Bird Watching: Let’s Just All Calm Down…

Last night’s game was just gut-wrenching. Waino looked outstanding for 6 innings, evoking thoughts of a perfect game (if not for the near miss by Miles at second), and then allowed the Pirates to load the bases and rip our collective hearts out through our throats. As Adam said on the mound after watching Michael’s grand slam land in the visitor’s bullpen – DAMN IT! And then panic began to set in…

The Cardinals, after going 18 – 11 in April, turned in a less than stellar 15 – 13 May. Not the direction you want to be heading when you’re chasing baseball’s best team, the Chicago Cubs (ugh…I think I just threw up a little in my mouth right there). We’re 3 1/2 games back and gradually sliding in the wrong direction. But that’s not even the worst of it…take a look at what’s coming in June.

Seven of the Cards’ games the rest of this month are at home…while a whopping 18 are on foreign ground. Our opponents in June include the resurgent Mets, the Bruce-Fed Reds, the Berkman’esque Astros, Manny’s Mad Sox, and the slumbering Detroit Tigers. And, as if our schedule wasn’t enough, it couldn’t come at a worse time…or have you forgotten the Cubs have hit their stride to the tune of an 8-game winning streak?

It would seem all hope is lost…I mean, if we can’t count on our Ace to hold a 4 – 0 lead in the 7th against the cellar dwellers of our division, how in hell do we expect to catch the Cubs during this baseball maelstrom?

Hold on there, Cards fans…let’s not throw in the towel just yet…let’s all just calm down…take a breath…and let’s take a look at the Cubs’ June schedule.

Over the next month, the Cubs will play just nine games at their beloved Wrigley and 13 on the road. Sure, that’s not as bad a split as the Cardinals’ schedule, but it’s not good either…especially when they’re carrying an 11 – 13 road record (compared to the Cardinals’ 13 – 12). During this road-heavy lineup, the Cubs’ opponents include the San Francisco Giants, LA Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Chicago White Sox. What does that mean in stat-speak? It means the Cubs will play 9 games against first place teams (Cards play 3), 15 games against teams with a winning record (Cards have 9), and 7 games in the time-zone pesky state of California. But there’s more…

While the Cardinals do play the Red Sox in Boston, they will apparently do so without the esteemed David Ortiz staring at them down the barrel of his massive bat. While the Cubs have added an aging Jim Edmonds to their roster, the Cardinals have finally called up the ball-crushing Joey “Bombs” Mather to replace the struggling Chris “Slam” Duncan. And last but not least, the Cardinals have made the heart-breaking roster move of DL’ing Jason Isringhausen…but the Cubs are still stuck with that ticking time-bomb, Kerry Wood, as their unpredictable closer.

But you know what the greatest news of all is…? In the long run, the Cardinals have a plethora – that’s right…a plethora – of young, durable pitching and position talent to call up from Triple A and sustain them throughout the season. The Cubs…well…they have Felix Pie…the guy that lost his job to a .167-hitting Jim Edmonds.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Don’t panic…it’s all going to work itself out in the end. Remember what C.U.B.S. stands for…

Completely Useless By September

Whew…I’ll say this, though…that July 4th series against the Cubs in Busch sure is shaping up to be a hot one…I may just have to check that one out.

GO CARDS!!!

BIRD SEEDS

“Holy Hitting Streak, Batman!”  Colby Rasmus continues to tear it up with a nine game hitting streak in Triple A. The kid’s swinging the bat at a 15 for 35 clip (.429). His average is up nearly 30 points (.224) since my last post, and he’s even flashing some speed with 7 stolen bases on the year. He keeps this up, he’s gonna’ force us to trade either Duncan or Schumaker…or both.

