Category: St. Louis Cardinals

Chris Carpenter’s Fight

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Today we got wind that Chris Carpenter’s comeback was being postponed due to the recurring numbness in the righthander’s pitching hand returning.   One of the toughest pitchers in baseball simply can’t outrun his own body’s breaking point.   Carpenter has had every surgery known to a baseball player.  He had a piece of his rib inserted into his shoulder and neck area to alleviate pain once.  Chris Carpenter once parallel parked a train.   I’m kidding.  That’s a Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the world joke.   Anyway, Carpenter isn’t knocked out but he is on the canvas again while reality, his arm and the world is seemingly counting to 10 once again.   Sorry I sound overly dramatic here but baseball is a romantic game played by men in shiny uniforms.  I digress…

 
Carpetner’s 2013 season has been like a spaghetti western.   The old gunslinger getting knocked down and repeatedly getting up.   In February, he calls John Mozelaik and tells him his right hand is numb and he can’t throw anymore.  In a conversation transcription that probably sounded like John Wayne talking to his horse, Carp hung up his glove.  Then, suddenly, the season got a lot less fun.   I was going to miss the screaming, maniacal, emotional captain on the mound every 5 days letting it rip.  Good or bad, Carpenter always let it rip.  He is a pitcher to embody and a man to follow into hell on the field.   He pitched the greatest game I’ve ever watched, against his buddy Roy Halladay in the winner take all divisional series in 2011.  He made Hanley Rameriz piss his pants.  He challenged many other hitters to a duel.   He was a hockey player so they stayed away.  Chris Carpenter was bad ass.  Truly wicked.  If he pat you on the back, you could put it on your resume(sorry, another beer quote).  He is exactly what Lance Lynn needs to see when he walks into the clubhouse at Busch Stadium.  Brass balls toughness.  
 
Suddenly, near the end of May, there was a story that the pain and numbness in Carpenter’s neck, arm and hand had disappeared and he could throw again.  At first, he was going to come back as a reliever and he started throwing bullpen sessions.  Soon after, he started the workload of a starter and threw more bullpens.  It seemed to a fan like he threw about 47 bullpen sessions before finally going on a rehab assignment last week in Springfield.  He pitched less than 4 innings but looked pretty good for his first start in 2013.  On Saturday, he threw for Memphis and didn’t pitch well at all.  He got shelled.  He told STL Post Dispatch scribe Joe Strauss that this wasn’t a good sign.  Three days later, he shut it down due to the numbness.  He saw a doctor last night and a direction will be carved for his future.  It may involve rest that could consume the rest of his 2013 season.  It may be a few weeks.  He could be done.  The ammo in his comeback belt has to be dangerously low.   He could wake up tomorrow, lift up his car and do an oil change and decide to call it quits.  He can do that and retire as one of the best Cardinal pitchers to ever climb the hill.  Injuries may prevent him from the Hall of Fame or his brief greatness and overall solid stats may get him in.  That isn’t for me to judge.  I will tell you he is the best pitcher I have ever seen based on factors that won’t be tabulated into votes.  Frankly, I don’t give a shit and I have a feeling Carpenter doesn’t either.
 
Carpenter has started 332 games.  He has thrown 2,219 innings.  He has allowed 220 balls to leave his hand and end up on the other side of the outfield fence.  He has retired 1,697 hitters via the strikeout while walking only 627.  He owns 144 wins and 94 losses, with a 3.76 earned run average.  33 complete games and 15 shutouts.  2 World Series rings.  1 Cy Young award.  He is a 38 year old veteran in his 15th season, and 10 as a Cardinal.  His 6 years of mediocre injury plagued ball in Toronto may cost him the HOF.  Out of his 10 seasons as a Cardinal, he has failed to pitch in 5 games in 2 of them(2013 may make that list grow to 3 seasons).  
 
Carpenter was due to make 10 million this season but that could be covered by the insurance unless he pitches in a certain number of games for the mothership.  If he doesn’t pitch again this season, the Cards and him could revisit a plan for 2014.   Many would call them crazy to even think about bringing him back after 2 years of serious injury related troubles.  There’s something indelible about Carpenter and his connection with Cardinal baseball.  Mozelaik knows that and so does Mike Matheny.  That is why they signed off on this rehab mission and may push the train one more time this year or next.  It’s hard to let go of a guy like Carp.  He’s tough, resilient and everything you want your young ballplayers to emulate.  He’s as old school as it gets.  I wanted to see him climb that hill one more time.  If I buy another Cards jersey, it will be Chris Carpenter.  You can wear it forever.  Next year, and many seasons after.  I will tell Vinny about him often.  Before my son heads out for his first game.  CC won’t be associated with a lefthanded Yankees pitcher in my house(no offense, he’s pretty damn good in his own right).   If Carp got work on another team, you could still wear his jersey to Busch and feel good.  I still haven’t worn my Pujols jersey to the stadium(there’s nothing wrong with doing so).  Carpenter’s would be a proud thing to throw on.  I am rambling.  Forgive me.  It’s past 1am and I am just firing at will.  No filter at all.
 
