Viva El Birdos Week in Review: 1/11/14-1/17/14

Several members of the VEB community voiced their desire for a Week in Review post that collected the week's various posts in one spot so that it would be easier for them to get caught up.

By Ben Humphrey Jan 18, 2014, 7:00am EST

It was a busy week at Viva El Birdos. Please let me know in the comments how you feel about this type of post recurring on Saturday mornings. If VEB community members like it, I'll post one weekly. Now, let's get to the week in VEB posts.

Main Page Posts

Saturday, January 11, 2013: Joe Kelly & Lance Lynn

Craig opined on how the Cardinals' crowded rotation picture might hurt Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly's development as big-league starters.

Sunday, January 12, 2013: James Ramsey & Kodi Medeiros

I wrote on whether the comparison between Skip Schumaker and James Ramsey was apt and looked at why the suggestion by Bernie Pleskoff of MLB.com that the Cards move Ramsey to second base makes some sense in 2014.
Joe interviewed 2014 MLB draft prospect Kodi Medeiros.

Monday, January 13, 2013: Pitching "Wins" & the 2013 Cardinals Starters

I looked at how the overall decline in MLB starters' innings pitched per game started (IP/GS) has made the pitching "win" an obsolete stat.
I used Bill James's Game Score to determine which 2013 Cardinal starting pitcher "wins" were the most deserved and least merited.

Tuesday, January 14, 2013: Shelby Miller Day (with a Dash of Mike Shannon)

I started the day off celebrating the Cardinals' re-signing of Mike Shannon to call games on the radio.
Craig considered Shelby Miller's rookie year in the historical context of pitchers who were of a similar age.
I analyzed how Miller's 2013 rookie stats compared to those of his MLB starting pitcher peers.
Joe broke down the numbers behind Miller's dominant four-seam fastball.

Wednesday, January 15, 2013: Draft & Prospects

Fourstick started things off by taking a look at whether the Cards have a college player bias.
Red Baron delivered a rich draft preview that focused on some of his favorite position...players who are amateur draft eligible.
Joe interviewed Cardinals lefthanded pitching prospect Lee Stoppelman.

Thursday, January 16, 2013

Fourstick looked at the "Skills vs. Tools" approach that the Cardinals appear to take when drafting players like Matt Carpenter.
Craig revealed how singular Carpenter's breakout 2013 season was in the context of MLB history and players his age. Basically, Carpenter is a beautiful pearl.
I compared a Baseball Prospectus advanced scouting report on Carpenter to some of his 2013 stats.

Friday, January 17, 2013

Craig contrasted what the Dodgers have agreed to pay Clayton Kershaw with what the Cards are likely to pay their bumper crop of young arms over the next five years.
I looked at how the Kershaw and Wainwright extensions compare to the other big-dollar starter contracts that have been inked over recent years.
In a throwback, I front-paged an October post from Beyond the Box Score that attempted to answer the question of who had the better curveball between Wainwright and Kershaw.
Joe took a look at the contracts to which the Cardinals signed center fielders Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos in order to avoid arbitration.