Category: St. Louis Cardinals

Key to The Cardinals Turnaround

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It takes a lot for a team to climb out of the depths of late summer dog day dread, but the Cardinals have pulled it off.   They have done so by doing things that have propelled them the entire season and also incorporating some new weapons and tactics.  Let’s roll over it.

Since losing to the Cubs on Saturday at home on August 10th to lose the series and reach their worst point in 2 months, the Cardinals have gone 10-3 and won series’ against the Pirates, Cubs, Brewers and Braves.   Today, we go for the sweep of an Atlanta team that swept us in their home park 3 weeks ago.   A lot of things can change when your team gets the little things done.   Today we start the game tied with the Pirates for first place in the division after the Giants shut down the Bucs on Saturday night to help us pull even.   It’s a brand new game in the division and the Reds aren’t out of it yet.  

The Cards got this far and turned things around by introducing a few new abilities.

-They came from behind twice against the Pirates at home to win the series and show that they had a few lives after the 8th inning.  Before that first extra inning win in 13 innings, the Cards had lost every game they trailed heading into the 9th inning.   They were 24 out victims for about 4 months.  Without that series win against the Pirates, I’m not sure any of this is possible.  

-The Birds bounced back from a 7-0 defeat against the Cubs on August 16th where Jake Westbrook walked the first three batters and our bats were shut down by a rookie.  We took the next two games on starting pitching and outscoring the opponent 10-1.  

-We scored another late inning come from behind win against the Brewers only to watch Lance Lynn blow a 3-0 lead the following night and nearly saw Westbrook give back a 7-0 lead on Wednesday afternoon.   The series win against the Brewers brought us back to 20 games over .500 and into a crucial 17 game stretch against premium teams the likes of Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh.  

In taking the first three games of the series, the Cards have established their home dominance by taking advantage of the injury plagued Braves and taking away their much beloved long ball.  In three games, the Braves have 2 home runs that have only accounted for 3 runs.  A home run hungry team has been befuddled by Joe Kelly, Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller to the tune of 22 innings pitched with only 2 runs allowed.   We have received timely hitting from Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday and find ourselves starting today tied for the lead in the Central.  It took every ounce of effort to pull it back in after seeing everything spiral out of control.  

The Cards have indeed relocated their starting pitching dominance at Busch this weekend.  Look at Miller’s big game start last night in a swing contest.   He allowed a first inning home run to Freddie Freeman but proceeded to allow 2 hits over the final 6.1 innings with 6 strikeouts.  Miller was more economical with his pitches.  He didn’t try to strike everyone out.   He had around 55 pitches in the 5th inning, a plateau usually reached in the 3rd or 4th inning.   The best part of Miller’s start was the fact he didn’t allow a single walk.  It was only his second start where he allowed zero walks and the first since a win over the Phillies on July 23rd.  The rest and caution over the rookie righthander may have been worth the stress levels because if he is starting to figure out how to shut down HR happy heavy hitting MLB lineups like the Braves, the next two months could be the young man’s best moments.   

-I could tell you how brilliant Wainwright was on Friday but I am afraid a lot of people beat me to it and its something that is a given.  After struggling on the vital road trip against the Braves and Pirates, Wainwright has reestablished his dominance with two big starts.  He won the series at Wrigley a week ago with a 7 inning performance and threw his best game of the year against the Braves on Friday.   Using 128 pitches yet looking stronger and sharper than ever in the 9th inning, Wainwright threw a complete game.  He struck out 9 and walked no one.   It was the kind of big game performance you need from your ace in a crucial stretch of play.   He raised around 100,000 dollars for local charities in the morning with his fantasy football tournament and went out and threw a gem that night.   Wainwright is becoming Chris Carpenter in every way and its a great thing.   He wears his heart on his sleeve, donates plenty of time to charity, doesn’t bullshit in interviews, and happens to be a commanding presence on the mound and a hilariously loose teammate in the dugout.  If there is a leader on the team not named Molina, it’s Waino.   7 years ago those team collided at the mound for a World Series celebration.  Friday night, they did a more subtle celebration after Waino’s complete game and it reminded me how sharp and alert this franchise is.   The Cardinals don’t put out phonies and players that lack the gall to lead others.  We craft veteran minded young men ready to lead.   In Matt Carpenter and Allen Craig, you see the youth movement.  In Holliday and Beltran, there is the guided direction from proven players.   This team is one of the most well rounded teams I’ve watched in years.

-Speaking of Matt Holliday, he’s turned it on again in this series, collecting 4 hits in 11 at bats but making those hits count.   A big RBI double on Thursday.  A mammoth HR to break a tie in Friday’s game.  A big 2 run double last night.   In the #3 hole where hitters go to live or die, Holliday is doing just fine.  His work in left field isn’t that bad either.  Keep in mind he has only made 1 error there all season.   

-Per one of my radio buddies, Aaron Russell, when Edward Mujica threw those 6 innings last week before his temporary shutdown, all he needed was 42 pitches to do it.   Last night, he had to close down a game that two other relievers failed to convert and needed 3 pitches to do it.   With every appearance, Mujica is getting sharper and sharper.   I’ll say it again.  After a slight dip in July, Chief has reasserted himself as a shutdown closer in August.   His four out save to preserve a much needed series win in Milwaukee was impressive because he was doing it with considerable back pain.   Last night, he quieted fears of an extended injury with a quick blunt performance.   In 12 appearances in August, Mujica has 5 strikeouts with 1 walk and has allowed 1 earned run with 4 saves.  For the season, even for a closer, his numbers are ridiculous.   34-36 in saves, 43 K-3 BB, opponents are hitting .203 against him and his WHIP is 0.80.   Absolutely ridiculous.  Go Eddie!

Quickies before I set up for game time-

*Daniel Descalso is looking better and better the more he plays shortstop.   Made two very nice plays last night.   Pete Kozma gets the start today with his 3 hits in the month of August.  Being a light hitting defensive player is fine.  Being a non-existent hitter on a playoff team isn’t acceptable.   His days are numbered.

*I want Tony Cruz back,   No offense to Rob Johnson but he isn’t a suitable backup.  His defense is average and his bat is worse.  Cruz is a decent backup and I like him in there to give Yadi the occasional day off.

*Sorry to all the Wainwright lovers(and I am one, so this is weird) but Yadi Molina is the team’s MVP.  Waino does his work every 5th day and if he happens not to, the impact only gets lessened.   Yadi takes that spot 4 out of 5 games and delivers night in and night out.   He completely takes away the running game, even from base stealing happy foes.  He’s the best.  He also swings a big bat.  He is 14-30 in his last 7 games with 8 runs scored.  He leads the league in hitting with a .336 average.  Best catcher.  Best batting average.  Add it up.  BEST.

*The weight falls on Lance Lynn to deliver a decent start and keep the streak going.  He loves his four seam fastball and his ability to mix it in with breaking pitches against a homer happy team will be the key.  Save me his defense because the man’s 13 wins have come via good pitching but better run support.   In his last 2 starts, Lynn hasn’t been sharp.  We have a liability on this roster and its called Jake Westbrook. Lance Lynn needs to earn his keep.  Go out there today and complete sweep.  Earn the victory on the merit of your own arm.  

*With Westbrook hitting the DL, Tyler Lyons gets the start tomorrow against the Reds.   This guy is a puzzle.  He shut down the Padres and Royals but ran into better teams with better bats who had a knowledge of his pitchers in July and he was clubbed for 3 starts in a row.   He made another start weeks later and was clubbed at Pittsburgh.  He was solid in relief in Milwaukee but faces a mighty lineup on Monday.   Will he be beaten up for a 5th consecutive start or will Tyler Lyons be something else.  We’ll see.  My bets are in front of me because I see no good cards in my hand.  