As my good friend and trusted Cards ally PJ has pointed out, The Cards and Carpenter could hash out an incentive laden deal.  Start at a million, see where Carpenter’s workload goes and the number may approach 15 million if he reaches 200 innings.   Pitch to earn money and help your ballclub wager.   I am not sure if either side would go with it, taking into account the Cards abundant supply of young cheap cost controlled arms and Carpenter’s pride factor and need to hang it up or move elsewhere.  I would surely love to see him climb the mound in some capacity again and pitch.  As long as he isn’t in Cincinnati red or Chicago blue, I am good.  For that matter, Milwaukee blue or Pittsburgh gold/black.  I want Carpenter to end his career here obviously but seeing him throw somewhere would still be a delight.  
 
They don’t make them like him anymore so when he finally does call it quits, it will be a sad day in baseball.   When “retired” and “Chris Carpenter” appear in the same sentence together, shock will settle in.  A reality.  With all due respect to Adam Wainwright, Carpenter was something else.  I don’t want to see him stay too long and get shelled and become an embarrassment like Willie Mays or Muhammad Ali.  He needs to go out strong.  How will that happen and in what uniform is bound to be determined.   All we know for now is that Chris Carpenter is taking a step back from his comeback trek.  Reassessing and re-calibrating.  
 
I surely won’t count him out yet.  Would you?
 
In other news, the Cards won, Edward Mujica made it dramatic yet got 3 outs and his 29th save, Shelby Miller climbed back on the horse and the Cards are 60-37.  
 
Odd yet true note.  Hugh Jackman makes all men seem inferior when he steps on screen as the Wolverine.  He ate 7 chicken breasts a day to become that big.  Is it weird that I am typing this as I eat a chicken breast?   I know what you’re saying.  Stop it now.  Just know this.  When Hugh wants to raise money for a foundation, he climbs on a stage and puts on a one man show by singing and dancing and winning Tony Awards.  The man is ridiculously talented. 
 
Finished.
 
Sincerely,
 
Dan Buffa
One More Thing…If Chris Carpenter is told by the doctors that a limited amount of work, pitching, is attainable this season, I would strongly suggest bringing him back as a bullpen arm.   The guy obviously wants to pitch bad.  It’s a white hot pain burning through his immune system right now, sending signals throughout the chest, head and arms that it still can be done.  It’s amazing what your mind tells you can do without your body’s signoff.  The numbness that returned this past weekend wasn’t as bad as it was last year or in February.   Carpenter decided to shut it down before it got back to that level of discomfort.  Maybe 2-3 weeks of rest and a 10 day rehab assignment with Memphis can get him ready for a September assignment here.  He could be the Mujica of 2012.  The 7th inning shutdown arm.  His stuff was good for 1 inning in each rehab start.  If that is all he needs then I say shoot for that kind of return in 2013.  Leave 2014 for the rotation comeback trail.   This year, it could Carpenter-Rosenthal-Mujica.  What a triple threat to have at your disposal in the stretch run of the season.  The final 35-50 games where teams are getting worn down.  Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook or Joe Kelly goes 6 innings and that’s fine.  Bring on the crew!  A reliever’s load wouldn’t be too hard if the pitch count was kept down.  That is what I think put the strain on Carp’s hand this time.  Throwing all those bullpen session, innings and pitches in such a short time frame.  It was too much.  A reliever return is Chris Carpenter’s best bet at kissing the sun of the mound in 2013.  We will have to wait and see if it becomes even a hint of a reality.
 
That’s all.  Have a good day friendo’s.

 

My Take on The Cardinals

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I think it is fantastic that my Cardinals are 44-25.   Being 19 games over .500 is an astounding achievement for dealing with the injuries that have fell upon this team inside three months of action.   I don’t need to go over the list of injured starters to allow you to understand the impact that our farm system has had on the big league club.   It’s great and only hints at the success that awaits us when we get fully healthy.  What happens when a healthy Jaime Garcia rejoins the rotation in 2014?  Jason Motte joining a highly formidable late game bullpen cycle of power arms.   It’s cool and long lasting.  However, today’s game against the Marlins just can’t happen.   The best team in baseball, long road and woes to deal with or not, can’t cough up a series to a 21-50 team.   The pitiful Miami Marlins took 2 of 3 from us this weekend and it’s kind of disgusting to think about.  

