"Be Careful What You Wish For..."

"...you just may get it." So three posts ago I stated: "We can't waste these performances from Carp and Pujols. If we don't take a stab at a major bat NOW we will regret it for years." Now that we've pulled the trigger I keep reading the likes of: "Now that we've taken a stab at a major bat we will regret it for years." I've let this trade marinate for a few days wondering if I'm missing something.

1. DeRosa turned out to be a lot more expensive than I thought. I was shocked to learn that the PTBNL was Jess Todd. However, I still like this trade. We traded out of our bullpen surplus to acquire a solid 3B. Effectively this allows for the Cards to make another move...more on this later.

2. The Lugo deal is perfect...so far. We still don't know the PTBNL. Nevertheless, we get a player for free. We shore up a weakness. We don't have to pay for Duncan. We make room for...

3. ...Matt Holliday. Another player who turned out to be more expensive than I thought. I thought as a rent a player he was worth Wallace alone. But I wasn't taking into consideration the two draft picks Beane gives up by dealing him. The other two really make one worry about the future. However, it really didn't look like Wallace was working out at 3B. Viva El Birdos have raised the objection that if Skippy can play 2nd than Wallace would have been fine at 3rd. Going into the draft, Wallace's suspect defense was no secret. Red Bird Row speculates that the Card's merely drafted the best prospect as opposed to needs based drafting. I.e., they fully intended to trade him. I didn't get to hear his full thoughts on the UCB Radio hour but I don't know why he's surprised. My main concern is even if Wallace was never intended to be a Cardinal, did we get the best value for him?"

4. Funny enough, the newest Cardinals have played CRUCIAL roles in our two most recent wins. Big enough roles that you could reasonably say that we might have lost without them. Of course you never know how someone else might have done in their situation. Yet, if we get more performances out of them like we did this weekend, it should be a good second half.

5. I honestly don't think Mo is done yet. It is no secret that Glaus is on the block, and I believe that we'll see a new 5th man from outside the organization before or even after the deadline. The DeRosa deal really made this possible.

6. IF the Cards can land Holliday to an extension before the end of the season then wow. But I just don't see this happening--Boras is his agent after all. Yet, I don't know how we won't be able to afford him.

7. One thing I really like about DeRosa, Lugo, and Holliday is the speed they bring. The Cards weren't a slow team as it was, but it's so nice to see someone like Holliday with so much power and speed. Not only that, but the recent additions have made the Cards an EXTREMELY flexible team. It's like we have Figgons at every position...okay, maybe not. But there are many players that are capable of moving around. For a TLR team...is nice.

The future is less bright...but really. I honestly don't believe we gave up ANYONE that our hopes were riding on. Instead, we have a very exciting season that actually has promise. With key players playing like they are, now was the time to strike. And when we're hosting a trophy up at the end of the season, we are going to look back at these three deals as the difference.

-CJ

P.S. I think the clubhouse is happy about their new teammates: Check out this celebration after DeRosa's HR.

Big Trade

I'm on my lunch break, so only some quick thoughts on the Holliday trade, which is sure to generate a ton of controversy in the Cardinal Nation.

It's a good trade if......
1. We win the world series this year.
2. We can sign Holliday long-term to pair with Albert.

It's a bad trade if.....
Neither of the above happen. Wallace looks like a future star, and we know we have a big whole at third. The silver lining here is we should have some financial flexibility this off-season with Pineiro, Glauss, K. Greene and Ankiel all likely being let go.

Overall, I applaud Cardinals management for really going for it this year. If DeRosa and Holliday do turn the offense around, we definitely have the pitching to win it all.



-Trey

A Perfect Diversion...

I don't know if anyone has ever noticed, but I almost never talk about something that isn't Cardinal related. Sure, I'll talk about opponents, but if it isn't somehow connected to the Cardinals it doesn't get play. There's always an exception, and this is it: Mark Buehrle for the Chicago White Sox has just pitched a perfect game. I guess the connection is that Buehrle is a St. Louis native. Close enough? Heh

In a really cool twist, a defensive sub, Dewayne Wise made an outstanding juggling catch to rob Gabe Kapler of a HR and to preserve the perfect game. It's not the hardest catch ever made, but considering the circumstances, I defy you to name a better individual catch in the history of baseball. Maybe there's some catch to win a post-season game....maybe I'm just not thinking of it.