That’s all I got today.  Go Cards and keep the streak going.  We beat the Braves today and we will be tied for the best record in MLB baseball again.   That’s two weeks after looking dead in the water.  That’s how fast things can change in this game.  You play every day. You can change things every single game.  The Cardinals are going to get their chance.  Let’s not settle for a series win.  Let’s go for the jugular.  I wonder what all the fans who thought we were done 2 weeks ago think now.  Hmmmm….remember the game they play and what happened in 2011 and 2012.  

Thanks for reading,

Dan Buffa

Cards Game Reaction and More

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When Ben Affleck was announced as Batman in the 2015 sequel to Man of Steel, this addict’s radar went off and I had to depart a very good game.  I did return from Gotham in South Boston to rewatch the highlights and report that tonight’s game produced a stream of thoughts.  Here is a quick rundown of what happened tonight.

My Take From the Cards Win-

*Pete Kozma still has 3 hits in August, yet continues to start.  Unlike Dan Uggla, this .219 hitter can’t bash home runs out of the yard.   Daniel Descalso came into the game early and got a hit in 2 at bats.  Kozma is .057 for August.  He needs to go and it’s finally the hour for a Ryan Jackson appearance.  He has the defensive skills and might have a slightly better bat than .219.

*Joe Jelly Kelly provided another solid start.  Solid if not great work from a guy who continues to impress.  He has pitched 12 innings and allowed 2 runs total against the best team in baseball(record wise at least).   He went 6, allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, and struck out 3 batters and walked 2.  He delivered what was expected.  The base line for the opportunity to win.  He’s as good as bottled water right now.

*Quiet down about Matt Holliday losing some production back in the #3 hole.  He was 2-3 with a walk tonight including a huge RBI double in the 6th.  He will hit anywhere.  Just let him be.  Sometimes Holliday haters just talk so they can be seen, like annoying umpires in a game of rivals.

*Mike Matheny didn’t receive much wrath from Twitter tonight and it seems like every time Kelly starts, the young skipper makes better decisions.  It must be nice knowing your starter will deliver what is expected.  I didn’t see that many bunts tonight.  Fact.

*Carlos Beltran is heating back up at the right time.   In his last 10 games, Beltran is hitting .341.

*David Freese continues to starve off desperation with a hit and 2 RBI tonight.  I still say he needs to light it up to get starts because Kolten Wong offers you a little more but the Imos Boy faithful is still strong.

*Matt Carpenter continues his wickedly hot table setting ways.  2 hits, his 42nd double, and 2 runs scored.   He is hitting .312 and looking mighty confident doing so.  Where did we find this guy?  2 years ago he was nowhere on the depth chart and boom, now he is our leadoff guy for the foreseeable future.  It starts and ends with his ability to work the count and play solid defense.

*Trevor Rosenthal is showing some signs of wearing down but he has appeared in 58 games and still gets the job done.  He allowed a hit tonight yet threw 10 pitches and finished off the 9th inning.  He has allowed 5 earned runs in his last 10 outings but is still a strong reliever.  I trust the guy.

*Paul Maholm is an average pitcher and Atlanta’s worst starter.  He no hit us for nearly 4 innings before we woke up and scored 5 runs off him.   This series was set up perfect because we got their worst to start and don’t face their best, Mike Minor, until Sunday.

*Add to that The Braves are walking wounded.  Jason Heyward got beaned with a pitch in the jaw and will miss 6 weeks.  Dan Uggla may return this weekend but who knows what his eye sight will yield.  B.J. Upton is struggling.  Justin Upton hits a home run(as seen tonight) or is a quick out.  This team is already without its ace, Tim Hudson.  This is a time to get the best of them.

*There are only a few things better for a Cards addict than finding out the game you are going to see live tomorrow night features Adam Wainwright.   The true Carp. Jr takes command of a game and will help a dad trying to get at least 6 innings in with a 2 year old in attendance.

*The Pirates jumped SF’s Matt Cain and won tonight.  The Reds won.  No worries.  All we have to do is stay close.  The next 16 games are crucial.  Braves, Reds and Pirates.  We get through that with at least 9 wins then we are solid for the final stretch.

*The Reds lost Jonathon Broxton and Johnny Cueto for at least the regular season today, so their fragile pitching corps took a huge hit.  I am not afraid of that team at all, especially at Busch Stadium.  The advantage is ours.

*Edward Mujica is fine.  It’s just a muscle in his back, located near the traps and lats near the mid section.  With therapy and meds, he will be fine.  Judging by the way he finished off his game on Wednesday, I have tons of faith in him getting the job done.  The solo home run he allowed on Wednesday was his first earned run allowed in August, spanning 8 outings.  He also pitched 2 innings three separate times last week, which can lead to a back spasm or two.  He has recovered from a rough July and returned to stellar form.  He is 33-35 in save opportunities which is quite incredible when you take into account his history and this team’s sudden need for a fix in April.  Without Mujica, this team may not sit as pretty.  Team MVP goes Molina, Carp Jr., Mujica, Craig.

*Most errors on the Cards.  Carpenter and Descalso each have 11 errors.

*Mike Shannon’s heart surgery was shocking but hearing he is out of it and recovered and ready to roll is great news.  Radio calls without Shannon wouldn’t seem right.

The Random Bits-

*My son Vinny turns 2 years old on September 14th and I can’t believe its been that long.   I’ve become a diaper changing ninja, car seat specialist, and overall hands on mechanic with this kid but he throws me curveballs every day.  I may not Hollywood’s idea of a superhero, but to this kid I am just that and I am cool with it.

*The Spectacular Now and Drinking Buddies are very good movies.   Each are 95 minutes or less.  One you can watch at home.

*Ben Affleck already played a tortured superhero, portraying George Reeves in the underrated crime film Hollywoodland.  He was excellent in that film.  He wasn’t my first choice but I understand the move and like the bold flavor of it.  Affleck will throw little Henry on his shoulders and make sure its done right.  All he has to do is step on set and say, “Argofuckyourself”.

*One advantage of having my own site/link/domain is owning that particular name and being able to build an actual site off it one day.  I do plan to build a site around my material and make it legit.  First step was securing a domain.  You can type dose of buffa into google and my words will hit you at the top.  Small if solid accomplishment.

*The word, Buffa,means an Italian comic opera, according to google.   This is what happens when you google yourself.  Madness.

Alright, I am bringing this wildly unplugged and slightly less than spectacular entry to a close.  Thanks for reading and goodnight.

-DB

Hand Me the Shovel on Jake Westbrook

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No matter what happens in this game, 7-5 Cards in the 6th inning, I can tell you one thing.   Jake Westbrook doesn’t deserve to be in this rotation any longer.   Today, he helped himself in a 6 run 2nd inning in pushing his team out to a 7-0 lead against the Brewers in a rubber match.  He ran into trouble in the 3rd and gave up a 3 run bomb to Aramis Rameriz, a registered Cardinal killer.  Why Jake felt the need to pitch to Rameriz even with 2 runners on will befuddle my mind for a long time.   In the 5th inning, after getting 2 outs, Westbrook regressed and gave up 2 more runs.  You see the leaks here and the problems.  It’s not hard with a guy like Westbrook.   He is bad news.   His elbow could be bothering him or he could just be breaking down.   A sinker baller can only stay around for so long before they learn another pitch to prolong their career or they just go away.   Westbrook’s return in 2013 was held in question by me last winter because of our young arm supply.  Then we lost Carpenter and Garcia and Jake was needed.  We didn’t resign Kyle Lohse and inserted 4 rookies into rotational stints this season.   The rotation is a big question mark because right now, this set isn’t a big threat in a postseason series.   Waino is your guy, Kelly is hot, but after that it gets worrisome.  Lynn is talented but has a bad mental makeup and blows leads.   Taking away his run support is like taking away a gunman’s firearms.   Shelby Miller is holding steady but may succumb to a pitch count or shoulder issue before we know it.   He gives you 5-6 innings every time out and avoid the big inning.  Then you have Westbrook.

