the more I think this year isn’t really a fluke.

1st half: .326/.418/.610 1.028
2nd half: .341/.429/.631 1.061

His first half in 2003 was better than his second. 2002 is arguable.

From baseball-reference.com

Glaus had quietly raised his OPS+ to 133. I’ll take that.

he and Brendan Ryan are the exact same player on both sides of the ball. The only difference is that Izturis is a “veteran” and cost an extra 1.5M. That signing was still a bad one and has only been compounded by the continued use of 4 roster spots for middle infielders.

I’ve been considering Ludwick to be pretty disappointing to me defensively. Then I looked up his RZR in RF and he’s actually been quite good… just shows how hard it is to use the eyeball to judge an outfielder.

with Kelvin Jeminez being called back up….but, he always pitches good at AAA and everybody at Memphis is always impressed with his stuff ( I agree, and have wondered why he has had no success at ML level. He is also somewhat of a rubber arm.
I would not be at all shocked to see him at some point be a good bullpen pitcher. Probably a year or two down the road and for some other team other than Cards. I think he is just a little intimidated by ML hitters and lacks a little confidence. It could be due the Cards leaving him out on the mound to be shelled several times last year when he was not at his best. I think the Cards share my view, somewhat.

what they mean is that the bullpen’s mental makeup if fragile right now from all the sucking, so they’ve brought Kelvin back to show them “Hey! You can’t be any worse than this guy!”

We expect way too much out of this guy. I understand that it comes with the territory of being a superstar, but c’mon. The thing that sucks is that I am probably the worst at this. I can’t remember how many times I’d come into work and say this phrase, “Well, the Cards won last night. Ludwick hit a frickin bomb (probably went 1-4), Ank made a hell of a play in center, oh, and by the way, Albert did his job tonight too. He went 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBI.”

Keep it up El Cinco. You aren’t THE man, but you are a man among men.

My dad has said for a long time how much he liked Miles and I always cringed a bit but this season he has been one of the most consistent producers for this team

I, too, have been pleasantly surprised by Miles. I mean, really, who hasn’t?

However, I remain totally skeptical. Miles has always been pretty consistent in his suckitude:

OPS+
2004: 72
2005: 65
2006: 74
2007: 76
2008: 98 (so far)

Yeek. I’m understandably scared that he will fall back to Earth. What he’s having right not qualifies as a huge breakout year for him, even though all that means is that he’s pushing averageness.

every time Franklin gets the ball in the 9th.

or any team to carry 13 pitchers. It’s a worse decision than carrying 4 utility middle infielders. And putting Kelvin Jimenez on an active major league roster is a mistake to begin with.

I’ll scratch that first sentence. Last year the Cards, due to weather makeup games, didn’t have an off-day after August 27. They played 35 games in 34 days w/ a doubleheader on 9/15. W/ a crazy schedule like that, it’s understandable to feel the need to carry 13 pitchers. Of course, most of this time was spent w/ the rosters expanded so the team probably carried 14 or 15 pitchers along w/ the requisite number of position players. Under normal circumstances, it makes no sense whatsoever.

by letting him know there are two fresh relievers on hand when he gives up back-to-back homeruns in the fourth inning. It’s all about psychology.

So that means if you go up against him and you see three fastballs, you can expect the slider :P

I don’t want him to injure his arm doing it, but he’s going to need two really good pitches to be the dominant closer he can be. Everyone’s been impressed with his electric fastball, but if he can harness that slider, he’s got a pretty bright future.

And then there’s the control issues, but I guess that’s a different story.

that he was developing a change before he was brought up, but I don’t think he ever threw on for the big club. It would be nice have a potential third pitch for the days when he doesn’t have a plus fastball or doesn’t have a feel for the slider.

I think I read that here or at futureredbirds.NET

That’s a damn good analogy. I like it. I might steal it.

They, they blew it up…GOOD RAM them!

GOOD RAM them all to HECK!!!

Dirty Mouth? Clean it up with orbit

SON OF A BUSCUIT EATER…YOU SCUM BUM!!

“the batter’s box is my scoring position”

it’s because when he bats with RISP, teams are even more liable to pitch around him. Albert, for the most part, refuses to expand his strike zone. Rather, he takes the walk, Therefore, fewer RBIs.

there are runners to get home. You could find out if this assumption is true. The truth is out there….

is a tired one and others here have done quite well at debunking it. Presumably, b/c Albert may not reach 100 RBI he’s not having a good year? I’m not buying it.

