All went down for a period of time within a few days of each other.

he was out. it was a nerve wracking time since Wainwright and Wellemeyer were also out, among other things

He ran out of the box and it looked like he tore something and had to get helped off the field……..I almost had a heart attack when that happened……..

it is second only to petco in terms of HR suppression…

according to Rick Hummel’s game story…

In his exuberance, after he dashed across the bag in beating out his bunt, Barton had to come out of the game with a strained right side, aggravating a previous condition. This is the type of injury that could keep him out until sometime in September, if he comes back then.

Head athletic trainer Barry Weinberg said he wanted to treat Barton on today’s off-day before offering up any idea how long the healing process might be.

Given the Birds’ injury mojo this season, Barton will probably be back later than sooner; it’s a darn shame, because he’s really the best leadoff option against LHP the Birds have. (I’ll freely admit TLR putting him in the “second leadoff” nine-hole worked beautifully yesterday!)

but it may not be all that wildly conceived either. The six opponents remaining (some twice) are below, with additional info.

HOU – we have been in the playoff hunt every time we have faced HOU this year. Albert’s been walked once per game. That leaves him 3 at bats a game, if they keep up the walk rate.

ARIZ – haven’t faced.

FLA – walked him 2 times in 4 games. Granted, Albert was playing badly that series. (2-15)

CHC – 7 walks in 9 games is all. Lou pitches to him and challenges him.

PIT – 14 games, 8 walks. No matter how hard Pujols crushes them (1.177 OPS this year, his 3rd most devastated opponent)

CIN – 7 games, 5 walks. Dusty pitches to him and challenges him.

Lately, in the last 3 game series v. CIN, Pujols walked once (officially not an intentional walk); PIT did not walk him in the last 2 game series between the teams and walked him once in the series right before the All-Star Break; CHC walked him 3 times (once intentionally) in the last 3 game series in Chicago.

Having not played ARIZ this year, who knows. Albert has only been intentionally passed 6 times in 45 games, career, vs. ARIZ, though. They haven’t intentionally walked Albert in the last 2 years, though.

Historically, once the Cardinals were eliminated from playoff contention in ’98, McGwire was intentionally walked much less (162 bb, 28 ibb for the year – 19 bb, 1 ibb in Sept.) and hit 15 homers in 25 games.

On the other hand, Bonds in 2001, walked 177 times (35 times intentionally). The Giants were in playoff contention, though, and thus, Bonds walked 38 times (8 intentionally) in the last 27 games (Sept. and Oct.). Oh yeah…he still hit 16 homers in those games.

Absolutely right on.

was a fastball that read 88. I didn’t see any other reading (he threw 7 pitches). I have heard that the Springfield radar gun registers a little lower than reality. I thought his velocity looked fine.

justin morneau was, i guess, an all-around, “nothing really wrong with him but didn’t lead the pack in any one thing” choice. ryan howard was definitely the “homers and rbi bias” choice but he did get his BA over 300 by getting hot down the stretch (i think?) so that convinced a lot of voters he was more well-rounded. the mvp vote is so arbitrary, but it’s a different kind of arbitrary every year. very frustrating.
as for reyes, i’d be very happy for him if he continues to succeed in cleveland. i’m way past the point of caring too much that he couldn’t seem to make it with us—it just wasn’t going to happen and as annoying as it was i’d much rather see him do well, especially for an AL team that won’t matter too much for us.

Pujols’ MVP bid has received some help and hinderance in this regard. His main competition in my mind is Wright and Braun and to a lesser extent Hanley Ramirez. Hanley won’t win because of his age and the Marlins’ swoon. Utley and Berkman have dropped off and there is no pitcher with a fluky K-Rod type season to contend with. The Cubs don’t have a viable option and all of these things are good for Pujols. However, Ludwick hitting like Joe D and the impossibly high bar he has set are working against him. That said he’s basically tied in RBI’s with Braun and only a dozen behind Wright with 80 fewer AB’s. Therefore I think his biggest hurdle is Wright. If the Mets collapse again and Pujols can have a strong month I think its his to lose.

I couldn’t care less about the guy.

The original poster wrote “I don’t think he’ll win it if we don’t make the playoffs, but it would be a travesty.”

Just what I was thinking.

And I would agree with you that is incorrect. A more apt comparison would be “they are both significantly better than Ryan Franklin.” I still say they are better, even if it’s not head-and-shoulders. I just think that K-Rod’s save numbers have inflated his value past what it actually is.

the list of closers who are as good as mariano rivera?

has an ERA+ of 420! yikes! speaking of 420, i’ll take whatever fourstick’s smokin.

I’m not going to enter the K-Rod/Nathan debate, but I will throw this out there – as far as being "valuable: – what if the Cardinals had K-Rod instead of Izzy? how much value would he add, assuming everything else about this year’s team was the same?

Anyone doubt that the Cards would be right there with the Cubs if that replacement was made?

and it has everything to do with the poor results he got, insofar as the “feud” was about reyes’ pitching style. he wasn’t the type of pitcher tony / dave wanted, so they tried to make him a different type of pitcher; when reyes resisted, he wound up in their doghouse.

around since his first big league innings?

2005: 12:4 K:BB w/2.70 ERA in 13.3 innings
2006: First two spot starts: 8:2 K:BB w/2.25 ERA in 12 innings
Recalled first 5 starts: 23:11 K:BB w/4.50 ERA in 28 innings

He was recalled twice more in 2006, dominated the Pirates and then dominated Milwaukee and San Diego on the second recall.

Everytime Anthony Reyes would come up, he’d get 1 or 2 brilliant starts and then his velocity would drop and his K:BB ratio would go up. Also, during that stretch, the amount of 2-seamers down in the zone and lack of the changeup would increase.

He tried it ‘their way’ all throughout 2007 until finally getting demoted in July. He went down to Memphis, retooled himself back to what the type of pitcher he had always been. He came back at the start of August, pitched exceptional again. He had a bad inning in Cincinnati and they sent him to the bullpen.

They never wanted him in St. Louis. He was a different type ‘cat’ to them. He didn’t pitch in the manner they thought he should. He wore his hat funny, he wore his socks high. He trained with SWAT teams in the off-season. He preferred listening to Dyar Miller than Dave Duncan. He was being ‘handed too much’, something ‘young pitchers’ simply can’t have done.

When he wouldn’t conform (well, actually he did conform and got his brain beat in for it) they said they didn’t want him around. Mozeliak put him on the roster, so they sent him to the bullpen.