Ain’t that Peculiar…  Looking at Rasmus’ stats got me thinking about odd splits this season. Colby – a lefty – is hitting .300 against left-handed pitchers but has no home runs. At the same time, he’s hitting just .195 against right-handed pitchers but has 7 home runs. Odd…but no more-so than Ryan Ludwick, the “bats right, throws left” outfielder with an unusual split of his own. Ryan is hitting .234 against lefties and .378 against righties, but the kid’s power (HR) numbers are almost identical (6 LHP – 7 RHP). What, pray tell, is Tony going to do with both these guys in St. Louis next season? Throw in Ank’s unusual ability to hit left-handed pitching, and this team’s outfield is going to give opposing manager’s fits trying to figure out how to pitch to ‘em.

Stalking the Yadi  Bryan Anderson is turning some heads on his own in Memphis. The kid was promoted to Triple A earlier this year, and he hasn’t missed a beat. He now has almost as many AAA at bats this season as AA at bats (74 to 80) but has played in 2 more AAA games (19 to 21), and he’s still carrying a .351 average at the AAA level. One has to wonder, if we don’t end up trading him, at what point does the “ever ready to make a move” Johnny Mo call up the kid to replace the offensively anemic Jason LaRue? If we don’t see him before, I have to think he’s guaranteed a call-up in September as a third catcher and pinch hitter.

Troy Likes it Hot, Hot, Hot!  Troy Glaus had an outstanding weekend. The third baseman from Toronto went a combined 4 for 6 with 2 home runs (doubling his season HR total). Before Saturday’s game, Glaus said his bat warms up as the weather gets hotter…if that’s true, this guy’s gonna’ love St. Louis in July!

Just Who is the Best Player in Baseball?  This morning, Mike and Mike (ESPN Radio) said this about the young slugger from Texas, Josh Hamilton: “Let’s just say it…he’s the best player in baseball.” Okay, okay…Hamilton is a stud…and his story, as long as it continues, is truly inspiring…but let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

Hamilton:   .331 AVG   .623 SLG   .375 OBP   16 HRs   65 RBIs   20 BBs
Pujols:       .366 AVG   .644 SLG   .486 OBP   14 HRs   39 RBIs   47 BBs

Pujols has a higher average, higher slugging percentage, a higher on-base percentage, and more than twice as many walks. Despite having more than 30 fewer at bats than Hamilton, Pujols only trails by 2 homers. However, I will give the kid this…that RBI total is unreal. But let’s not get carried away with our praise just yet…especially considering Pujols has been doing this consistently since 2001 and Hamilton hasn’t even gotten a full major league, 500 at bat season under his belt. He’s going to be great…no doubt about it…but let’s see him do it for the next seven years when every pitcher in the league has a 6-inch thick scouting report on all his holes and tendencies…THEN we can talk best player in the game. But until then, I’ll take the gold-glove and MVP award winner, Albert Pujols. 

Game Recap: Cardinals 6, Astros 1

THE GOOD

Waino Whiffs Wandy  Wainwright was just flat out nasty last night. The wagon maker struck out 8 (including 2 whiffs by his counterpart, Wandy Rodriguez) over eight innings pitched and cruised his way to a 6 – 1 victory. His performance, marred only by an inefficient eighth and a solo blast in the second, lowered his ERA to an eye-popping 2.86. He clearly deserves All-Star consideration, especially considering the fact that he should have at least 8 wins if not for late inning guffaws by the bullpen.

There’s no “K” in Cardinals  Cardinal hitters struck out only twice last night. Once by the pitcher (Waino) and once by the human K machine, Chris Duncan (during a pinch hit appearance). Considering the Cardinals only walked a total of 4 times (and 2 of those in the first inning), that’s an impressive number that demonstrates how effective the Cardinals’ approach at the plate really was.