Hold off on telling me these things happen in a 162 game season and I should take it in stride.  I won’t do such a thing.  We needed to take this series and stomp the Marlins.  Forget sending a message.  Just put some distance between you and the two very hungry team behind you in the division in the Reds and Pirates.  Win as many damn games as you can.   Kill teams and reflect when you are driving off in the team bus.  The Cardinals let a very bad team get past them this weekend.  Why?  Allow me to explain rather quickly with blunt force.  
 
Mike Matheny and his staff made a decision on Friday to send Michael Wacha back down to Memphis and keep the lefthanded Tyler Lyons on the club in the big boy rotation.  In explaining the move, Matheny wanted the kid to work on his curve and the location of his fastball.  There is also a factor in play here when it comes to stopping his big league clock so he isn’t available for free agency sooner.  
 
I didn’t like the decision.  I wanted Wacha to stay and Lyons to go down because you have two solid lefties in the bullpen and you need to keep both of these guys stretched out as starters.   Wacha has shown more consistency here than Lyons.   Tyler(shitty weak boy name) had two very good starts against soft hitting teams and has given up 4 earned runs in his last two starts before today’s debacle.   The clue being that teams were figuring out Lyons while Wacha had gotten punched hard against Arizona but rebounded with an impressive start against the Mets.  Lyons and Wacha’s wins came against inferior teams but Wacha was a guy that you didn’t want to send up and down from Memphis.   Nobody knew who Lyons was a month ago.  Wacha is the next great pitcher in this organization.   Unless he kept getting hammered in NY, you keep him here.  Forget the need to have a lefty in the rotation.  Keep the right pitcher in the rotation.  I think Matheny listened to his coaches too much here.   Watch Wacha’s pitch count.  Keep an eye on his durability.  He was in college a year ago, but so what?  Make sure his facial hair isn’t growing at an alarming rate.  Come on.  Lyons should have went down because he was getting hammered more and more.  Today, he gave up 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings, which is nearly as bad as Lance Lynn on Saturday but Lynn has 9 wins on his record.  
In short, Lyons was trending downward and Wacha was trending up.  All I can look at is the performance and the stats.   
 
The Cards lost to Jose Fernandez on Friday, a very talented righthander who pitches very well at home.  A suspect hit by pitch call where umpire Angel Fernandez awarded a Marlin first base after another umpire saw a little bruise on his hand.  The extremely deadly hitter Giancarlo Stanton(why in the world did he ever call himself MIKE) lined a game deciding 2 run double off a tiring Jake Westbrook.  Game over.  5-4.  
 
Saturday, the bats ripped apart the Marlins pitching staff for a 13-7 assault that bailed out a struggling hot and tired Lynn.  
 
Sunday, Lyons got bombed by the Marlins lineup and Ricky Nolasco shut down the Cards lineup on 5 hits.  7-2.  Unacceptable.  It doesn’t matter if you walk into Marlins park as the best team in baseball in the middle of June.  This team needs to pound Nolasco.  Beat him into the ground like a rogue journeyman soul that he is.  Instead, he shuts us down and Lyons gets beat hard.  Three bad starts in a row for the other kid named Tyler.  I don’t care if he is going through growing pains.  He can do those in the minors.  If Wacha gets hit hard by the Marlins, it’s a step in the process of a future top of the rotation arm.   You see my point?  Wacha is an arm that shouldn’t be messed with and Lyons is a potential innings eater.  I think their locations need to be switched.  Just me.
 
As noted earlier, the Cards can’t afford to lose to the Marlins.  It’s a smack in the face and gives the Birds their first series loss since the end of April.  They rarely get beat so soundly.  Look at their last 5 losses and all have come in fairly close fashion.  Today’s loss was a one sided beatdown.  I just don’t like it.  
 
The bottom of the rotation is looking thin.  Jake Westbrook may have been rushed back to the rotation but looked halfway normal on Friday.   He is a guy that lives and dies by his sinker.  He was getting ground balls and unfortunately a few found the holes and not the gloves.  Stanton’s big blow pushed the knife through but Westbrook looked alright.   That doesn’t spell good things for the future.   Let me describe my cautious outlook.
 
