchers...

as a general rule, is pretty ridiculous, IMO. Any plan that involves DFA Kennedy can’t be all bad though.

by mikedallas45 on Jun 19, 2008 6:27 PM EDT 0 recs

agree

just figure that’s what TLR will do

Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...

by giveml on Jun 19, 2008 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Will anyone continue to give a crap

about this season if Duncan takes ABs away from Lud?

At least we don’t really have to worry about that happening. Tony can do some really silly things sometimes but he isn’t stupid.

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jun 19, 2008 7:10 PM EDT 0 recs

cd to down the river

i got hammered on the main page for suggesting that cd go back to memphis, but he needs some confidence and soon. he’s just in a death spiral at the plate based on his results and body language. i believe ankiel is not far behind for the same reasons, but is out of options. lb is correct in his assessment that more patience, less swinging at balls, and, hopefully, more walks is the formula they need to execute. i’m just not sure doing the same thing day in day out will get these guys going. if cd can go back to memphis and get his mojo back, he should go. certainly there is a ripple effect when albert gets back, but there is only one spot in the batting order in front of albert. if santa could become fearsome, we could get one more spot in the order that will see more good pitches. just too many holes in the lineup now to be consistently effective.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, perhaps you haven't grasped the situation!

by sportsman on Jun 19, 2008 8:13 PM EDT 0 recs

......that was a mild hammering….compared to last year!

Duncan needs to go farther than Memphis…he needs to join Kennedy, Reyes (I swear I’ll never type that name again), Villone, Miles and about 4 AAA players either in a new AL city or in DFAville. None of that is going to happen. Now as long as all we’re doing is coasting with the cental division waiting to see who rises or sinks….or stinks.

Until the 40 man roster is overhauled, I dont see anything on the immediate horizon that makes me hopeful that the holes in the batting order (or in the pitching staff) will be addressed anytime soon, w/ or w/o Pujols. As long as certain players get a few hits, it will allow LaRussa to justify trotting them out. We’re staying where we’re at, waiting for the return of the jedi masters.

by cardschinmusic on Jun 20, 2008 6:55 AM EDT 0 recs

why the hate for Miles?

he produces like a utility IF is supposed to produce (if not better)

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jun 20, 2008 4:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

No hatred for Miles at all…and speaking of hammering, you should have seen the hammering I took defending Miles (as the 25th player) LAST season from HCL and several of the VEB HPPs. My thoughts re: Miles this season is that if Kennedy, Ryan and Izturis are onboard for the season (and it looks like they are), there has to be a bat with some pop in it somewhere in the middle infield and it may have to come from a utiilty man like Barden. I also believe Miles has some value in a package deal to teams that might need a utility infielder in the deal for exactly the reasons you state above.

Maybe Izturis’ injury will bring Barden up or some change to the MI and lineup??

If Miles stays Im real ok with that, but finding some pop somewhere in this lineup seems to be a major need and has been since the close of ST. I got a feeling Duncan aint gonna find it. Hope he makes a liar out of me in game 2 against the Boston Bean Sox.

by cardschinmusic on Jun 21, 2008 5:25 AM EDT up 0 recs

I agree with you on that pop

and hate probably wasn’t the best word. Miles might be winning me over, but that might just be because he isn’t the worst offensive option on the team anymore. Now if Tony would only use him as that Utility Infielder.

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jun 21, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Play him...

And who really cares how we make room, honestly? There are any number of options, but sending Duncan down when there are DH opportunities coming up yet isn’t a good choice—he should be taking those AB’s and trying to get out of the funk he’s in at the MLB level.

I’d just DFA Kennedy - but I’m past the point of thinking that is going to happen when he’s been sporting a sub .400 OPS for two straight months. They should just send a pitcher down - carrying 13 pitchers just doesn’t make a lot of sense IMO.

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Jun 20, 2008 9:54 AM EDT 0 recs

in an otherwise exciting year

the main thing that DOES irritate me is the thing mentioned above (paraphrasing) about Tony’s ability to wiggle and diggle and get reasonable production out of a band of AAAA players and/or over the hill-ers.
Thus, Kennedy manages to slap two base heads (bloopers and seeing-eyes notwithstanding) just when you think he had played himself out of a roster spot. Moreover, two games later Kennedy is starting at 2b again - AND hitting in the 2-hole for crap’s sake - even tho maybe B Ryan went 3 for 4 the night before.
Thus, Izturis makes a semi-sparkle play one night (which any honest person would admit that Eck would NOT have made) and this keeps Itz on the roster for more 9-hole hitting duty (only because there is no 10-hole in the line-up).
Thus, the basic perfectly fine trio of Schu, Ank and Luddy, across the outfield, also gets (head scratch, head scratch) tinkered with too.

I don’t mean to sound like an anti-LaRussa guy; what I’m trying to say is we have too many C+ grade players (Itz, Kennedy, sometimes Ank and Schu and Duncan) who manage to do just good enough to not flunk the course. And LaRussa keeps seeing the B+ growth side instead of realistically seeing the C- inevitability. Especially Kennedy.

by the Tewk on Jun 20, 2008 5:48 PM EDT 0 recs

+1

if we put all the attributes of our whole MI brigade into a pot, we’d have what it takes to make 2 real ML MI’ers. i’m ok with miles as #25 on the roster (and 13th in the bullpen), but we already have too many of those and some of them, like ryan and barton, don’t seem like they are being actively evaluated. surely they need to know soon if they want to re-sign iz2, and what they need to know about barton. the fact that barton was passed over for the rh dh in favor of a AAA call-up makes me wonder what they are thinking, both in the front office and on the field.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, perhaps you haven't grasped the situation!

by sportsman on Jun 23, 2008 11:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Why do you hate Barton?

And how do you DL someone who isn’t disabled?

by bornin82 on Jun 25, 2008 12:40 PM EDT 0 recs

If you read the post carefully

it lists the negative options for Barton as possible outcomes if the Cardinals don’t do the sensible thing and send Duncan down. Since this post Izturis has been DLed and Stavinoha brought up. Pretty likely Stavinoha goes down when El Hombre is activated.

I love Barton and think he has a bright future. But if you keep 13 pitchers, won’t DFA Kennedy, won’t send Duncan down, and don’t make a trade, what’s left? I chose Barton because TLR doesn’t like to play him and there didn’t seem to be any other choices.

See Isringhausen, Jason if you want to understand how you can disable someone who isn’t injured…

Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...

by giveml on Jun 26, 2008 11:47 AM EDT up 0 recs