Barton Back on Track  After hitting his first home run in a pinch hit appearance the night before, Barton went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored from the seven hole in last night’s game. This is a good sign. Because the Cards are basically forced to keep Barton on the roster this season (Rule 5), he MUST produce. Maybe hitting in the top of the order is too much pressure for the rookie. Hitting in the second half of the order may allow him to relax and just put a swing on the ball. We’ll see if his lower-order hitting position continues…

Brendan Ryan Just Says “NO” to Kool Aid  I’ve been pretty hard on this kid – mainly because I expect he has better in him – but he had a great game last night. The kid went 2 for 4 with a run scored and no strikeouts while hitting in the lead-off spot. As if that wasn’t enough, he turned in more than one excellent play at second base. Why is this significant? Because if Barton can’t hit in the lead-off spot, and Skip continues his poor record against lefties, this team MUST identify a right-handed lead-off hitter. Maybe Ryan can be that guy…

THE BAD

Chris Duncan Just Don’t Look Right  Okay…Dunc had started to look a bit better and more confident at the plate, but it’s all gone to hell lately. The guy just looks lost in the batter’s box. Teams seem to want to throw strikes on the outside corner of the plate against the big lefty. If he recognizes the pitch, Chris lays off it knowing it’s not his pitch – and strikes out looking. If he doesn’t lay off it, he takes his full swing and whiffs. The guy has got to learn to fight those pitches off consistently. If he can learn to just stick his bat out there and punch those balls foul pitch after pitch, he’ll eventually get pitches to hit. But right now…it just looks bad…and it seems to be getting worse…

Glaus, Ankiel, and Pujols  It’s a good thing the other guys in the order stepped up, because Glaus, Ank, and Albert combined to go 0 for 10 with 2 walks. In fact, if not for Ludwick’s lone single, the heart of our order (2 – 5 spots) would have gone 0 for 14. For a pitcher struggling with command all night, that’s not good, and it’s certainly not good enough to beat a high-octane team like the Astros. Let’s hope it was just a fluke that doesn’t repeat itself tonight.

Pujols’ Mad Dashes are Starting to Make Me Mad  Albert has got to chill out on the base paths. Last night, the guy tried to advance from first to second on a ball hit to right. Hunter Pence reached back and threw him out. Other than the obvious “It’s very difficult to go first to second on a fly out to right” point, let me make two others:  1. Pujols is not fast…he’s slow. Between heel and hamstring problems, the big guy is no speedster. 2. Hunter Pence had just thrown out Rick Ankiel at home plate the night before by about 552 feet. What was he thinking?

THE UGLY

First Inning Starting Pitching  In game one of this series, Looper handed the Astros a 4 – 0 lead before we even had a chance to bat. Yesterday, Wandy Rodriguez helped the Cardinals get on the board in the first with a 3 – 0 head start. Sure, the runs were unearned due to a fielding error, but three walks, a hit, and a run-scoring wild pitch (all in the first) didn’t help him much either. Let’s hope this isn’t a pattern, because if it is, then in tonight’s game…it’s our turn…

Oops…Sorry, Brian…

In my last post, I explored the organization’s options at third base (in case the club needed to DL Glaus for more than a while). Unfortunately, in my haste to get the post up well before the game and thus allow time for discussion, I overlooked a valuable infielder at the AAA level. My thanks to Travis for pointing out my oversight. Because Cards ‘N Stuff will always do our best to point out and correct our own mistakes, here is Brian Barden’s snap shot at third:

AAA Brian Barden (.322 AVG, .454 SLG, .400 OBP – 3 HRs) – Wow. I should be banned from the fan blogosphere for leaving this kid out this weekend. But, in my defense, I purposefully excluded him because the organization has him listed/playing shortstop in Memphis. His offensive numbers speak for themselves (and an .854 OPS!), but can he play the Hot Corner after high error numbers at short and a long absence from his natural position? I think in a possible Glaus DL situation, the club will want to call up a current and natural third baseman OR someone who is just demanding to be called up (like Joey Bombs). Unfortunately for Barden, he doesn’t fit either of those categories. Yes, his numbers are impressive, but Mather’s are even more impressive. Yes, he can play third, but he’s not our best third baseman. All-in-all, he’s that guy that falls in between the best defensive and the best offensive options without being either one. Still, he could be a good way to get both in one package…and at 27, he’s no Spring chicken…

Thanks again, Travis!