Anyhow, it's up there. And I loved it. Congrats to Mark Buehrle and the White Sox.

-CJ

Duncan Dealt

Photo courtesy: Dustin Winter.

Check out DG's blog as he makes this comparison Minute Maid Stadium. Brilliant!

First things first, another strong start is wasted thanks to an anemic offense and a ultra rare blown save by Franklin. Playing in the fun-house against Oswalt I guess we should be happy to be in it. Nevertheless, a sweep to the not-surprisingly resurgent Astros puts us only 1 game ahead of those with the stadium that closest resembles Never-land Ranch. Same good news as last night--DeRosa looks to be finally transitioning well.

Where to start? For those of you who haven't heard, Chris Duncan was dealt to the BoSox for Julio Lugo (who had been DFA), cash considerations (which means that the BoSox will pay nearly all of Lugo's salary), and a PTBNL. In one day, the Red Sox have channeled Phil Donahue and broken up not just one but two baseball families.

Before I go into my opinions on this deal, I want to thank Chris Duncan for his service to the Cardinals. He had a great year in 2006 and has fought through some nagging injuries this past year. I also believed he probably battled a good deal of nepotism rumors and a good deal of reverse nepotism. He handled it all with class. It was no surprise to see him become so popular in the dugout. I really enjoyed him as a part of my Cardinals.

Sooooo, the day before the trade, TLR goes on a rant about the public's treatment of Duncan.

The next day, we were getting seemingly conflicting reports that Duncan had been traded or demoted.

Apparently, they weren't conflicting reports after all: Duncan was officially optioned (How the heck does he have any remaining options?! I musta missed some clause in the rules.) to Memphis before being dealt. It looks like he'll join up with Pawtucket. I wonder why both happened... Speculations galore! Supposedly, it was coincidence that TLR's rant was the day before the trade.

This was a great move, in my opinion. Chris has been struggling at the plate (and was a severe defensive liability) and the Cards have had a rotating outfield for too long. We've had a glut in the OF (so much so that we even converted Skippy to 2B) and many have been clamoring to deal from that surplus...some for a long time. Funny enough, this just might be a preemptive move... I mean, Ankiel's only strength over Duncan is his fielding--and I don't believe Slick Rick is the answer. I honestly wouldn't be shocked at all to see Dye or Dunn come our direction (Holliday too, but to a lesser degree). I really don't see us in the hunt for P Halladay. Although Welly is certainly the weakest link of the rotation, we're losing games with Carp AND Waino on the mound--ALL because of poor run support. Adding another arm won't help us in those games. But I digress, dealing Duncan for a middle infielder works great as we deal out of depth to add depth to an shallow area. Although we are selling low on Duncan, we are buying low on Lugo--both statistically and financially. We'll get Lugo for the remainder of this year and next year for virtually nothing. Sure, we need to find out who the PTBNL is (or if it is cash)--but Lugo will work great. Lugo is not better overall than Ryan. Ryan's glove is vastly superior, but against Southpaws we'll have a better option at the plate. Don't forget we also have to deal with another PTBNL.

If this is the only deadline deal we make, then I'll be disappointed. Although Mo's been infinitely more active this year than last year, we really need to make a run at it this year and next. We can't waste these performances from Carp and Pujols. If we don't take a stab at a major bat NOW we will regret it for years.

All that said, make us regret it, Chris! Best of Luck!
-CJ

P.S. I've finally updated the lineup (blogroll) to the right. Due to the nature that is blogging there are too many blogs to have on a 40 man roster--so I added "Memphis". Most of the active roster blogs are the ones I read the most, but there are good ones from top to bottom, please don't take offense if you're merely on the expanded roster. ;)

P.P.S. Note this interesting tidbit. I don't want to give up too much for a Holliday.