Shelby Miller will run into an inning roadblock.  He won’t be shut down but will show signs of wear and tear.  He has thrown a ton of pitches, leading the league for rookies in strikeouts and has three more months left to go.  He is someone to watch.  I don’t warrant a Nationals/Strasburg kind of overlooking analysis but he may start to drop off.  Lance Lynn has held up better than 2012 but still relies on a lot of run support.  Adam Wainwright is a Cy Young candidate at 10-3 and pitching at the top of his game with 2 complete game shutouts under his belt.  Lyons’ future is uncertain and I am not sure if he will be here in a few weeks.  His stuff is decent but could use more polish at the AAA level.  Kevin Siegrist has turned into a K machine in the bullpen with Randy Choate turning in fine work as the specialist.  Lyons, for now, is a rotation arm.  I think he needs to go down to Memphis but I am not sure the team will make that quick turnaround after sending Wacha down on Friday.  
 
The X-Factor here is Chris Carpenter’s miraculous comeback.  After what seems to be about 40 bullpen sessions, one hopes he is heading down to Springfield or Memphis for a start.  How many simulated games and bullpens can the guy throw?  Is there something we are missing here?  Carpenter is being brought back in a starter mode, throwing 80 pitches per session.  Any talk of a bullpen role is illogical and rather stupid.  No bullpen arm trains with that many pitches.  He is a starter and always will be.  Where does he fit in the bullpen with the crowded arena as we currently see it?  Carpenter needs to go on a rehab and see if he has what it takes to come back or is it time to call this miracle journey a wrap.  This started at the beginning of May and now its June 16th and he still hasn’t thrown in a real game.   His potential impact affects guys like Lyons, Wacha, Carlos Martinez and the need for a starter at the deadline.   Also, this team isn’t going after Cliff Lee and his aging expensive lefthanded arm.  There’s no way that’s happening with this team’s young crop of arms.   When you have Martinez, Lyons, Wacha, and a mending John Gast at your disposal, pulling in Lee for a half season is no way to improve your club.  
 
What else?  Bright spots.  
 
*David Freese has turned his season around and I am not surprised.  The hometown aging kid has always been a clutch bat and was pressing for a couple months after getting a short spring.  He is a quality and relatively cheap third baseman who has also improved his defense this season.  His range to his right is a lot better than previous campaigns.  That could be a result of healthier ankles.  I don’t think we need to shop Freese anytime soon.  Matt Carpenter is a great leadoff hitter and decent 2nd baseman.  That may put Kolten Wong in a slower climb to the major league club or it may not.  Wong is playing other positions at Memphis and has only been in the system for 2 years.  Freese is a proven late inning and postseason hitter.   Carp can also play a number of positions.  I don’t like the notion of shopping Freese.  Another ridiculous and naive topic brought up by Ken Rosenthal.  
 
*Yadi Molina is the most valuable player on the Cards and quite possibly the National League.  Buster Posey isn’t a better player than Yadi.  His catching is average and while his bat is quality, Yadi changes the way opponents play against him.  He brings offensive firepower and a defensive game that can’t be matched.   He deserves the gold glove every season and Posey will always be 2nd in value.  He also happens to be leading the NL in hitting with a .351 average.  Molina is so underrated after becoming a true force in the last three seasons.  
 
*Carlos Beltran has served as a quality pickup and eclipsed the Lance Berkman warnings.  Berk fared well for a season here but dropped off in 2012 due to serious injury.  Beltran is getting more rest and becoming more consistent with his bat and glove.  His legs are improving by the week because he gets at least 2 days off a week and still has 16 home runs and 40+ RBI.  He is worth thinking about when it comes to 2014 but I think he will depart to be a DH in the AL.  Let’s enjoy him while he is here.  He was a superb pickup and wouldn’t have been here without Pujols departing.  
 
*Pujols has managed to help the Cardinals without being a member of the team.  With his services heading west to LA for the next 10 years, the Cards were able to lock up Molina, Waino, and bring in Beltran while maintaining a flexibility for additions at the trade deadline. With Albert staying put, the Cards wouldn’t be able to keep Molina AND Waino.  No way.  Also, Pujols departing allowed the team to get a better look at Allen Craig, who is turning into an RBI machine and a perfect cleanup bat behind Matt Holliday.  Craig won’t slow down any time soon.  He’s a steady .300 hitter with lots of upside and pop.  Pitchers aren’t going to figure anything else out when facing him.  They are at his mercy now.  
 