In my mind, there’s no way Matheny can move forward with him in this rotation.  These games mean too much.  Every single one counts.  We may not catch Pittsburgh so we could be contention for another wild card game.  There are less than 35 games left.  Things are going to start speeding up.  Westbrook is a pitcher that requires so much finesse it gets to be a weight on the shoulders just to get him ready.  He can’t pitch on the road, especially in PNC Park or Great American Park.  He needs lots of pre game prep.  He is a 30 something pitcher who has the body of a 50 year old when it comes to pitching.  He can’t pitch in this rotation any more and he won’t be a good bullpen guy either, as we saw against LA at Busch.  Sure, he could condition himself for a different role but is he or his body in any shape to do so?  Ask yourself that question.  What is Jake’s role on this team if not in the rotation?  Dismiss it as long as you can but sooner or later you think, in what spot other than a 10 run blowout do you put Jake into a game?  We saw what happened with a 7-0 lead today?  This was the final hair and in the long run may end up being best for the Cards.   Hit the wall with Westbrook now instead of down the road in September.

Options?

*Insert Michael Wacha into the spot.  He can at least give you 5th starter production if not more.  His upside is insane if he gets the chance and his work out of the pen suggests his mental makeup is stronger than before.  You have nothing to lose by giving Wacha the reins and letting him go.  He’d have two more wins if it weren’t for bullpen malfunction.

*Tyler Lyons isn’t fit for a starting role.  He looks good as a long man in the pen and his 4 straight losses in the rotation doesn’t make one think he can suddenly turn it around.

*Carlos Martinez is extremely talented but not ready to give the rotation meaningful innings.   He looked unfit in his start against the Dodgers at Busch.  He will be a 2014 candidate.

*Look at Lohse or Dan Haren on the waiver wire.  I will say this.  Lohse has looked good for 2 months.  He knows Busch, has a shorter contract, and could give this rotation a real boost.  A lot of money comes off the books in 2014.   Lohse can be afforded and has suddenly figured out how to pitch in the MLB and be very good.   If Milwaukee dangles him, think about it.  Give me 3 good reasons why not.  He is a proven playoff pitcher.  He could be a boost.  Dan Haren has also been very good as of late and returning to the Cardinals may help his career and the team.  These are 2 guys who could be 3rd spot starters in a good rotation and could help the team without losing your entire farm system.   This isn’t Jake Peavy or Cliff Lee.   Lohse and Haren would cost the Cards but not a ton of prospects or money.   With one of these guys, I see a deadly rotation.  Without them, you are depending on a little luck.  Just my take.

Feel free to fire back, discuss and break it down.  I love interacting with fellow Cards nuts.  Back to the game.  Thanks for reading.  Seth Maness is in and trying to hold a 7-5 lead against a Brewers team smelling blood.  If he can hold it, Trevor Rosenthal and Edward Mujica will follow.  Nothing is certain in this game.

-Dan Buffa

@buffa82 on Twitter

film-addict.com

United Cardinal Bloggers

Six Things About the Cardinals

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The Cards lost an ugly one in Milwaukee, so here I am right after laying out the deck.  These aren’t warning bells yet a simple reminder of things to consider as we approach the final month of the season.   The Cardinals are a dangerous team but one with inconsistencies and weak spots.  We are the approaching hitchhiker to the playoffs that can be picked off by the right sniper.   They always make a fan nervous because it’s a 162 game season and day to day mood swings are normal for an authentic baseball fan.  Here are some things to think about, admire and remember.

1.  Starting Rotation notes.  Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook are trouble seekers.    Depending tomorrow on Westbrook to win the series is like calling up your most depressed and anti-social friend to be your wingman for a potential double date.   I don’t care if Lynn has 13 wins because his record and overall stat sheet is bloated and misleading.  He strikes guys out but also likes to walk guys at horrible times and blows leads like its going out of style.   Westbrook is a declining veteran who might have one more contract with a team left before he becomes that painful to watch back of the rotation guy.  Wait a minute…he already is that.  Oops.  Westbrook is the tired broken down horse that needs a bullet in September.   Lynn is more troubling because there are wrinkles of greatness in his facade yet he lets his mental setup crack very easily.   Crash Davis may be needed to deal with Lynn’s 2 cent head.  He looks lost every time something doesn’t go his way.  Lynn is flashy but inconsistent and gets worse in the second half.  He can lose another 20 pounds and he will still be the same pitcher.  He’s kept the weight off yet this is a mental problem.  In his last 7 starts he has ran into one BAD inning every game.  That’s not good at all and probably won’t change.  I’ll always attach Lynn to Game 6 of the 2012 NLCS when he had that horrible inning that let the Giants get a huge lead.  He is a big inning meltdown artist.   So is Westbrook.   In my book, Joe Kelly is a more effective if less flashy starter than Lance Lynn.   Give Kelly Lynn’s run support and see their records change.  Without Kelly, the Cards would be further out of this race.   Waino and Kelly have been solid.  Shelby Miller has been a typical fireballing rookie but his head and mental makeup is a lot better than Lynn’s.  Miller is just in love with dictatorship on the mound, trying to blow away every hitter.  That will improve with years.  Lynn will not improve.  He will give you that fast start and shiny record but when the games start to really count, Lynn will come up short and limp.   He is offseason trade bait.  The rotation isn’t set for a playoff run.  Changes need to be made.  Michael Wacha needs to be considered for a spot if Lynn/Westbrook continue to trend down.  The crazy theory is looking into Kyle Lohse(winner tonight and a victim of horrid run support himself) for a waiver claim.   It’s not pretty but Lohse is pitching great and is comfortable in the division and in Busch.  He has 2 more years but seems to have figured something out the past 2 seasons.  His ERA is solid and with a better team would have over 10 wins. The Brewers may not do it but they aren’t going to contend inside this suddenly strong division in 2014 or 2015.   Its not even a decent possibility but if Mozelaik can look into it, he should.  The Cards are treading water, getting no heavy innings from their starters and seeing the bullpen start to crack.   What happens in 2 weeks of consistent 5-6 inning starts with the usual Waino 7 inning performance?   Where are the options?  Carlos Martinez is out there but the team seems to think of him as a bullpen arm.   Wacha is here but needs to be re-routed.  Keep an eye on this bunch.  Hoping the Cards rotation will figure things out if like hoping you can make it through a run without shitting your pants.   Don’t bet on it.

2.  Kolten Wong, everyone.   After going hitless in his first two games, Wong has 5 hits and 3 stolen bases in his last two games.   The young gun can fly on the basepaths and is getting the green light to steal and that adds a whole other dimension to this team.   David Freese went 0-4 tonight and isn’t doing himself any favors.   The better Wong performs the more Freese will sit down.   Wong could have easily had a 4 hit night if the 9th inning line drive doesn’t strike the pitcher’s hand.  He is quick, fresh, and spreads the ball around.  He is exactly what this streaky offense needed.  A kick in the ass.  Wong will be benched tomorrow because Mike Matheny thinks Freese can hit Tony Gorzelanny but he needs to seriously push David for starts.  It’s nothing personal to the Freese faithful but unless he goes on a terror, the bench will be his friend.