P.P.P.S. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/UCB-Host/2009/07/23/United-Cardinal-Bloggers-Radio-Hour Excellent show guys!

Great Start, big game today

Our two best players carried us like they were supposed to last night. Albert gave us the lead with two solo shots, and Carp went eight scoreless. Equally important, however, was another big hit by Ludwick when they did walk Albert to load the bases in the eighth. If you haven't seen it, check out John's ode to Luds due to his great play recently in the post immediately below this one. More good news: DeRosa had a pain-free BP session yesterday, so maybe he'll be able to come-off the DL as soon as he is eligible. Honestly, if we plug him the the line-up everyday, I think we can survive the lack of production at either third or left field. It's having holes at both those places that is killing us. Really interesting match-up on the mound today. D-Backs All-star Haren, who leads in the NL in ERA, vs. Waino, who in my opinion has been as good as anyone in baseball the last six weeks. It would be huge to beat Haren and have a chance at the sweep before the upcoming roadtrip, that's for sure.




-Trey

My Ode to Luds

Thudwick, Luddy, Luds, Studwick (for you ladies out there), whatever you want to call him. This is my temp tribute to him and the rest of the 70's-bad-stash-wearing-'87-wanna-be-Cards. By temporary I mean, 30 seconds after I took the picture, the stash was gone. Luds is on freakin' fire. Get that man in there EVERY DAY!

UCB Live Blog

July 12, 2009: United Cardinal Bloggers (UCB) Live Blog Event

Half-way thoughts - NL Races

Aside from the Dodgers, who are way out in front in the West, the Nationals (who are hands-down the worst team in baseball, and maybe the Padres and D-Backs; every NL team is basically in the same boat. They all have holes in their line-ups, voids in their pitching staff, and injuries they don't have the depth to replace. It's going to be a very interesting second half of the season. One hot streak can easily put a team in first in the NL East or Central and conversely a cold streak will put you in last. It's tough to predict what will happen because of this, but here is what I think.

NL East - The Mets are probably the best team, but they've been killed by injuries. The Phillies are leading right now, but their pitching is a mess, and it's hard to see a way for them to fix that. The most complete team right now is probably the Marlins. They have a porous defense, but their pitching and line-up are quite good. I think they'll make a run at it, but that the Mets will get just healthy enough to win the division with a pedestrian 88 wins.

NL Central - I went over this quite a bit yesterday, but I'll just re-iterate that I think the Cardinals can and should win this division. They have the best pitching staff, and the offense should warm up enough for them to pull away. The Brewers don't have the starting pitching, and the Cubs' line-up and bullpen is a mess. The Reds could be a surprise team though.

NL West - Obviously, it would be a huge shock for the Dodgers to falter here.

NL Wildcard - As I said before, basically 12 of the 16 teams in the NL are contenders for this. The biggest contenders are the Cubs, Phillies, Marlins, Giants and Rockies. All of these teams have major faults. The Giants have by far the best pitching, but desperately need a bat. If they can get that in a trade, I like their chances. If not, I'll take the experience and talent of the Phillies, but really it's a coin-flip between any of these clubs.

My predicted results would pit the Cards against the Giants in the first round. Not a match-up I would love with Lincecum and Cain maybe the best 1-2 punch in baseball. Carp-Waino is nothing to laugh at, but still. In other words, I'm kinda hoping the Giants DON'T get another bat, because they'd be a real tough out in the postseason.



-Trey

Half Way Thoughts - On the Cards

To make-up for my lack of blogging activity lately, I'm going to use the holiday weekend to do a series of posts. Today I'll cover the main team. Later today or tomorrow I'll discuss the NL as a whole. And then finally I'll briefly go over the AL race and give my mid-season awards and playoff predictions based on what we've seen so far. So, here's how I stack-up our team so far:

Where we stand now: Well, the team obviously hasn't played great since April. The main reason for that is the offense. Amazingly, Albert is having probably his best season ever to this point, which is really saying something. The rest of team, however, has been not too good. Shu and Ryan have done a pretty good job of getting on base thankfully, or else Albert would never get pitched to. The so-called power hitters in Ludwick, Ankiel and Duncan have been dreadful, though Luds has begun to show signs of life this week. I'm beginning to wonder if Ankiel will ever to disciplined enough to truly be an everyday player and I'm glad he's a free-agent after this year right now. Rasmus looks like not just the future in CF, but the better player by far right now. Duncan to me has looked like he at least has a clue at the plate, but he just hasn't shown the power this year yet. You have to wonder if his neck is 100%. I definitely applaud the DeRosa acquisition by management. He is a big upgrade at third for starters, and is the kind of versatile player LaRussa loves. It's not Mozeliak's fault he got hurt right away, that's just bad luck. Certainly Perez has the potential to be a good closer in the future, but right now, Franklin has been golden and you have to give-up something good to get something good. IF we can get DeRosa healthy and a couple of the outfielders step-up a little, that should be enough offense -because the pitching has been outstanding. The best pitched game I've seen all year was this past Wednesday with Wainwright going 9 and striking-out 12. Carp has been great, Pineiro very good. Wellenmeyer has been the weak-link, but he showed good signs this past start. Thompson has been a decent fill-in, but fortunately Lohse should be back in a week. The bullpen has been almost the polar-opposite of last year. Led by the near-perfect Franklin, they've given-up few leads and often kept us in other close games late. Now, yesterday was one of the few times the offense has managed to take advantage of that and stoke a come-back, but I believe more of those are in the future. We'll need Kinney and Motte to pitch better than they have with Perez gone, but I'm hopeful they can do that.

So what about the future, Conan? Well, looking ahead, all the way to September, 2009, the NL Central is obviously still up for grabs, as well as the wild-card. As poorly as we've played, we sit today atop the division by one game over the Brewers. Granted, we only have a 6 game lead over the LAST PLACE team (the Pirates), so that shows we still have a lot of work to do. Personally, I don't think the Brewers have the pitching to stay with over the long run unless they can find another Sabathia-type deal out there. The Cubs, obviously, are a team to watch. Their line-up has been even worse than ours though, and they don't have a Pujols to carry them. Their bullpen has also been a problem. Honestly, the Reds could be a team to watch if they can get Volquez back, because that would give them a great rotation. Overall, however, I think this race is ours to lose. I feel we've weathered the worst from an offensive stand-point, and the team should just better from here on out. Lohse and DeRosa hopefully shouldn't be out much longer and there is even hope Glaus could return sometime in the next 6 weeks or so. Certainly, other injuries could happen. We always keep a watchful eye on Carp and I'm a little worried we've asked too much of Franklin so far (has has pitched the last three days in a row for instance). Still, I think the team has to start hitting and hitting for power, and even a little more run support should send us on a big streak which could easily allow us to run away and hide from this mediocre division. It would be nice to have a little lead heading into what should be a fun and historic all-star break for the Cardinals and the city of St. Louis.




-Trey

A great story in the making?

Well, the offense seems to be slowly waking-up over the last ten games or so. Ludwick still isn't going great, though he did have a grand slam yesterday. Ankiel has seemed to find his power stroke, which is nice, but it drives me crazy to watch him continue to chase high fastballs and breaking balls out of the zone time and again. The real surprise the last two against the Royals though has been Khalil Greene. He has been back for three games, and has started at third the last two games and homered in both. I know the kid has had a tough time, and at this point, you just hope he can get out there and play free. Anything he gives us is bonus, and we certainly need to get something at third base. The last two days are a good start, but they don't a season make, so we'll just have to wait and see. On the other side, the starting pitching has continued to be quite good. Pineiro was a little unlucky to lose on Thursday. Thompson continued to surprise with his strong starts yesterday, and Carp was again masterful today. The team seems to be getting out of it's slump, we're back in first place in the Central even, so hopefully more good things are ahead.



