weaver sele
3-11, 6.30 6-3, 3.34
i collapsed at 9 p.m. last night after a brutal week, missed the whole game; liked what i saw waking up this a.m. good pitching, like good hitting, can be contagious sometimes; confidence rises, mindsets change, etc etc. since the all-star break, the cardinals' starting pitcher has yielded two runs or fewer in six of eight games; the team is 6-2 since the break.
it's such a simple game.
hopefully jeff weaver catches the virus tonight and gets himself established just a little bit. la russa offered no explanation for weaver's being bumped forward in the rotation, sliding into reyes' slot. a few people have speculated that there's a connection between reyes' being held back and his inclusion in the putative pack-o-prospects the marlins want for dontrelle --- ie, like maybe the trade is about to go down. it isn't, according to jocketty; he told joe strauss of the p-d that there's nothing impending. but he also confirmed that the cardinals "have not dismissed a late run at dontrelle willis." i take that to mean that he's not willing, at this point, to meet the marlins' asking price; he's waiting them out to see if they'll settle for less. in the article he tells strauss he will not trade reyes or wainwright under any circumstances, but bernie has said in other contexts that wainright is not untouchable, despite official statements to the contrary. so maybe jocketty is hoping the marlins will accept wainwright / rasmus instead of reyes / rasmus?
willis remains very much on the radar; let's just see what happens.
jock may also want to give himself and his staff a little more time to evaluate jeff weaver; if they get a couple of solid performances out of weaver, that might very well change the whole calculus. indeed, that may explain the altered the pitching rotation -- it gives the cardinals a couple of extra days to explore trade options should weaver be deemed inadequate. if they'd kept the rotation intact, weaver wouldn't have made his 3d start for st louis until july 29 -- butt up against the deadline.
another possible reason for changing the rotation -- it relieves marquis of a starting assignment at coors field. his psyche may not be able to withstand another double-digit bombardment.