3. I don’t find the time or need most nights to trash Mike Matheny.  It’s important to remember he is a 2nd year manager.   He had no minor league experience and spent the years before 2012 wearing a suit, talking to Pat Parris and being Mo’s wingman.   Keep that in mind.   This isn’t a direct defense.  Just expect the guy to make some boneheaded decisions that mirror Tony La Russa and a young raw leader.   He bunts way too much, makes lots of pitching changes, extends a fierce loyalty to all his players and leaves it all on the table.   He is blunt, candid and John Wayne tough.   I respect the hell out of the guy and will admit he has a lot to learn at this level but for any sane sports soul in St. Louis calling for his dismissal, I have nothing but contempt for you.  He is a young skipper.  Give him time.  He didn’t get a rebuilding team to lead.  He got an annual World Series contender to drive.   It’s not an easy gig and most nights I cut him more slack than the players.  Matheny time over.

4.  I did like the Cardinals lineup and our depth was on display again.   Without our two best offensive players in Matt Carpenter(leader in hits, runs scored, doubles triples, finely trimmed facial hair) and Allen Craig(RBI machine), our lineup was formidable.   Wong in the #2 hole is great and Holliday, Beltran and Molina is a nice wrecking ball of producers.  If you have to rest 2 All Star’s, this lineup makes it feasible.   However, let’s not do it again.   Matt Adams has been a much better pinch hitter this year than starter and Jon Jay doesn’t need to be back in that leadoff spot when he has been killing pitching in the 6th hole.

5.  Pete Kozma has 3 hits in August.  That is why he will sit a lot of games.  I don’t care about his better defense over Descalso at short.   He has to get more hits or it’s like having 2 pitchers at the bottom of the lineup.   He hasn’t produced anything lately except for the go ahead hit on getaway Sunday against the Cubs at Busch Stadium on August 11th.  One of his 3 hits.

6.  Matt Holliday has simply cooled off.   In his last 5 games, he is 1-19.   The average is back down to .283.   Stop making comments about him hitting in the 3rd or 4th hole.  He was good in the 4th spot with Albert in 2010 and 2011.  He was good last year in the #3 spot.  He came off the DL on July 27th and was hitting good.  He isn’t hitting horribly.  Getting bad luck line drives caught and getting out in front of pitches.   He can hit in either spot and produce.  He is a streaky hitter who recovered his season with a 3 week hot stretch.  Hopefully he catches fire again soon.

That’s all I got.  This Dose of Buffa on the Cardinals has reached it’s conclusion.  Nice to see Yadi Molina collect 4 hits last night and a pair tonight to get back to .336.   His bat is required to make the lineup run.   Come back tomorrow for more thoughts that hopefully involve talking about a series win.

Goodnight,

Dan Buffa

-Film-Addict.com

-www.unitedcardinalbloggers.com

-@buffa82 on Twitter

-Listen in at redwolfrollcall.com tomorrow at 4pm for my hit on the Cards

Let’s Talk About Joe Kelly and 2014 Cardinal Pitching

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There aren’t many blog posts in Cardinal nation out there that wanted to talk about Joe Kelly in May or June.  He wasn’t a hot topic like Matt Carpenter or Edward Mujica.  That’s because he was as well hidden as Roman Polanski for three months this season.  He worked out of the bullpen but looked like a disgruntled coal miner when he hit the mound.  Finally, last month, he was utilized.   He was inserted into the rotation when the world found out Chris Carpenter wasn’t coming back.   Since July 6th, Kelly is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA.  He has been the Cards best starter by far.  He isn’t easy to watch at times, but the good thing is the man pitches his best when under pressure.  With men on base, his ERA drops.  He is the Allen Craig of pitchers.  With empty bases, he sort of tunes out.   When men reach base or worse, get into scoring position, he turns into a freak and shuts it down.  Today, he threw another solid performance on the board, shutting down the Cubs for 6 innings and helping his team win 4-0 at Wrigley.  A day after our team was shut out badly, Kelly takes the mound and rights the ship.   His last three wins have come after losses.

He is the stopper right now.  That is due in part because the team won’t score runs for Adam Wainwright and because the rest of the rotation is inept or just bad at winning games or overmatched.   Kelly is the man for the time being.  It probably won’t last and he won’t win pitcher of the month honors but this team may look uglier without Kelly this past month.  We may be in third place.   That’s an important guy that was wrongfully snubbed for 3 months.   After serving his purpose in 2012 in the rotation and pen, Kelly was passed over in 2013 for young guns John Gast, Tyler Lyons, Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez.   Finally, when the Cards knew their hail mary Carp comeback was going to fall short of the end zone, they inserted Kelly.  He has been aces every since.  He isn’t a shutdown arm.  He won’t throw complete games.  He puts a lot of guys on base but he gets out of innings unscathed.  When was the last time Kelly was truly shelled in a start?  Call it.  It’s a rarity.  He is the reliable arm who gets zero attention because he doesn’t strike out 10 batters or dominate.  He is a blue collar rotation soldier.  In his last 9 appearances, all starts, starting on June 21st, Kelly has only allowed more than 3 earned runs in 5 innings or more twice.  It came on July 6th against the Marlins.  He beat the Cubs at Wrigley on July 12th.  He pitched shutout ball for 6.1 innings in Atlanta on July 27th and got nothing for it.  He won the lone game of the series against both the Pirates and Dodgers.  On Sunday, he allowed 4 runs to the Cubs in 5.1 innings but didn’t blow the game.  Today, he pitched 6 innings of shutout ball at Wrigley, a place where many Cards starters can’t seem to pitch well in 2013.  What he does isn’t pretty but Joe Kelly has been solid during a time where the rest of the team has struggled mightily.  He is worth talking about for 2014 or he may help net you a great shortstop in a trade.  Other teams can’t be blind to Kelly’s success in limited duty that can be stretched between the mound and pen.  The only true knock on Kelly from me is he walks a few more guys than I’d like.  55 K to 29 BB.  That’s not horrible but not too sharp either.  Still, he is a perfect 5th starter.

2014 will be interesting.   The sure things are(if Jaime “Band aide mind” Garcia makes it back fine) are Waino, Mr. Garcia, and Shelby Miller.  I still don’t consider Lance Lynn to be a lock for next season.  He could be trade bait.  He has a nice W-L record but he gets a lot of run support and fades in the second half.  He also lets a sudden round of misfortune affect an entire inning because he isn’t mentally strong.  He walks too many and likes to strike guys out too much.   I like him as a 3rd or 4th guy but not sure he will be here in 2014.  So you have Lynn and Kelly.  Michael Wacha may well be in the rotation in a week if Westbrook fades deeper into veteran oblivion and he keeps firing zeroes in the pen.  Martinez, Gast and Lyons are also there.  Total, not including the 3 certainties in the rotation, you have 6 starters hanging around in Lynn, Kelly, Wacha, Martinez, Gast and Lyons for 2014.  The Cards don’t need starting pitching or bullpen help in 2014.  They are set.  The real problem will be what to do with Edward Mujica when Jason Motte returns in April/May.   Mujica has been sharp and filled in well but the closer job is Jason Motte’s because he is paid that way and earned it with his work in 2011/2012 playoff runs.  Mujica could make good money on the open market as a closer so I doubt he comes back to the Cards knowing he will be headed for the 7th inning bridge role again.  That’s fine.  The Cards have a surplus of starting pitching that will seep into the bullpen.  This is where they will trade from in the offseason to acquire a shortstop.   Carlos Beltran can come back or not, but this team needs a legit shortstop.  Especially if they do lean on Oscar Taveras and Kolten Wong for larger roles in 2014.  Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson aren’t going to do it.  Daniel Descalso is a solid bench guy who can play 3 positions.  He is a keeper.  The offseason mission is deciding what to do with the end of your rotation and what shortstop you go after.  I still like the idea of making an offer for Jimmy Rollins.  Short term deal, more money than you’d like but less liability.  The Cards, once again, have very good problems to figure out.