-Trey

Key Victories

Well, I wasn't real optomistic heading into this Detroit series after Cliff Lee dominated us on Sunday. Facing Detroit's three best in Verlander, Jackson and Porcello was a daunting task to say the least, but the lads came through in a big way. Chasing Verlander yesterday was especially impressive as he has been completely dominate the last six weeks or so. I have to give Wellenmeyer props for today's game. Jackson was pretty good, but he was a little better. Todd has definitely been the weak link in the rotation so far this year, but he has somehow managed to get several key wins along the way, so I hope he keeps hanging in there and hopefully continues to send the ERA south as well. Hopefully we will get the sweep tomorrow. I'm looking forward to watching the game on MLB network with the great Bob Costas announcing. If you don't have MLB network, I highly recommend it. Their late night coverage with the likes of Harold Reynolds, Mich Williams, Barry Larkin, Al Leiter and former Cardinal Joe Magrane blow's ESPN's baseball tonight away and the Thursday games with Costas doing play-by-play are golden. An another note, there are some exciting things happening in the UCB right now. Daniel, of C70 at the bat, interviewed the Wizard, Ozzie Smith yesterday for the UCB radio hour. You can check it out by clicking the link here. Next week, Mike of Stan Musial's Stance will be interviewing Bruce Sutter I believe on Tuesday as well for the UCB radio hour, so keep your eye out for that. Pretty slick stuff. Nice to see the HOF's giving some time to us bloggers, that's for sure!



-Trey

Post-game thoughts

I watched the entire Cards-Brewers game tonight, and I had a few observations:

1. I've seen all of Wainwright's last three starts on TV, and he's been quite impressive. As John mentioned earlier, the lowering of his arm-slot seems to have made all the difference in the world. Tonight, he had a little trouble locating the fastball the first three innings, which caused him to fall behind a few hitters. When he got ahead as he did later in the game, the Brewers had no chance, because the slider and ESPECIALLY the curve were lights-out. In his previous two starts, it actually seemed he didn't quite have the great curve if you can believe it, but he certainly did today. As awesome as it is to have Carp back, this is the guy we can count on every start for the rest of the year.

2. The offense finally woke-up. Albert had two RBIs, but really it was the supporting cast finally stepping-up. Shu and Thurston each had a couple of hits to set the table. Stavinoha, Rasmus, Duncan, and even Wainwright all homered. Stavinoha's was the first of his MLB career. That's nice for him because.......

3. Ludwick should be back Friday. This was probably the best thing I heard all night, and in such a solid overall game by the Cards at that. The ESPN crew seemed to think that Ludwick is close to 100% already, but will return officially against the Giants on Friday. Ankiel hasn't played the last two days despite being off the DL, but is thought to be nearing 100% as well.


All in all, probably the most pleasant experience I've had watching a game this year. A great performance by the team, and lots of other good news to boot.



-Trey

The strong starts continue

Just a quick note here before I head to bed. First, great job by John and everyone else that participated in the UCB's progressive game blog on Saturday. That was really a lot of fun to read. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't contribute because I would have only brought the level of quality down! I'm just not witty enough to hang with those guys. Second, how 'bout that starting pitching? In seven games, the pitching staff as a whole has allowed a mere six runs. Sadly, we have lost the last two because the offense is just about as cold as the pitching is hot. Carp's start today was simply dominating. I was surprised to see him go eight in only his second start back, but when he is cruising like that, I guess there are no worries. I had said a while ago we needed the starters to pick things up for the offense, and they have responded big-time. The game is on ESPN tomorrow night, so I'm looking forward to seeing Wainwright keep the ball rolling and hopefully a little better hitting behind him. Ankiel is back, so that should help, and hopefully Luds isn't too far behind. Anyway, it's sleep time, so hopefully I'll dream of that shot Albert hit last Wednesday that knocked-out the "i" in the Big Mac Land sign.



-Trey

UCB Progressive Game Blog--7th

Welcome to the 7th inning of this year's version of the UCB Progressive Game Blog! Thanks to Whiteyball for handling the 6th. Let's get started.

The hands-on LaRussa gets back to work and makes a defensive shift moving Skippy out to RF and brings in Ryan to cover 4. I tell you, I'm a big fan of Ryan. Not only has he developed quite a glove, but his overall play is just fun to watch. Plus, I like the ironed-lid. One thing that drives me nuts about him--he watches the ball too much. Don't get me wrong, after you make contact you're gonna watch--but I've seen several occasions where he could have beat out a play if he wasn't watching it all the way and instead put his head down and ran. E.g., watch the 2nd take of the 2nd great play Freel makes. If Ryan puts his head down instead of babysitting it, he beats the throw.

