Cardinals news and notes: Carpenter, Pirates, and the farm

Guess what’s back,

Back again,

Baseball’s back,

Tell a friend.

Here is what you may have missed at Viva El Birdos on Friday.

• I compared Matt Carpenter, an increasingly popular whipping boy among Cardinals fans, to an even better hitter with an even richer history of being blamed for his team’s shortcomings—Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
• Remember Zach Duke? Well, he’s back, in rehabbing-in-the-minors form! Read all about him, Patrick Wisdom, Aledmys Diaz, and many other Cardinals minor leaguers in the Daily Farm Report, courtesy of Josey Curtis.
• As first reported by the Scooter (must cite Little Scooter Ninety-Three as source), baseball is back.
• Craig Edwards observed that the St. Louis Cardinals should destroy the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first game of the series...mostly disagreed with this hypothesis. It was recapped by Jon Snowzeliak.

More baseball today and tomorrow and many other days for the next 2 ¹⁄₂ to 3 ¹⁄₂ months.