I feel that Cards' pitchers (Wainer excepted) are not aggressive enough on the 2-2 count which leads to a full count or worse a BB.  Sometimes I see Moina clearly setting up outside the zone on a 2-2, so I wonder if this is Duncan's philosophy vs. the pitchers themselves.   I wanted to compare our pitchers to the rest of the league, but it turns out to be more than I could handle right now.  But I did manage to compile some data on the Cards' pitchers.  (BTW, thanks to houstoncardinal and astrostl pointing me to data at baseball-reference).  The data is a bit old (by a few days).

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I don’t think I will get many dissentions when I say that Izzy has been a good guy and solid closer for the Cards ever since 2002.  Izzy grew up in Cardinals country in Brighton, IL, just north of STL.  He is by all accounts a good solid citizen, except for a trash can punching incident that led to a broken wrist, but that happened long ago as a Met.  So why rag on Izzy?  First of all, my intention is not to rag on him.  Second, I am extremely thankful for his efforts for the last six years including 2006.  I can’t really blame the guy for being a trooper and pitching injured in 2006.  Plus, 2006 turned out alright, didn’t it?  So what’s my problem?  Well, I am getting older, and I am afraid that one of these days Izzy will induce me to have a heart attack during the ninth inning. 

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I get the impression that most VEBers are not too enthused about TLR.

Here is a quote on TLR from: http://diamondhoggers.blogspot.com

Manager
I look at Tony La Russa as baseball's version of Tom Coughlin in a lot of ways. The ultimate micro-manager who drives his fan base nuts with his miniscule micro-moves. You cannot question his resume, the guy just wins. He also delivered in 2006 with a World Championship. At the same time, those small moves that are more often than not right (and we're left wrong) are so criticsized.

People need to get off La Russa. The guy should be able to write his contract and manage these Cardinals as long as he wants. St. Louis is his town. That's his dugout at the new Busch, just ask Albert Pujols. He is a great in-game manager and adds anywhere from 7-15 wins per year to teams he manages. Consistently he gets more from a roster of less, as much as any skipper in the league. Hot tempered? Sure he is. La Russa won't be around forever, so I ask Cardinal fans to appreciate what they have in him now. I've watched him do his thing since I was a kid and he's an excellent baseball man, and man in general.

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I was wondering how others might feel about the Cards bringing back Dream Weaver?  I think Jeff's had some success with Cards and Duncan, so it would be good for him to be here again. I am just not sure how well he would fit into Cards' future plans.  He should be reasonably priced now (in the bargain bin), and I doubt con-man Boras can do his trick again.  I am not necessarily rooting for him to be back, but at least he is a somewhat known quantity with the Cards.  Can he be worse than Kip Wells?      

Matthew Leach said
(http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071210&content_id=2322494&vkey=news_stl&fext=. jsp&c_id=stl&partnered=rss_stl)

"Would the Cardinals consider bringing back Jeff Weaver?
-- James T.

I asked this question directly of general manager John Mozeliak during the Winter Meetings, and he didn't rule it out. He also didn't show much enthusiasm for the proposition. He did say, though, that the bridge isn't completely burned.

The deal is this: Scott Boras is not going to move quickly on Weaver as long as he has bigger fish to fry -- such as Kyle Lohse, who reportedly may seek five years. So once the Boras Corp. gets around to dealing on Weaver, the Cards probably hope to be squared away in their rotation.

It's not a non-starter, but it's a long shot."

Also, here is a Mariner's fan's memory of Dream Weaver last season.  
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/story/2007/12/5/11232/4900

I've wondered about this for a long time, and I wonder if someone can give me some insight on this.  I think Cards' pitchers have been throwing up way too many balls on a 2-2 count leading to a large number of 3-2 counts.  I used to think that this is a product of our large cadre of inexperienced pitchers not wanting to challenge hitters on a 2-2 count.  Instead, I think it is the way Dave Dunkin wants the pitchers to pictch on a 2-2 count, i.e. to waste a pitch on 2-2 hoping the hitter would chase a bad pitch.  I can probably point to many examples, but a prime example is Isringhausen's 2-2 pitch to Shawn Greene last night (Tue 6/26/07).  Kelly Stinnet clearly set up outside the strike zone, and Izzy hit the spot.  I've heard Joe Morgan talk about how he feels the 2-2 should be pitched, and he seems to put more urgency on the 2-2 than what I've seem the Cards pitchers do.  This is all the more frustrating as I've seen Cards pitchers walk batters after going 0-2.  I can understanding wasting two pitches to go to 2-2.  But why waste another one and go full?  If one is able to get in two strikes, why does it have to be so hard to throw a third one?  I've never played baseball on any significant level, so my perspective is purely from a fan's point of view.  I know Dave Dunkins is almost god in Cardinals Nation because he is an amazing pitching coach, but is he wrong about the 2-2 count?

Thanks for any insights.

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