Back to 2013.  Michael Wacha has pitched 3 innings out of the pen and struck out 7.   He looks good down there but still values higher as a starter.  Tyler Lyons is in your pen now as a long lefthanded arm so the Cards don’t have another blowout like the Miller Line Drive game.  They have Wacha and Lyons down there who can throw 2-4 innings if needed.  That’s the good thing about keeping those guys down there in the pen.  BUT….do you really give Jake Westbrook in the rotation after his last 3 outings.   Let’s say the Cards win the next three and you are going for a sweep in Milwaukee on Wednesday.  Does Jake really make that start?  He gets banged up in the first inning so you can have Wacha and Lyons on call but still be down 4-0 pretty quick.   I don’t see why.  I’d rather have Lyons or Wacha make that start but it won’t happen.   I am loving my stats lately but already gave them on Jake last night.  Let’s spin it this way.  HE SUCKS lately.  Not good.  Not worth it.  At all.  If he makes another start and stalls or puts his team in danger of a winning streak being broken, he must be banished to the back of the bullpen.   This is the majors Mr. Mike Matheny.  Your loyalty cost the Cards early on with Mitchell Boggs. Please don’t let it cost us late with Jake Westbrook.

The END!  1300 words on this team when I didn’t think I’d break 600.   That’s baseball.  That’s life in the summer for a Cards fan who likes to write.  Now I am ordering Louie’s pizza, getting the kid in bed, and considering watching some preseason football.   Goodnight folks.

-DLB

United Cardinal Bloggers

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@buffa82 on Twitter

 

Sinking The Pirate Ship and Its Effect

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What does one series win mean for a team?   For the Cardinals, it was the difference between being 2 games out today or 4 games out of first place.   It was premature for any Cardinals fan to think the Pirates would lay down after being outlasted by the Birds on Tuesday night 4-3.   Francisco Liriano came out last night and shut the team down on 94 pitches, scattered a few hits and made short work of our team.   The Pirates were back to 3 games up and took a 4-0 lead today early on.  How would the Cardinals react?

The crazy thing about the Rogues in red is that they are so streaky and can fall asleep at the wheel so easily.  The Cardinals can look so confounded by a pitcher after seemingly getting back on track.  Liriano is so pushover but seeing the team muster zero energy against him was frustrating for any Cards fan with a pulse.  Losing is one thing.  Ghost walking is quite another.   I remember the first series of the season where the Cards were playing San Francisco and Matt Cain shut them down the first two times through the order.  We were losing and on our way to a shutout.  Suddenly, we scored 9 times in the 6th inning and routed the Giants and ended up beating Cain again later in the year.  That’s our offense in a nutshell.   Power lacking, no need to steal, magnificent with RISP but streaky as a plate of Mexican food’s durability to cold temperatures.  We are down yet not out.  We are hitless and suddenly, like today, get 5 runs on 6 hits off A.J. Burnett, erase a 4-0 lead and take a lead.   Following the Cards is as rough as it gets.  We know this team will compete every single year.  We know they will dominate early on, sputter in June, nearly collapse in August and finally find their footing.  Heading into tomorrow action’s against the Cubs on August 16th, is that finally the time this team finds their feet and makes that push.   Let’s look at the schedule.

6 game road trip against The Cubs and Brewers.  Two painfully bad teams looking to play spoiler.  Jake Westbrook takes the mound tomorrow for the first time in 9 days to find his sinker and right his own ship.

Next, a pivotal home stand against the Braves(revenge) and the suddenly closing in on the division lead Reds.  3 games apiece.  The Cardinals have been good at home lately and need to keep that up.  The Dodgers and Cubs series losses withstanding, the second half has seen this team make Busch a comfort and not a hazard.

The end of the month closes with a road trip through Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.  CRUCIAL games at the start of the final push.  We come home and face the Pirates at BUSCH for the last 3 times in 2013.  These are nine games that can’t be wasted.

After the Bucs leave, we get the Brewers here for 3 and the Seattle Mariners for 3 games to finish interleague action.  Yes, we may face Mr. Felix.  Knowing our ability against great RH pitchers, we will shell him for 5 runs.

The last road trip of the season takes us to Colorado for a potentially hazardous 4 game set in the middle of the month and finally to Milwaukee one more time.  We got 9 games with the rough Brewers who don’t have Ryan Braun anymore and are very beatable.

The season comes to an end with the Nationals and Cubs at home for 3 apiece.  Two under .500 teams that will be hungry to spoil.   Watch out.

The last 40 games won’t be easy but there are a lot of matches against less than .500 clubs which overall the Cards thrive on this season.   The Braves, Reds, and Pirates won’t be easy at all but hopefully with the callups, renewed energy and maybe a waiver deal in there somewhere, the Cards will be ready to finally put their foot down and roll.  This team didn’t spend 3 months with the best record in baseball for no reason.  We don’t lead the Majors in run differential for no reason.  We don’t own the most runs scored, 3rd best rotation ERA and best batting average in the NL for no reason.  We are strong, formidable and now ready to push.

What else about the Birds?

*Kolten Wong is finally being called up.  He will meet the team in Chicago.  He was ripping up AAA pitching and was our 1st round draft pick last year.  He will push David Freese for playing time with Matt Carpenter either starting at 2nd or moving to third for Wong.  This is good news.  A fresh set of legs and a speedy basepath guy, Wong can hit the ball to all fields.  He is a welcome addition.  He isn’t Oscar Taveras, but he will do.  I don’t expect him to start every day, but look for him to get in there at least 3-4 times a week.  This also provides a valuable bench bat in Freese late in games.

*I like Freese.  He’s a good hometown kid and has given the team a bargain barrel of production at third base.  He was a World Series hero and will always have that.  He was an all star in 2012.  However, this is a business and you have to keep hitting on one year deals.  Wong is young and ready,and Freese looks misguided and over-matched at the plate.  He will have to earn his at-bats.  The Cards know this is their time.  That is why they called up Wong.  Team needs a bump.

*The Matt Holliday haters and critics won’t like this but he has been on fire since he returned on July 27th.  He has been consistently hitting and taken his average from .268 in late July to .294 today.   In his last 10 games, Holliday is hitting .457 with 8 RBI, 16 H, and more BB than K.  On Thursday, he had two go ahead hits.  The man is thrashing the ball and that includes a MLB leading 27 double play balls.  Most of those come when Holliday scorches a one hopper to a fielder.  That’s not an excuse but only a mere detail.  Holliday is a typical 2nd half slugger.  He starts slow, finishes strong and laughs at his critics.  Maybe some people still want Carl Crawford’s 24 million dollar tag here instead of watching him lead off in LA.  Jayson Werth anyone?  Holliday, even at 17 million, is a bargain bat and will finish with his strong expected numbers.  He gets hot when the team most needs him and that is in the last two months of the season.  Shit on his defense but please don’t compare him to Chris Duncan.  Holliday doesn’t have a good arm, makes the occasional bad play, but only has 3 errors and makes most plays.  He is here for his bat and right now, that’s red hot.

*I will buy into the theory of Matt Carpenter’s bat leading this offense up or down.  On this homestand he is hitting .413 and collected 8 hits in 15 at bats against the Pirates.  He is hitting .315 with a league high 40 doubles.  He reached base 5 times in Thursday’s comeback win.    The guy is having a fantastic season and has reheated after a slow start to the second half.

