Hard to Explain

or does that role belong to TLR?

Lopez has been more passable away from Washington this year, to the tune of .292/.349/.387/.736.

Pardon me while I cling tightly to this fact for hope.

It wont’ effect my fertility AND it has the impressive story going along with the scar. “Yeah, I got stabbed in the side with a sharpened screwdriver.” I will neglect to say that it was by an anime-loving internet blogger. I might enhance it a bit and add prison time to it and maybe call it a shank wound.

As for the ‘pen, this was the final straw for me. I had tricked myself into believing that the Brothers Grimm (Izzy and Franky) could do the job now that their traditional roles had been re-assigned, but they can’t. For those of us who still purchase the paper and ink version of the Baseball Prospectus, we are witnessing “collapse.” It is the end of the road for the once-reliable, always dramatic, Izzy. Sadly, I don’t know that he has any value for the roster, even in low leverage situations.

Give the closer job to McClellan, who we can promptly dub with the nom du guerre of “McCloser,” DFA Izzy unceremoniously, and call up Perez. Drastic times call for drastic measures and I’ll be darned if we are going to waste a season of Pujols at his peak due to misplaced devotion to battle-worn warriors who can no longer get it done in the late innings. I appreciate everything that Izzy has done for us over his Cardinal career and wish that he could have attained his 300th save this year, but we can’t afford to throw games away trotting him out there any longer.

At this moment, the starting pitching can be considered OK. It’s not the greatest and probably not enough to make it past the first round of the playoffs, but it just might be good enough to get to the playoffs. Which, for this team, would be a nice accomplishment. I’m not advocating for mediocrity here, but making the playoffs as the Wild Card team would rock. Now, to MAKE IT there, the bullpen needs to be fixed and – voila! – here’s Adam Wainwright, aka the next John Smoltz. Save us a game, Adam! And again, and again… I know all those stats out there to argue he’s worth more in the starting rotation, but the Cardinals aren’t hemmoraging games in the starting rotation. Of course, they could move someone else to the bullpen… Todd W. As for the Lopez signing. Ummm. Maybe Mo just saw Pinapple Express or something? I don’t see the logic in this at all.

First, on Izzy and Franklin. I believe that both have been good enough in the past, and Izzy good enough over his career, alot of which has been spent in STL, to deserve EVERY POSSIBLE CHANCE. I think we’ve finally reached that point, though I’m not sure simply releasing either one is a legit option. Like I’ve mentioned before, you just don’t release guys like that, especially guys like Izzy. Like it or not, agree with it or not, TLR doesn’t like embarrassing players like that. I’m sure some of you will chime back in with how Izzy is embarrassing himself by the way he is pitching, and I don’t disagree. Hopefully he can be convinced to go back on the DL or something. Franklin hasn’t been good, but I think there is still a place for him in the bullpen, albeit it needs to be in a slightly different role. Anybody know Franklin’s contract status for next season?

Carp looked amazing last night, good to see. We should be in pretty nice shape rotation-wise next year, assuming we can stay healthy.

Not sure why everybody is SO against the Lopez signing. Ryan has had his chance this season, and has been VERY mediocre. Not to mention, MI has been our biggest problem this year, and projects to be our biggest problem going forward. Why not take a shot at a kid (he’s still relatively young) that just 3 seasons ago hit 23 HR’s, and this year has hit nearly .290 away from him home park? To me this is the ultimate low risk, high reward type signing…..much like Barton and Ludwick. Maybe Lopez comes in and produces exactly how he has all year, which is still on par with Ryan. Or maybe he comes in, feels rejuvinated, gets a tip from Hal, and becomes our best hitting MI, in which case we sign him for a year or two, and solve a major problem. Also, whether some of you want to admit it or not, with our bullpen in shambles, having a guy that can play multiple positions is a plus. Ryan was pretty much a SS/2B. Lopez can play that, plus 3B (which technically, Ryan can too), and the OF. He won’t get starts out there, but it creates a situation where maybe you can pinch hit for Skip late (against a lefty), and with no other OF options, you can move Lopez out there.

Bottom line is, with all the “problems” this team has, we are still roughly tied for the 2nd best record in the NL, and are only 5 games or so behind the Cubs. Some of you want to nit-pick every game, every loss, but when you step back and look at the season on a whole, we’ve been pretty darn good all things considered. I’d suggest some of you stop getting so upset, and enjoy the season for what it is, which is a MAJOR overachievement given the roster and injuries we’ve had.

Wagonmaker set to make a Rehab< strong> Start on Saterday.

So. People who pay attention to the minor leagues. How has Perez’s Slidder looked these last few weeks.

for posting something about the pitching staff (relievers). I was pondering where to write this up and did not believe it was worthy of a fanpost.

