Game 104 Open Thread, 24 July 2008

by Valatan on Jul 24, 2008 6:30 PM EDT


Sheets	Col. Wellsie
10-3, 2.88	8-4, 4.22

It only seems like yesterday when Ben Sheets was the big hero for the US Olympic team in 2000. Now he's the big stud starter looking for a big payday at the end of the season. I was hoping to see Colby get his chance to go to Beijing and make a statement. Ah well.

Much has been said about Wellemeyer's struggles as of late. But he's shown a bit of improvement in his last couple of starts (he at least went 6+ IP both times, which, as stated in the below main post, is an underappreciated factor in bullpen effectiveness), but his strikeout and walk rates still don't seem to have gotten back to what they were before his elbow went. In his win against the Padres, he had 3 BB to 2 K, while giving up five runs.

Hopefully he's relearning his control and his focus, because he's going to need everything he's got against Ben Sheets, who seems to be making a Cy bid in his walk year. No one on the Cardinals current roster has a very spectacular history against Sheets beyond Pujols (26 for 66, 4 HR 10 RBI, 1.66 OPS), and Brendan Ryan in limited at bats.

Hopefully they can stay within reach, get some chances against that somewhat weak bullpen, and avoid the sweep. I'm still mad that we didn't get a chance against Gagné last night (who was warming in the pen when the game ended).

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Why not win this one boys

Might be a bad series, but would give us a winning homestand!!

by hoofhearted-pujols on Jul 24, 2008 6:39 PM EDT 0 recs

Good point.

Let’s do it!

by liam on Jul 24, 2008 7:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

Colonel

I was at the game on Saturday and he wasn’t sharp during the first two innings. The defense let him down in the first inning, too. Still, I wrote on my scorecard his ball/strike count after each inning. After the second, he had thrown 17 strikes to 19 balls (-2). He ended the game having thrown 51 strikes to 33 balls (+18). So, in innings three through seven, The Colonel threw 34 strikes to 14 balls.

Wellemeyer finding his groove was evident just in watching the pace of the game. He was challenging Padres by just pounding the zone and he was very efficient. Hopefully this was a turned corner from him and we will see more of it tonight.

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 6:50 PM EDT 0 recs

exactly

I couldn’t tell you how many “why is he pulling Wellemeyer for Flores NOW” I heard in the section I was sitting in on Saturday. I think from the 3rd inning on he looked as good or better than he has at any point this season. Now if we can only get seven solid innings out of him tonight.

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

On an earlier thread, I posted this:

Wellemeyer vs. LHB:

.243 BAA/.308 OBPA/.403 SLGA/.711 OPSA

Flores vs. LHB*

.263 BAA/.388 OBPA/.447 SLGA/.835 OPSA

Randy Flores is left-handed.

TLR’s pitching change boggled the mind. It caused the Cards to use four pitchers for the inning (counting Wellemeyer) instead of one pitcher for the inning (counting Wellemeyer). The Colonel was only at 84 pitches, to boot.

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 7:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

And

he was mixing in his slider effectively. I’ve got a stack of internet dollars on the line that he turned the corner, mechanically, in that game.

C’mon, Colonel. I need that imaginary money.

by liam on Jul 24, 2008 7:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

you sure are free with those internet dollars

you think they grow on trees or something?

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 7:51 PM EDT up 0 recs

That'll

help pay off that imaginary Russian you owe all that imaginary money to,

My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball, but tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.

by Alxfritz on Jul 24, 2008 8:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

Seriously

he’s going to break my imaginary legs if I don’t.

by liam on Jul 24, 2008 8:08 PM EDT up 0 recs

how do you play softball

with imaginary legs?

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 8:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

I was so discouraged last night

figuring the season is probably over now, but today is a new day, and if you’re a true fan – which people here are – there is always hope. If nothing else, we get to watch a sport most of us love. We get to watch a baseball game…...not all bad! We’ll miss it when it’s snowing and 15 degrees outside.

Here’s to the Cardinals…...our team! Go get ‘em, boys!

(three hours from now I’ll be cussing out half the team, probably!!)

by ccthemovieman on Jul 24, 2008 6:57 PM EDT 0 recs

I still believe in a place called "Hope"

Only 3 GB in the NL Central. With a win tonight, we will only be 1 GB in the Wild Card. And that is with Carp and Wainwright on the horizon. Perhaps, also with a reliever via trade. In Cardinal Nation, there is much to be hopeful about, even if Ben Sheets is on the hill tonight for the Brewers…

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Having Ben Sheets on the mound alone gives me hope

I really shouldn’t have went there, but I think the team overcomes any possible jinx by me tonight

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 7:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

I missed the game

and played possibly the worst softball of my life. I was more pissed about my own failings than the Cards getting shut down by one of the best pitchers in the game.

by liam on Jul 24, 2008 7:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

Mets are red hot

right now (thanks to us for getting them fired up at Busch).

Gotta win tonight, that Mets series is going to be brutal.

Still looking for 1985 Regular Season games on DVD/VHS

by Hardcore Legend on Jul 24, 2008 7:06 PM EDT 0 recs

Santana vs. Lohse projected for Sunday

That ought to be a good contest to watch.

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 7:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

you aren't going to be happy HL

Hrabosky is back on the Wagonmaker for closer spiel

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 7:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

Is The Mad Hungarian drunk?

Why on God’s green earth would we ever do that?

If anything, Col. Closer sounds appealing…

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 7:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

his saloon is pretty damn close to the ballpark

that actually might explain a lot

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 7:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

he thinks that we are going to duplicate 2006

doesn’t he?

strikeouts from left-center

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Jul 24, 2008 7:36 PM EDT up 0 recs

What a tool

Someone shut that fool up.

Still looking for 1985 Regular Season games on DVD/VHS

by Hardcore Legend on Jul 24, 2008 7:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

by liam on Jul 24, 2008 7:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

WHY IS MINI ME STARTING AT SS AGAIN?

JEBUZ TONY

it’s bad enough AK is starting at 2nd, but why do you keep doing this to us?

I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson AND THAT'S A WINNER!

by gdm426 on Jul 24, 2008 7:58 PM EDT 0 recs

Lineups with nicknames (it couldn't hurt the luck, right?)

Skippy LF
Grit SS
APu 1B
Ank CF
Boss 3B
Studwick RF
Stache C
Col P
AK 2B

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 8:01 PM EDT 0 recs

Why does TLR insist on playing Grit at SS?

It’s really bordering on the absurd. They justify Izturis with his D, but then play Grit at SS? It’s nonsensical.

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

well now i know why IZturis isnt playing

he has a whopping .182 career OPS versus Sheets

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 8:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

any one see Wagonmaker giving Jimmy "The Cat" Hayes rabbit ears

as his interview ended on the pre game? pretty funny stuff

I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson AND THAT'S A WINNER!

by gdm426 on Jul 24, 2008 8:04 PM EDT 0 recs

and it was with his non-pitching hand

thankfully!

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Jul 24, 2008 8:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Wagonmaker Update

From the official site:

Adam Wainwright threw a bullpen session prior to the start of the Cardinals’ series finale against the Brewers on Thursday.
It was Wainwright’s latest session as he prepares to make his way off the disabled list, and the right-hander reported no pain. Since he was placed on the DL, the Cardinals have stayed afloat, going 21-19.

Wainwright will continue to throw bullpen sessions every other day until the club decides on his rehabilitation starts. Wainwright is hoping to rejoin the club within the next two weeks, at best

by bgh on Jul 24, 2008 8:12 PM EDT 0 recs