Beating the Pirates with 2 walkoff wins was huge for a number of reasons.   Mainly, it gave this team revenge for a horrible 5 game series in Pittsburgh that upended the Cards and rerouted their season.   If we lose this series or get swept here, the rest of the season looks pretty dim.  You have to take advantage of head to head battles because of the two game swing of each contest.  The Cards didn’t wilt and grabbed their two biggest comeback wins of the season.   Today, down 4-0, in the 5th, the game looked sealed until we started hitting.  The one thing you can count on with this 2013 team at the plate is timely hitting.

MVP of the Pirates series-The BULLPEN.   Fired 7 scoreless frames on Tuesday, 3 scoreless on Wednesday and delivered 6 innings on Thursday and allowed a single run.   16 innings in the series and 1 run allowed.   Superb performance from the pen.   Edward Mujica has calmed the scares that arose in July with brilliant work in August.  He throws strikes, keeps the ball down and barely walks hitters.  His walk on Thursday was his 2nd since April.   Ridiculous control.  Mujica fired 3 consecutive 2 inning games the past 4 games.  Man is a horse and on our side.

What’s next?  Cubs at Wrigley for 3 games.  NEED to dominate and start strangling the Pirates and Reds in the central.   Pittsburgh gets the tenacious D-Backs for 3 this weekend, a team that may play a role in the wild card standings.  Lot of season left, the road doesn’t look so dark now and with the arrival of Wong, the Cards may be finding their way.   Having a guy named Yadi Molina back may also help.

That’s it.  I have to watch another movie before I hit the bed.  4 movies this week, blogging, article writing for film-addict, job applying.  All in a week’s work.  I don’t stop writing.  EVER!  Craft is always fresh and the material, via my Redbirds, is always in front of me.

Thanks for reading,

Dan Buffa

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-@buffa82 on Twitter

-United Cardinal Bloggers

-Red Wolf Roll Call on Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

The Unbreakable Fight of The Cardinals

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Sometimes it’s easy for baseball teams to fold and call it a season.   After 110 games and the grueling pace, a team can show signs of wear and tear.   The genuine thrill of baseball is keeping a consistent positive vibe for 6 months and 162 games.  Day in and day out, you must compete.  There is barely a break in the season.  No 6 day wait or 48 hour grace period.  If you lose bad one night, there’s a good chance the sun will rise the next morning and you will have a chance to redeem yourself.  Baseball is a romantic and bittersweet sport to follow.  It begins in the spring, when everything is growing and blossoming.  It ends at the dawn of winter, when everything starts to die and get cold.  We are in the middle of August, and if one thing is for certain, the 2013 Cardinals aren’t dying anytime soon.  They are simply surviving and waiting for their chance to dominate.  They won a 14 inning battle with their new rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates, last night.   Several teams win extra inning battles.  Some do it twice a week.  The Cards don’t win a lot of extra inning games nor have they walked off much this year.  They don’t come back after the 8th inning.   Last night was the first win the Cards had after trailing going into the ninth since last October’s Game 5 electrifying comeback against the Washington Nationals.  You can say they were due.

How did they do it?  Well it wasn’t easy and involved more peculiar managerial tactics and moves and gave any fan the resignation that this game was going to end up a loss.   The Cards were down 3-0 early, before the stadium of Busch could fill up.   Adam Wainwright gives up his runs early and settled down.  He threw 126 pitches and finished 7 innings, which seemed like overzealous performance until you realized the game was going to last 7 more additional innings.   Waino was tough and a general as usual.  He didn’t let up and welt in the summer sun like Jake Westbrook can do on occasion after an early assault.  Waino gave his team a chance to win.  Several times this season, Waino has pitched well and deserved better.  You don’t have 13 wins with a 2.71 ERA for no reason.

The Cards got back into the game with a 2 run 6th inning.  After loading the bases, David Freese grounded into what seemed like his 40th double play.  While it scored 1 run, Freese didn’t register any lower on my “Get your shit together” scale.   He has had a troubling season plagued by inconsistency unseen beforehand.  Jon Jay got the big hits tonight, and stroked a run scoring single to make the score 3-2.  Jay, the past 10 days, has been a breath of fresh air since his switch back to the more comfortable 6th or 7th spot in the order.  While this season has seen his batting average hit as low as .251, Jay has become an unlikely RBI man in the order.  Sure, he won’t throw anybody out at home plate, but he makes fine catches in centerfield and plays the game fundamentally sound.  He has made the CF question for 2014 a bit more interesting.  He played a part in the 14th inning rally as well.

Always lost in a big Cards win is the performance of the bullpen.  It wasn’t majorly discussed after the game that they threw 7 shutout innings and gave the sputtering offense extra chances to win the game.  Trevor Rosenthal, Edward Mujica, Seth Maness, Kevin Siegrist and Sam Freeman combined to hold the Pirates at bay and turn the Pittsburgh lineup into cold brittle wood shavings for the last half of the game.  The Pirates only managed 4 hits after the 2nd inning.  The MVP of the night was easily the Cards bullpen, an underrated facet to the 2013 surge.

Yes, the night will go down as the event where left fielder Starlin Marte dropped a routine fly ball in the 9th and allowed the Cards to keep playing, giving way to the Wrench, Allen Craig, having the chance to tie the game with an RBI single.  For all the people yelling at Carlos Beltran for running into an out, I think he was doing that to ensure that the tying run scored.  Only reason I can see for that.  Yes, he did that on his own.

Yes, Mike Matheny loves his bunts.  He felt the need to make Jon Jay bunt in the bottom of the 10th after the first two reached and a pinch runner took over for Matt Holliday, whose ankle twisted returning to first on a pickoff attempt.  Why bunt there?  Jay had 3 hits already and has handled the bat very well on the homestand.  This is where I don’t see eye to eye or even chin to chin with Matheny.  He has one of the hottest hitters in the lineup give an out to the other team.  If you bring in a pinch runner for Holliday at second base, let him stay there and see if Jay can stroke another single and win the game.  Instead Jon Jay bunts, they walk  pinchhitter Adron Chambers(the eventual hero), get Kozma to strike out and Daniel Descalso flies out. Threat over.

When Holliday left, that was a big bat leaving the lineup.  and you saw the effect of that move in the later innings.   Nobody envisioned Seth Maness with two chances to win the game, but when David Freese(double switch) and Holliday leave the game before everyone else, your lineup gets weaker.  Holliday had a mild ankle sprain and the x-rays didn’t reveal a break, so there was reason for his departure.  Freese isn’t a hot hitter, but not sure I’d take him out so soon.   Tony La Russa did this too.  Took the big bullets out of his lineup like he knew the game wouldn’t go 14 innings.   Extra innings are special because pitchers don’t just pitch and position players do all sorts of things and heroics.

The Cards have tasted the bitter tinge of bad luck in their month long struggles.  Line drives being caught.  Defensive shifts hurting them.  None hurt more than when Matt Adams came up in the 8th inning last night with a chance to tie the game and lined a sure single towards right field.  10-15 feet into the outfield, Neil Walker made a leaping catch.  That is the way it goes when your team is struggling.   You don’t get the breaks, bounces or easy routes.  You fight for everything and earn it all.

So when Jon Jay slapped a single off the glove of the shortstop to start the 14th inning, stole second, and eventually scored on Chambers’ base hit to left field that saw Jay barely miss the tag of Russell Martin at home plate, I didn’t feel the need to apologize to the baseball gods.  The Cards have endured a lot of bumps and bruises along the way this season and have earned the right to get a little lucky the next 2-3 weeks.  Look at Seth Maness inducing his 14th double play in the 13th inning after Andrew McCutchen stood at third base with nobody out.  Look at Marte’s drop.  All this points to maybe the Cards starting to get the breaks.