Here is how I believe the pitching staff should look down the stretch.

Pre-Waino’s return:

Starting pitcher 1 – Carpenter – after seeing last night’s performance, coupled with last week’s, he looks like he is back in form and building his stamina. I think he could have gone 8 innings last night if the rain stayed away.

Starting pitcher 2 – Lohse – As was said around the All-Star break, Lohse has had #1 or #2 numbers all season long. Compared to the other starters on our team with over 10 starts, he is second on the team in ERA, 1st in wins, 1st in games started, T-1st in losses (least), 1st in innings pitched, 2nd in ERA+, T-2nd in home runs allowed, 2nd in Ks, 1st in WHIP, 1st in K:BB, the list may go on…I’m done checking.

Starting pitcher 3 – Todd Wellemeyer – He has consistently been our #3 starter all year. When Wainwright was healthy, Todd was sitting around at #3 behind Waino and Lohse. When Waino went down, Lohse stepped up to #1 and Welley started hurting. Looper kinda passed him up for a while as the #2, even though Looper did not throw that well either.

Starting pitcher 4 – Braden Looper – He’s better than Jo-El Pineiro.

Starting pitcher 5 – Joel Pineiro – Out of those with 10+ starts, he is last on the team in ERA, Wins, WL% (the only one under .500), Ks, ERA+, K:BB, WHIP, need I say more?

Long Relief – Thompson – He has been great out of the pen this year. He has a higher ERA+ (I know, not a great indicator) than all of our starters not named Waino, Carp, and Lohse…including EVERYONE who has started more than a game.

Lefty – Ron Villone – Since LaRussa will keep a lefty.

Middle Relief – Garcia – He has been slightly better out of the pen thus far. I don’t have him here long.

Middle Relief – Kyle McClellan – strangely enough, his worst pitching has come in middle leverage situations. He has been outstanding, however, in low leverage situations and decent in high leverage. I put him here where he can shine, however, if Springer does not get the job done twice in a row, I switch McClellan to closer.

Setup – Chris Perez – He has absolutely done his best in high leverage situations. No doubt about it. He used to close in the minors, correct? Maybe that’s why…he is used to performing then!

Setup – Ryan Franklin – seriously, what was wrong with Franklin when he was only an 8th inning pitcher? Nothing!

Closer – Russ Springer – I give Springer a try here, for the short term. He has been our best reliever thus far this year. If he has the arm strength to do it, I have him in the role. My worry is that he has 36 IP, mostly in low leverage situations. He has been outstanding in middle leverage situations. He has done his worst in high and low leverage situations. I think he is best suited for setup man, but is needed here (try at least).

When Waino comes back:

SP1 – Wainwright
SP2 – Carpenter (flip these two if you care to, whatever)
SP3 – Lohse
SP4 – Looper (Wellemeyer if the closer role has sorted itself out)
SP5 – Garcia – I hand over the job to him because he’s got a fresh arm, he pitched decently his first time out, and he’s the future here. If we make the post-season, usually you don’t go with 5 starters anyway.

LR – Thompson
Lefty – Villone
MR – Springer (Looper if Welley is not in the CL role)
MR – McClellan
SU – Perez
SU – Franklin – assuming he keeps up the good work.
CL – Wellemeyer – I have come onto VEB several times and posted why he is the best choice right now. The only way I don’t put him here is if Springer/McClellan is absolutely lights out in this role.

Why NOT send him back to the ‘pen? His upgrade over our current closing situation has to mean more to our team than his upgrade over our #5 starter, which won’t even need to pitch for the next month. Using off-days, we can go to a rotation of Carp, Welly, Loshe, and Loop for the next month easily. Therefore, inserting Waino into the rotation would essentially mean an upgrade over Loop, and not Piniero. In addition, moving Pineiro to the ‘pen does us very little good at all. Following this reasoning, doesn’t it make tons of sense to let Wagonmaker close?

BTW, I haven’t seen him throw or anything, but Future Redbirds is keeping an eye on Perez, and he is back to being the lights-out guy he is used to. What would a bullpen with McClellan, Motte, Perez, Garcia, and Wainwright look like? My vote is for AWESOME sheathed in a shiny candy shell.