From 2000-2004, Barry Bonds finished the year w/ 106, 137, 110, 90, and 101 RBI. Only twice during those 5 years did Bonds finish in the top 10 in the NL in RBI. In 2001 he finished 4th and in 2002 he finished 6th. During this period his OPS+’s were 188, 259, 268, 231, and 263. He was, indisputably, the best offensive player in the big leagues during this time period and yet was never close to leading the league in RBI. Why? Teams preferred walking him in RBI situations and he was willing to take the walks. Pujols, though he hasn’t quite reached that level, has become today’s Bonds (w/o all the rest…settle down, everyone!).

The bottom line is that, though some still place importance on RBI, his lack of RBI doesn’t diminish his importance at all. Though casual baseball fans and sportswriters who don’t know better will say that Pujols is faltering b/c he has fewer RBI, those who truly watch and understand the game know that he’s as good as ever … and maybe better. I’d like to see him have more RBI also, so that we don’t have to hear it from people like John Kruk or Mike Lupica who say that Pujols isn’t what he used to be or some other BS like that. But deep down, I think most of us realize that he’s having a tremendous season and is largely the reason why Ludwick has so many RBI.

I think Fuentes will cost too much to be worth it. It seems like it has been rumored that everyone and their brother are looking at him and Colorado would be foolish not to use that to drive up the bidding to absurd levels.

1. They aren’t “counting” on Kelvin Jimenez.

2. What exactly has Isringhausen done that was so horrible since he’s been recalled?

(Honest question. Since you’re in Bangkok do you even get to see the games, or are you simply looking at box scores and reading game threads?)

Oh, by the way. Franklin and Isringhausne ARE major league quality pitchers. Flores was a few years back, but I don’t think he is anymore and Jimenez is boarderline, with a slight chance of being okay.

Besides, the team has had two closers this year. Jason Isringhausen and Ryan Franklin. They’re 11 games over .500 and currently lead the Wild Card after 97 games.

is using salomon torres to close games — he’s just as ordinary as ryan franklin. and their setup corps is as shaky as the cards’ - david riske, guillermo mota . . . . . they’ve already dumped gagne and turnbow.

doesn’t mean the cards unit is good — but if milwaukee is a legit contender with its bullpen, then the cards’ bullpen doesn’t disqualify them. i hope they pitch better. . . .

He hits into a lot of double plays and can’t score from first and barely from second. Other than that, I love the dude and so does the team.

Ludwick, Ankiel, Schumaker, Duncan, Miles, LaRue, and Mather are all also getting on base 1/3 of the time or more (.333 exactly for Mather).

Of those guys, only Ludwick is getting on base as much as Molina, which is what I think you meant to say. Just clarifying.

Anyway, yeah, it’s cool that Molina never strikes out, but it just scares me all the more when he comes up in a potential double play situation.

The current bullpen just isn’t working. I don’t understand why Jíminez would get another chance, but we certainly aren’t exactly demoting Rivera and Nathan to make room for them. D’Artagnan has at least shown signs of effectiveness in his rehab appareances (4 IP, 2 H [both to righties], 1 BB, 3 K), in a very small sample size. If TLR is insisting on using Captain Ron as a setup man, I can’t agonize too much about Flores.

Yeah, but what is the alternative? Going out and trading? Hoping a Wellemeyer gets released somewhere? Seriously, I think it’s less about “giving a guy a chance” than it is “we need people to fill these roles and you are the best we have right now.”

Until sometime in July or August? A bat would certainly help but we’re not going to be playing October baseball without sound pitching, whether that’s acquiring somebody or the guys we currently have stepping up

Sweet.

that we’re getting the Sox game here in Houston. We almost always get the NL Central game. Still, it’s hard to be critical when the Padres are among the worst teams in baseball this year. I’m surprised the Cards’ game is even one of the options. If I were a TV exec, the Red Sox-Angels game sounds a lot better.

St. Louis MO KTVI 3

I made it !

this weekend?

I meant that as a reply to madding

I have a Cubs fan show me that picture a couple times every year. It’s totally fake….. right?

Didn’t he bat lefty? Why isn’t his earhole covered on the right ear? The only thing I can think of is maybe he was a pinch-runner and just picked up someone else’s helmet, or it’s not Marquis

I have Charter and I’m not getting it :(

that is fantastic. Thanks for pointing it out… How long is this going on?