On Thursday, they get the biggest break when Yadi Molina returns from the disabled list, right knee ready to go.  Without Yadi, the team has been in pure survival mode.   Yadi means so much to the confidence of this team, the pitching staff, the shutdown of the running game and the overall mindset of this team.  He can also hit .330 and drive in runs.  Without him in the lineup, our group looks a little exposed towards the bottom of the order.  Having Yadi back will help a ton.   Getting our navigator leadoff man Matt Carpenter back on track will help the run scoring flow again.

Tonight, we get a tough lefthander in Francisco Liriano.   He beat us up in Pittsburgh two weeks ago which means there is a score to settle.  It would be stupid to think the lasting effects of the loss won’t have an effect on the Pirates going forward.  They may not fall off the map but their team and bullpen were drained last night.   They had a chance to put us down 4 games.  Instead, the Cards are back 2 with a chance to get more and look hungry.   That is why it is hard to count out the Redbirds.  Too many head to head matchups with the Pirates and the lacking presence of Yadi on the field.  Like I said, this team is in survival mode.  When Yadi gets back, it may be on to domination mode.    One thing is always for certain with this team.  We are always up for a fight.

Until next time,

Go CARDS!

-DLB

The Decision and Other Cards Notes

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All together now.  Starters can’t relieve and be effective in a MLB game EVER.  It’s always and historically been a bad decision.  Without getting into the details of tonight’s wretched Dodgers blowout, let me point out a few things I firmly believe.  Starters aren’t wired to relieve a game.  I don’t care if he comes in 2 pitches or 22 pitches after the start of the game.  They aren’t set up that way and can be hurt physically or see their ERA inflated.  Relievers are wired to relieve, deal with a catastrophe and be effective.  This is plain baseball logic.  

 
Disagree with me all you want, but this is my blog, my beliefs and I will say this all the way to the bank and back.  Jake Westbrook can’t be scratching his balls one moment, suddenly be told to warm up, and come in to pitch and be effective.  Michael Blazek, as we saw, got up, came in, allowed a couple baserunners but didn’t allow a single run after Shelby Miller took a laser off his right pitching elbow.  Blazek should have stayed in for at least another inning.  He used to be a starter, is expendable and can be sent down to Memphis tomorrow to retool.  Mike Matheny brought in Westbrook and the suddenly dismal veteran gave up 6 runs in the second inning.  Game lopsided and out of reach.  He gave up 3 more in the 6th inning and ended up with this pitching line.  

 
4.2 innings, 9 runs, 14 hits, 108 pitches.  BANG!  Game isn’t over but falling off the cliff to the bottom of the night.  
 
Let me play manager here.  Blazek gets through 2 innings, and Keith Butler comes in to pitch 2-3 innings.  Seth Maness barely threw any pitches Tuesday night.  He has pitched 2 innings before.  Kevin Siegrist can also throw 1-2 innings.  If you manage to have a lead, Rosenthal and Mujica take over in the 8th and 9th.  You never know.  I will say this.  I don’t think the bullpen would have given up 6 runs so fast or 9 runs after 6 innings.  The operation failed and I knew it would the minute it happened.  My words can be debated but I firmly believe in a bullpen rescue mission.  Westbrook throws tomorrow with Carlos Martinez and another Memphis hand backing the pen up.  
 
Understand this was plain bad luck for the Birds.  Miller leaves after 2 pitches.  Matheny has a lot of choices in his head.  I was ready to see a bullpen night, especially after Blazek gritted out the first inning.  I could see us contending in that game.  
 
Once again, relievers are ready every night to handle this chaos.  Think of the word relief.  Ready to be of help to a hurting party.  Aide the weak.  The bullpen is like a fire department on call every night for the worst possible event.  They came to the aide of Miller, Matheny and the Cards tonight.  They were quickly dismissed.  
 
Westbrook is a victim here.  He can’t say no to this mission.  He takes the ball, straps on a bullet proof vest and does his best.  He is the worst starter on this staff to come out of the bullpen.  Westbrook requires a slick equilibrium to his starts to be effective.  Fair strike zone.  Lucky ground balls.  Needs one pitch to work or else.  He can’t work or grit his way through a start he wasn’t making for another 24 hours.  He wasn’t cut out for the mission.  Once again, unfair night for the Birds.  If this thing happened with Joe Kelly pitching tomorrow, he would have fared a lot better than Westbrook in my opinion.  
 
The Cards have pecked away and it’s 9-4.  Winnable game if you believe in miracles.  The LA pen is stacked and ready to close this thing down.  We will fall to 3 games out behind the Pirates.  Worse scenarios exist.  We have 2 more series’ with the Pirates this month.  Deficits can be cut.  This game tonight isn’t easy to swallow because I disagree with the course taken.  
 
Miller suffered an elbow contusion.  Basically, a bad bruise on the bone.  He may be out a week or it could extend to 2-3 weeks.  If the Cards coaching staff wanted his pitch count down, it will be cut short now.  He returns towards the end of the month ready to go for the stretch push.  Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.  
 
The Cards are prepared to handle this.  Carlos Martinez was scheduled to start tomorrow and will be coming to Busch to make that start.  That is the only plausible course for this team.  Sacrifice Westbrook tonight and go with Martinez tomorrow.  He is the one hot prospect that hasn’t been given a start up in the show this year.  Let’s see what baby Carlos has in store.  He will be pitching for a split most likely but he can handle it.  He has had two stints here and been teased with this level of competition.  The Dodgers haven’t seen him and have no idea what he’s got.  The only positive of starting Westbrook a day early was having the chance to insert Martinez into the rotation after a long wait.  
 
I don’t want to see Tyler Lyons.  He is batting practice meat by the 5th inning.  NO…THANK YOU.  
 
David Freese got hot in Cincinnati but so do a lot of struggling hitters when they play in a sandbox.  Back at home, he is 1-6 this series against the Dodgers.  He is hitting .272 on the season with 6 HR and 41 RBI.  88 hits in 93 games.  We weren’t paying him 4 million to be Jon Jay.  Unless he heats up seriously, he will have a bad year and may be gone.  Tangy provel cheese ladies and gents!
 
Pete Kozma isn’t a good hitter but stop calling for Ryan Jackson.  RJ’s bat has calmed down the past 2 months. He hit .229 in July and cranking it up at a clip of .182 so far this month with Memphis.  He won’t be an improvement.  Cards are stuck with Koz/DD for 2013 unless Mozelaik pulls a bunny out of a hat.  
 
What else?  It’s 10pm and 9-4 Dodgers with Puig at the plate.  A Cards fan snatched a ball away from Puig a couple of innings ago.  It was legit.  The fan didn’t reach out and steal it.  He held up his glove in foul territory and caught a ball Puig wasn’t going to catch.  That fan will never forget that.  
 
Randy Choate has been a good reliever for this team.  He is good at what we brought him in for.  He isn’t a multiple inning guy.  He is being asked to get more than 3 outs tonight and starting to wear out.  In no other game this year will Matheny ask Choate to get a fierce RH like Puig out.  The phenom walked instead and now Randy faces the tenacious Skip Schumacher.  Groundout.  Inning over.  I don’t do play by play.  Which is the reason I would hate to be a simple beat reporter for the Cards.  Where’s the fun in that?
 
Goodnight.  Thanks for reading this dreary post. Game of baseball stings.  Up one night.  Down the next.  Time to reload for tomorrow.
 