He is already on the 40 Man, Running out of options regardless. He is just been flat out dominant recently. Over his last ten appearances: 13.1 IP, 0 runs allowed, 27/3 K/BB

“Old Yeller” – He’s been the best, most loyal closer we could have asked for for such a long time, doing whatever it takes (hip replacement surgery/fending off rabid animals) to save us. However, he’s become more of a detriment to us than a companion or helper, so we just need to get rid of him (release him, not take him behind the shed and shoot him)

Here’s a take on the pitching. I think you all need to chill on Izzy. He’s definetly lost it as a lock down closer, but I think he can be effective in other situations – a least as effective as any probable replacement. I say bring up Perez and move him or McClellan to the closer roll. When Wainright comes back, he gets plugged into the rotation. If Carpenter is as effective as he seems to be, you now have a five man rotation – Wainright, Carpenter, Lohse, Wellemeyer and Garcia – that smokes, and you haven’t bounced your #1 starter back into the bullpen again. That worked once, and it might work again, but Wainright is more valuable going out there for 6-7 or 8 innings at a time. Move Looper to the pen, and you’ve got a reasonable staff. If McClellan or Perez don’t cut it, you’ve got Wellemeyer or Mollte.
That staff will get it done, given the offense that we seem to have found. And by the way, speaking of position players, the trade that everybody is getting their shorts in a bunch about – Lopez – may turn out to be a steal. He’s only 28 and was a remarkable middle infielder just a couple of years ago. In this clubhouse, with this team, he has way more potential upside than Ryan. This is not a bad team, enjoy it.

I like how in everyone’s projections of what the rotation and/or bullpen will look like after Wainwright comes back they seemingly ignor the fact that Piniero has to be there somewhere. He is signed for next year and it seems that the Cards brass doesn’t understand the term “sunk cost.” I’d imagine the best case scenario is that Piniero goes to the pen and is seldom used, but they may leave him in the rotation because that is his spot for next year. It is near impossible to guess what Tony will do.

Anyways Piniero starts tonight and hopefully the pressure of potentially losing his rotation spot will give him the edge he needs to not blow several leads (afterall if he blows the leads what does that leave for the bullpen?).

Geez, this rotation is so deep I forgot about Piniero. I’d project Wainright, Carpenter, Lohse, Wellemeyer and Piniero, with Garcia in the wings. I agree, Piniero should be given a long look.

Re: anime—The closest I come to anime is that I like Daft Punk, and have seen some of their music videos, which are like all anime

Seems like quite a few of you are interested in Anime. I am a huge Anime fans

I am always looking for some new Anime to watch, My favorite is the Ghost in the Shell series and Last Exile. Outside of baseball I love Anime second

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, Chris’ father, described it as a complete success. The elder Duncan spoke to Riew following the procedure and called his son’s prognosis “the best news we could have hoped for.”

After 4 to 6 weeks of inactivity, 3 to 4 months of rehab, and he should be ready for Spring Training, according to the P-D. I’m glad for him. I was worried that his injury might end his career.

Another heartening stlcardnals.com headline about the rotation:

“Pineiro pitching to save rotation spot”

When Joel Pineiro toes the rubber against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, there is a chance it will be one of his last opportunities to make an impression as a starter.

With Adam Wainwright’s rehabilitation sessions improving with every pitch, Pineiro may be the odd man out if Wainwright rejoins the rotation rather than the bullpen. But in facing an offense like the Dodgers, he likely won’t be given an easy time.

Something easy to learn and throw that mimicks his fastball motion.
i
If he can throw a change-up at 88 mph and a fastball at 98 mph and give them the same look out of his hand then you have a very dominant bullpen guy.

What about a splitter or circle change?

How hard is it to learn a new pitch anyways?

Carpenter
Wainwright
Lohse
Wellemeyer
Looper

Loop looks good as a number 5 and the Col even better at number 4.

Better days ahead….

Az,

I’ve been meaning to ask how you interpret the Mariners’ recent roster moves. Namely, the DFAing of Vidro. Doesn’t this push them into second-to-last place, ahead of the Astros, for worst organization in MLB?

going to stick me in the side with a screwdriver, why sharpen it?

Which is exactly what the Cards are going to do…they’re just going to keep sticking us in the side with this pen.

ok, now is the time to start bringing up your young guns to the bullpen! we have seen time and again that izzy and franklin are not very effective, at all, especially in close games. time to give a chance to the new guard, and test the waters of fate. they really can’t be any worse than the situation we have now, so roll the dice… at least you can say that you tried all the angles, parallelograms, rhombuses, cubes, spheres, pyramids, and other shapes in your collection

Man, he’s killing the Cubs.

it changes everything. The Cubs losing another series at home puts it within the Cardinals own hands to stand on Monday 1 game back of the NL Central lead.

Do I think they can win 6 straight games vs the Dodgers and Cubs? No, but suddenly that becomes a possibility with the Cubs losing home games.

Seriously?

Despair = cubs blow up another inning

Joy = Brandon Backe imploding on the mound.

One thing I can look forward to though, is Betty is still on the hump for the cubs so this game is a long way from being over.