I got too excited/carried away about Mulder, but although my excitement about Carp’s return is more muted, I am encouraged that the successful return rate for pitchers from TJ surgery is over 90%, where Mulder’s injury is less than 20%, or something like that.

Let’s go Cards!!!

Carp said after the game that he had pretty good command on all his secondary pitches. However, he had very little command of his fastball. In the side session he had thrown before this start, he had great command and everything was really good. Said tonight, he felt like he was just throwing to a giant circle and trying to get the fastball to go through that.

Said he experienced no pain, which made him happy. He said that when he had shoulder surgery, he had command of all his pitches but no strength. This time, it is the exact opposite.

Says that he will take his time and make sure he has ‘all his pitches working’. He is in no rush to get to St. Louis if he can’t control what he is throwing with the fastball.

However, once he has command of the fastball, he agreed that would put him on a fast track back to the rotation.

let’s see how his arm feels tomorrow.

this season is just getting to be ridiculously awesome after this weekend: the sweep (Miles walkoff grand slam! amazing comebacks!) and now the good news about Carpenter’s outing. very cool (unlike my apartment right now)

89-91 touching 92 is pretty good for his first start. Get some arm strength back and he’ll return to the 90-93 reaching back for 94 maybe 95/6 with adrenaline he was pre-injury…like everyone else says just to get that pinpoint command back. And even then, with his cutter/curve combo (and maybe with the time off even rediscovering the changeup!) he can be very effective. Command comes back=dominance again. I’m kinda excited now.

I did this before but especially excited for ‘09, we look to be a dominant team:

Waino, Carp, Pineiro, Garcia, WellemeyerReturnsToForm?/Todd/FreeAgent?

BigFreeAgent SS
Ankiel
Pujols
Ludwick
Glaus
Rasmus
Molina
Pitcher
Kennedy

Holy toledo that’s a cool lineup and even cooler defense. With all the dollars coming off the books we can get a free agent target at short. Furcal could be had relatively cheap, Renteria might not get his option picked up (11 mil and Detroit has no buyout obligation), Guzman is going to get overpaid likely but he’s been very good for his last season’s worth of ABs, Greene would be a free agent trade target, so the opportunity is there to pick up an impact shortstop. That said watch us resign Izturis or get Adam Everett or something.

Left for Hammons shortly after Miles hit the slam and there was an incredible holiday atmosphere downtown with Carpenter taking the mound and then retiring the side with 10 pitches in the first inning. Carp was pumped coming off the field. Breaking stuff was dominant from the strat and looks to be right on track, fastball has a ways to go. What a great day to be a Cards fan! No hangdogs at Hammonds!

All star third baseman Allen Craig is looking more and more like the real thing at third, the guy has some genuine pop in his bat.

I just stashed Carp in the DL slot of all my fantasy leagues.