-Buffa

Hot STL Cards Topics

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Hot off my radio stint, which you can hear tonight from 8-11pm on http://www.redwolfrollcall.com streaming on their home page.  My first sports radio shot and it was a 25 minute blast talking with Rob Butler and Aaron Russell, who I met through a friend on twitter and took off.  In less than 12 hours, I talked to Rob on Twitter and was on his show the next day.  That is how 24/7 media runs these days.  Quick and blunt, like me.  I will be doing a weekly baseball/movies shot at 4pm on Wednesdays.  As long as I can or until I find a real job.  I promoted my website and my own writing.  Which I will unfold a little here.

As I type, Allen Craig is being scratched from the lineup for an unspecified reason.  Not sure if he has a hangnail, broken toe, fever or a case of the greatness disease, but this means Matt Adams’ hot bat goes back into the lineup and Beltran will definitely play(and not bunt) in right field.  Onward..

*Beltran and the Bunting Saga.  PUT TO REST HERE.  Beltran acknowledged it was him who ordered the bunt on Monday night.  Why do managers and athletes have a hard time understanding the notion that informing the media is the quickest route to burying a topic.  Tale of the tape is simple.  Beltran bunted Monday night to move runners over instead of swinging away to knock them home.  Matheny didn’t order it but wouldn’t tell all after the game.  He could have kept his close relationship with his players afloat by simply saying certain players have a freedom at the plate, and whether its good or bad it is apparent at all times.  Bad choice in my opinion because a man with a .300 BA and 19 HR shouldn’t be giving away outs, esp with runners on base.

*Cardinals’ Memphis rotation.   Good problems to have are having an entire rotation of arms ready to pitch in the majors next season.  With Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, John Gast and Tyler Lyons, the Cards have that. This will make up for the loss of Jake Westbrook and Chris Carpenter, and create competition with Joe Kelly and Jaime Garcia.  You will have a boatload of rotation hopefuls which is why I see a trade happening for a SS coming in the offseason.

*David Freese and Jon Jay need to finish well or they may find themselves out of a job next season.   Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras will be on this team sooner rather than later, and Freese is the guy who may not return.  Freese is putting up Jay like numbers this year and that is not good.  Stiff decline from his 2012 campaign.  We all know he is the hometown hero and the new face of IMOS Pizza but when facts come to stats, you have to produce.  Carp can play third base and Wong’s position is 2nd base.  This is another great issue for the team to have.  Pay Freese 3-5 million in 2014 or let him walk and roll the dice.

*Slow game, long season, lots of heartbreak for diehard fans.  It’s hard to not get romantic about this game.  It gets its own spotlight for 3-5 months per year in the summer and the games was calculating and slow moving.  Baseball fans, in my opinion, really have to EARN IT.

*Allen Craig’s emergence as an RBI machine quiets the Pujols loyalists and offers another smooth transition at a big position.  Now that he could be hurt, that idea gets a little brittle.  Hold on until the news is fresh on Craig’s absence.  He may be delivering pizzas for Freese’s IMOS.  Who knows?

*Jaime Garcia coming back? Don’t hold your breath.  I am sure Joe Kelly loves the news.

*Speaking of Joe, the guy keeps pumping out laborious tough outings that give the Cards a chance to win.  He’s waited his turn.  Let him run with it until it gets ugly.

*Cards stand at 66-46 and 2 games behind the Pirates and 4 games ahead of the Reds.  We play 2 more against the Dodgers, followed by 3 games against the Cubs and finish the homestand against the Pirates.   We started August with a 13-0 revenge fueled beating of the Pirates in Pittsburgh and tortured fans don’t have to wait long for our return to the East.  We finish August in Pittsburgh.  Lots of games in August at home and against teams with a winning record and that has been the Cards kryptonite this year.  Winning against good teams and winning games decided by 2 runs or less.

*Maness, Rosenthal, Siegrist, Mujica.   Long way from Mujica-Boggs-Motte.  This just goes to show how deep and impressive the Cards system has become.  The Cards are holding serve on every team in the league.

That’s it.  Quick and blunt.  Time to run.

-DLB

 

The Daily Dose on The Cards

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CARDS BEAT KERSHAW AGAIN, EVEN SERIES
*They didn’t bust up Clayton, who is now 4-5 against us lifetime, but we did just enough and got a couple timely hits.  We manufactured some runs tonight early on and nicked the kid for 2 runs in 6 IP.  He doesn’t have a sub 2.00 ERA for nothing.  He’s really good and would have 15 wins right now if not for terrible run support in April and May.  I said get a win against either Kershaw or Greinke and we did, so the rest of the series is open season to win or pull out even.
 
*Joe Kelly matched Kershaw and held the Dodgers to less damage in 5.1 innings.  He required defensive help and labored like Jake Westbrook but got the job done.  He outdid Kershaw for long enough and got another win.  He validated to the home crowd that he deserves to be in the rotation from here on out.  In 24 starts, he has pitched decent in 75 percent of them.  
 
*The Cards got some great defense.  Jon Jay ran to the wall and tracked down a deep fly from Mark Ellis.  We turned 4 double plays, including the 12th from Seth Maness.  Sometimes it’s like he types “DP on this pitch” into his Predator arm band and just gets it.  Tony Cruz threw out a runner at third on a failed sacrifice attempt.  Edward Mujica stoppped a line drive and fell to his back before firing a strike to Craig in the 9th inning.  
 
*The Pirates won so we remain a couple games out, but there is time and this was a close win.  This season, we are only a game over .500 in 1 run games.  Those kind happen a ton in the postseason and we must get better.  The one thing the Cards don’t do is come back late or win in extra innings.  In August and September, close wins are gritty and stress inducing but frequent.  
 
*Yasiel Puig is a marvel and a fun kid to watch.  He swings with majestic pride, has a cannon in right, and includes a little flair that implies, “I’m good so deal with it”.  He doesn’t approach Bryce Harper arrogance or Ryan Braun snark and is a player to watch and be in awe of.  He is hitting .376 and can big time power.  I’d like to contain him for two more games and worry about him in October.  
 
*Hat tip to Don Mattingley.  His job was under fire in May and now his team is in first place by 4 games.  Good for him.  The team came together, Puig came by and the season has taken off.  They are tough.  They hit well, field good and pitch great.  We aren’t seeing them with the .361 hitting Hanley Rameriz either.  Be glad.
 
*My take on the Carlos Beltran bunting crappola from Monday.  He did it on his own.  So what?  It’s still a bad move.  He has 20 HR after tonight, hitting above .300 and is capable of changing a game with one swing.  He told the media that he bunted in the 7th inning and moved the runners over.  Why give away an out?  If it’s a one run game, I can maybe see it but still not with Beltran.  It comes down to using your head.  You have 2 runners on, zero outs, a 2 run deficit and you give Zach Greinke an out.  He needs to swing the bat.  There’s no place for excessive bunting in winning baseball.  It’s not just bad baseball.  It’s stupid logic.  And Mike Matheny bunts way too much. The Cards rank 5th in the league in bunts attempted and are 3rd worst in execution.  Basically, they suck at it yet try it a ton.  Unless Matheny wants to make them practice more in BP and do it against splitters and cutters, then stop attempting so many easy outs.  I don’t get it.  Also, Mike can be more candid with the media about it.  If you feel so avid about it man, then back it up and discuss it.  Quite little league for Matheny to go all Tony La Russa on the media when asked about Beltran’s bunt.  He gave away three outs in Monday’s ONE RUN Game.  It’s the media’s job to ask questions Mikey so be nice and answer them or we will ask you about your real estate investments again.