Enough nit-picking. Skippy has hit 3 HR's in 30 AB. I think it's time we start talking about what to do with Kahlil Greene. Although Skippy is a defensive liability, so is K. Greene. Ryan has proved to be outstanding in the field--and his stick is about the same. I'm tired of Greene's sour attitude too. Maybe I'm not being fair. It's tough to be the new guy--still, when you combine poor offense, poor defense, and a bad attitude...

Wow, Debbie Downer. Sorry.

After a sinker misses low, Callaspo harmlessly grounds out to Pujols. Lohse has added to the consecutive high-quality outings by the Card's rotation. One of the biggest reasons: note the BB count during the current 4 game stretch (5 if counting tonight) vs. when we got swept by the Brew-Crew. Simply stunning. Lohse hasn't given up a free pass all night.

After Olivo runs the count full after a steady diet of pitches low and away, Olivo can't get the bat off the shoulder. I think he was expecting another curveball to drop out of the zone--but the fastball paints the corner.

Lohse gets an easy 1-2-3 inning on a mere 9 pitches as Aviles grounds out back to the pitcher.

It's time to stretch, and I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you all to boycott Winnie the Pooh. That's right folks. As I'm putting my daughter to sleep in her Pujols' pjs and singing our traditional night-night song, "Take me Out to the Ballgame," I switched on her mobile which plays "Winnie the Pooh". To my horror I realized what I had been exposing my daughter to. One of the lines of the song describes Winnie as: "a tubby little cubby!" People, I implore you, don't let this evil slip into your home. Now, back to the game.

With the way he has been pitching and that easy last inning, it's no surprise to see Lohse batting here. And he rewards his manager's confidence with a single.

The other Greene lays down a sac bunt and moves Lohse over a base. This seems to be enough for Hillman to pull the plug on Hochevar--you gotta feel for the guy--no matter who you're rooting for. Looks like Hillman will pull a double-switch and put Mahay and Bloomquist in.

Skippy gets his second hit of the night as the Secret Weapon holds Lohse at 3rd. Callaspo makes a filthy play to rob Rasmus of a hit, but Lohse scores anyway--a nice insurance run to make it a 4-0 lead.

There were rumors that Mahay hates the Cardinal Virtue--now it is confirmed. He obviously is attempting to undermine the blog by intentionally walking Pujols during my assigned inning. Jerkface.

Duncan makes Mahay and Hillman look good by flying out to LF.

The Cards add a run and we had some fun. Now on to the Sabermetrically inclined Fungoes with the 8th! I'm always glad to go BEFORE Pip.

Thanks for tuning in,
-CJ

If you would have told me...

...that the Redbirds were going to get 5 hits I woulda said Eeyore style, "Another Cardinals loss." I certainly wouldn't expect a 3-0 win for the Cardinals. Piñeiro was brilliant. The headline will read 3 hitter complete game shut-out. But almost as impressive--NO WALKS! What a difference that makes compared to the million-man march the Cardinals were getting started!

Rasmus is heating up. 3 HR's in 5 games. For the first time EVER, I am really getting excited about this guy. Now if he can just do something about that OBP .333 and BA .250.

-CJ

I Think...

...that the arm slot is fixed. In other news we lost.
-Cj

DL starting to take it's toll

Though there was some good news yesterday with Carp throwing a pain-free bullpen session that perhaps puts him on track to return as soon as two weeks from now, there was more bad news. Ludwick is now on the DL with a hamstring injury. He joins fellow power hitters Ankiel and Glaus out of the line-up, leaving little in the way of protection for Albert. There are a couple of silver linings. First, Rasmus is sure to get plenty of time the next couple of weeks, which can only help his development. Second, neither Ludwick or Ankiel is expected to be out long, though there is no definitive date for either's return at this point. As I mentioned before, the upcoming schedule isn't very difficult. The bad news is the offense is certain to take a dip, and we've only had two quality starts in the last nine games (including four rough outings in a row). The bullpen has actually been quite good recently, but we need the rotation to step it back up to help carry what is likely to be a much less explosive offense. We are still in first, so no need to panic, but we the the starters to keep us there over the next few weeks.



