I hope you'll all forgive the abbreviated post today, but various things have come up, and I find myself unusually pressed for time. Then again, considering the nightmare we witnessed last night, there really isn't much of anything nice I can say anyhow. And, as our mothers told us, if you can't say anything nice, it may be better to simply say nothing at all.
So rather than composing a 2000 word diatribe on my hatred for watching Ryan Theriot butcher play after play at shortstop, or the uniquely hopeless feeling that comes from seeing Miguel Batista or Ryan Franklin warming in the bullpen, knowing the inexorability of what's about to happen all to well, I'm just going to ask you, denizens of El Vivi Birders: what do we need most?
We've reached the point in the season when most teams, for better or for worse, have shown their colours pretty well. Things may change a bit, of course, particularly if injury forces a roster into a new shape, but by the time you pass 54 and start heading for 81, you are, for the most part, what you are. You needs, whatever they may be, are not illusions.
So what does this team need most? Left-handed relief has to be a concern, considering the abject awfulness of Trever Miller and the mediocrity of Brian Tallet. The middle infield is an annual irritation, and is worse than usual at the moment. I don't know about you, but I don't feel at all confident in Kyle McClellan for the rest of the year. I don't know if I would call the rotation the biggest concern as of yet, though. Third base has reared its ugly, annual head again, with David Freese still made of highly combustible material, Matt Carpenter receiving limited opportunity, and Daniel Descalso just not offering a ton of offense.
So there it is, folks. If you have only one bullet to shoot, what do you try and address? And, perhaps a larger question: is there one bullet that can get this team over the hypothetical hump? We've all seen enough of this squad to have a pretty good idea by now of what they can and cannot do. Are the Cards close enough for one small move to make a real difference? Or, for that matter, one large move?
Oh, and while I certainly understand the sentiment, I don't think trading the manager is an option. Just in case you were thinking along those lines.