THE ROSTER

It's been a busy few days for the P-D's reporters who cover the Cardinal Beat. The playoff roster is now officially set. We learned earlier that Thursty Joe would be on the postseason roster because of his inability to hit, poor baserunning skills, mediocre fielding capabilities, and overall grit. Of course, Thurston's performance as a Cardinal (.225/.316/.330/.645) is not all that far off DeRosa's performance as a Cardinal (.228/.291/.405/.696). So, there's that. But there's also this, and it will require a bit of imagination. Place yourself in the near future, at home, watching the Cards on TBS, or, at a stadium, watching them in person. We are down by a run and Yadier Molina leads things off with a single. Who would TLR bring in as a pinchrunner? Troy Glaus, who has ballooned to a Santa-esque weight? Jason LaRue? Go-Go-Joe Thurston? Okay, so someone like Rick Ankiel or Julio Lugo will probably be available, but, what if they aren't? Who is the pinchrunner? Unfortunately, due to bad roster management, Tyler Greene won't be our Dave Roberts this October. That legitimately leaves open the possibility that the pinchrunner will be Go-Go-Joe.

The other area of intrigue heading into the postseason was the bullpen. Who would round out the relief corps? Would it be the Artist Formerly Known As The Colonel and WonderBrad or the youngsters Hawksworth and Boggs? Straussie reports in his Cardinals Notes that:

The Cardinals formally sided with recent performance over experience Tuesday, opting to place righthanded rookies Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs on the Division Series roster over 2008 13-game winner Todd Wellemeyer and World Series veteran Brad Thompson.

What reaches must one go to say something positive about Thompson and Wellemeyer this season? You really cannot do so. Thus, you get Wellemeyer described as a "2008 13-game winner," which he was, but that pitcher has yet to show up this year, 2009, and appears to be lost to the sands of time. Why not "2007 Royal DFA Todd Wellemeyer" or "2009 5.31 FIP Wellemeyer." Ah, yes. It's Straussie. That's a stat nerd stat, something that exists in computer spreadsheets only. I suppose he could have gone with "2009 5.89 ERA Wellemeyer," which just as effectively gets the point across that 2009 Todd Wellemeyer is not even a mediocre pitcher. (Straussie also could have gone with "2009 1.77 WHIP Wellemeyer"--okay, maybe that's piling on...

Brad Thompson is a World Series veteran. So what? His experience consists of mop-up duty. This is like saying that the janitor at Microsoft has valuable corporate experience.

TLR got it right in filling out the final two roster spots. I don't think that any one of us could suffer through a Wellemeyer or Thompson postseason appearance, and, thanks to TLR, we won't have to.

GAME 1 LINEUP

In Straussie's same collection of informative tidbits, he gives us this gem:

La Russa did not announce tonight's lineup while Dodgers manager Joe Torre offered his, which won't include All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson. "I don't think we have to give the lineup today, do we?" La Russa said. "The lineup is not ready yet. I've got a good idea."

We will face one of my favorites from the improbably 2006 World Champs, Ronnie Belliard, a/k/a "Fatletic" and "Belli" to veteran VEBers. (I have provided you one answer out of 28 on the fun little "Name All of the Players on the 2006 World Series Roster" quiz that zackkrunkly has put together. I got 25 out of 28. Do NOT read the comments before taking the quiz, as that would be cheating.)

Back in 2000, I think he cutely remarked, "I don't think we have to send out the actual Game 1 starter to the press conference today, do we? I've got a good idea." We all know how that turned out (hint: an OFer with a .672 OPS). TLR's love of the head game within the greater game within the greater series is much-documented and this cuteness is yet another chapter in, however, this chapter could have a twist."Schu' in Center Field?," the header asks. "Maybe," the print as reported from the manager's mouth answers:

La Russa ignited intrigue when he mentioned three possibilities for tonight's starting center fielder, the third being second baseman Skip Schumaker.

Rookie Colby Rasmus (104) and Rick Ankiel (52) started all but six games in center. Schumaker made three starts there, compared to 124 at second base.

La Russa noted Rasmus' struggles against lefthanded pitching (.160). He also has played Ankiel sparingly against them despite a .234 average that actually bests Schumaker's .220.

Skip in center is not unprecedented, but, then again, neither is a middle infielder in the outfield during the cooler days of September for a TLR-managed club. That does not mean that either should happen in a five-game playoff series where every play's effect on the eventual outcome in a do-or-die series is exponentially higher than during the course of a 162-game season, especially given Skip's poor range as a center fielder and negligible upgrade offensively versus lefty pitching. Skip has a UZR/150 as a CFer for his career of -12.5. And, I can tell you from watching him AAA and in MLB that, based on my first-hand observations, he does not cover much grounds or get the best routes as an outfielder. I also believe that this skillset has gotten worse as he has played more and more sparingly in the outfield due to his incredible transformation to our everyday (except versus lefty starters) second baseman. Furthermore, as Straussie points out, Ankiel actually hits (for average) better against lefthanded pitchers this year. Here are the career numbers versus lefthanded pitchers for the three candidates for starting center fielder in Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS.

Skip '09:  .220/.278/.240/.518

Skip Career: .205/.271/.220/.491 -- UZR/150: -12.5

Ankiel '09:  .234/.265/.298/.563

Ankiel Career: .245/.285/.426/.711 -- UZR/150: -7.4

Rasmus '09: .160/.219/.255/.474 -- UZR/150: 11.2

Rasmus Minors: .275/.371/.455/.826

It's clear that Skip should not even be in consideration. His defense is horrible and his offense is not as good as Ankiel's and not so muWho would you start in CF VEBers? Why?

And finally, some parting words to set the tone for this evening's match-up, from a Q-and-A between Derrick Goold and the Game 1 starters, Chris Carpenter gives us this tone-setter:

Q: Can you be objective about what you and Adam Wainwright have created … you’ve seen people like Oswalt and Clemens, Clemens and Pettitte — when you have two dominant guys and then you compress them into a short series. Is there a way to quantify the value that the team possesses?

CARPENTER: Well, it’s all fine and dandy what we’ve done all year. But this is where it counts.