-Trey

First Month Analysis

With today's rain postponment, the Cards are essentially through the first month of the season. They've played 13 games at home (10-3) and 12 on the road (7-5). They have a 3 1/2 game lead on the Reds and Cubs in the Central. Obviously, you have to be pretty happy with the start to the season, especially with Carp only making two starts Can the rotation hold-up without him? That's probably the big question because the offense has been great, and the bullpen looks much improved. Here's how I grade the team to this point:

Offense: A

Obviously, everything has revolved around Pujols so far, as he looks extremely locked-in. The Cardinals lead in the NL in runs scored and are near the top in about any offensive category you can think of. Ludwick has shown that last year was not a fluke and the rest of the outfield has been productive as well (though Ankiel continues to be the definition of streaky). Barden and Thurston have combined nicely at third, and though Glaus is missed, it's not as badly as I feared. Probably the only negative on offense has been Khalil Greene, who has not been able to carry over his hot spring to the regular season and is now struggling with an arm injury of some kind.

Defense: D

Definitely the major area of concern right now. Only the Reds and Nationals have worse fielding percentages and only the Nationals have allowed more unearned runs. So far, it doesn't seem like the defense is costing us in the most important area: the W-L column, but the team needs to tighten things up or that will come in time. One major positive here: Shumaker has been way better than I expected at 2B and is not a major cause of this issue. In fact, he has only one error while playing second so far, which is excellent.

Starting Pitching: A-

Pineiro, Wainwright, and Lohse are a combined 10-1 so far, and have been great. I'd like to see Waino and Lohse get a little deeper into the game consistently, but that's a small complaint really. Pineiro lost yesterday, but three of the four runs he gave-up were unearned. He's suddenly become a very effective ground-ball pitcher. If the defense tightens-up behind him, he'll be that much better. Boggs looked great his last start and whatever he give us in lieu of Carp is a bonus. The only weak link seems to be Wellenmeyer. He's 2-2, but his 5.28 ERA and 1.76 WHIP show he is not pitching well. We need him to turn it around while Carp is out for sure.

Bullpen: B+

We have 5 blown saves so far, which is not good, but unlike last year, we haven't lost all of those games. I can think of two (Motte's blown save to start the season and one by McClellen) were the bullpen blew it the offense couldn't get it back. Franklin has been absolutely outstanding. Perez has been quite good since being called back-up. Why they sent him down in the first place, I don't know. Motte, after giving up four earned that first game, has yielded only one in 10 innings since. McClellen has been similar, one bad outing, but nails otherwise. Miller's ERA isn't good right now, but I think him and Reyes have been a big upgrade from the left side compared to last year. This area is obviously one we will watch closely all year long after what happened last season, but so far most of the signs are positive.


If you look at the schedule for the next month, it's not too scary. Two series against the Pirates, Reds and Brewers. One with the Cubs. Games against Giants, Rockies and Royals as well. Toughest two games are the next two against the Phillies. It's a good opportunity to pile-up some more wins as we hopefully look forward to Carp's return at the beginning of June.




-Trey

Greene with Envy?

Is it just me or is there a disconnect between Greene and the rest of the team? Watch last night's highlights--as Molina hits a HR, does the trot, and unless I missed it, not even a simply 5 from Greene. Sure, the Cards were down, but not even some skin? I wouldn't have noticed this if it weren't for Khalil's permanent scowl. Was he like that in San Diego? Did he make one of those faces that your mother warned you about--and it actually came true? Maybe it's nothing.

-CJ

12-8

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition that was put on--Pujols continues to amaze. Ankiel got on track (please please please shave it). What concerns me is Lohse's injury. Without him, we're looking at using the bullpen even more. We're looking at Brad Thompson getting the call-up. Yikes.
-Cj