*Holliday will be alright.  He is a streaky hitter but is still an above average all around player.  He will knock in 100 and crank 25-30 HR and hit .300.  His defense in left field has also improved.  The deep fly ball that went off his glove against Arizona at Busch was his first error of the season.  He is tracking down more balls and is an average fielder.  His bat is explosive at its best.  He hits into so many DP because he hits the ball so damn hard.  Only Stanton hits a ball harder than Holliday.  Smashing a grand slam off the Reds rookie pitcher last Sunday was a very satisfying moment for the former QB from Oklahoma.  Give him time because he is fine.  The haters will hate and still spit out stupid jargon like we should have signed Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford(both making 22 milllion as leadoff hitters).   Holliday and Craig make this lineup dangerous.   Take them away and Beltran and Yadi aren’t as productive.  
 
*Trevor Rosenthal’s upside is ridiculous.  “Rosie” is a big time talent with a right arm that could anchor the Cardinals bullpen for years.  His future as a starter doesn’t seem as strong since his work in the 8th inning has produced such dynamic results.   Rosenthal is starting to spot his propane fastball and use his breaking pitch effectively.  He is a closer type pitching in a setup role. 
 
*Edward Mujica is also turning heads and deserves an All Star look.  He took over the closer role in late April and has 19 saves in 19 opportunities.  He is throwing his split-finger for an out pitch and mixing in his fastball and slider.  The guy has been nicked for 2 harmless home runs and rarely gotten into serious trouble.  He is turning his career around in his 2nd pivotal role on this team.  He came here for Zach Cox, who is playing at the AA level for the worst team in the National League.  Fair swap if you ask me.
 
The Cubs come into town and have played well of late but still a team that a 1st place squad like the Cards should easily beat up.  Don’t waste these opportunities against soft competition to rack up your lead.  Take care of business.  Losing to bad teams isn’t acceptable for a team of this Redbird’s caliber.  
 
I’m done.  Time to catch 30 minutes of Chris Nolan’s superb Dark Knight Rises on HBO before it’s Mad Men time.  
 
Goodnight,
 
Buffa

Time to Rant About The Cardinals

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There’s no better way to start off a Saturday than to let the hands go and fire up a blog.  Unload the noise in the head and simply give your take.  It’s what I do.  Hopefully you approve or at least respect me in the morning.  

 
First thing up to dish on.  STORMS.  What a stressful task to deal with when you have a sleeping 20 month old and a tornado capable storm brewing outside your house.  I am not the guy that runs to the basement every time he hears a watch or warning.  The best radar I have are my own two eyes.   I go outside and take a look while checking the news channels.  I just can’t run downstairs and do some laundry and wait.  I have a kid, two dogs, and two cats.   After putting Vinny to bed, the storm wanted to mess with my part of town.  After a few looks outside and several sirens, I looked at the sky and it was whipping dangerously sharp winds, turning red and starting to point a dirty finger towards my street.  So I scooped up the kid around 8pm and went downstairs for an hour.  What a load of crap?  Unless you live in Oklahoma, the chances of you getting rocked is small.  Joplin got hit hard last year but most of the time, my area gets rain, winds, some hail and a lot of worrying.  Pisses me off…every time.  This is why I’ll take snow or sleet over tornadoes.  One can be defensed easily and one will just take you away no matter what.  That’s life.  It’s not all fun and games.  
 
Busch Stadium and the Cards cancelled the game before the storms hit and fans went home.  Good thing for safety but a bad thing for the die hards wishing to wash the nasty taste of Thursday’s brutal defeat from their mouth.   It was so bad and so wrong for a team that was playing the best baseball in MLB the past two weeks.  The Cards are 35-18 as they open action today with the Giants in a doubleheader.   What happened Thursday night?  Let me spin it for you quick because a lot of good things happened and some very bad things happened.  Let’s review.  
 
1.  Why did the Cards lose 4-2 after leading 2-1 going into the 9th inning?   Well, Mike Matheny completely screwed up the inning by putting the world’s least likely to exceed with a close lead late in the game pitcher on the mound.  That’s Mitchell Boggs, who currently calls Memphis his home again.   With Edward Mujica having worked four days in a row(I’m fine with him sitting) and Trevor Rosenthal having thrown 42 pitches in 2 outings on Sunday and Tuesday(less okay with that one), the bullpen was sparse for closing talent.  Enter Boggs, as petrified and scared as a man fighting Bane in a dark alley.  Boggs didn’t deserve to be promoted from Memphis 2 weeks ago because he sported a 5.32 ERA in his few outings down there.  He came up and pitched in San Diego and gave up a 2nd pitch home run to Will Venerable.  He had consistently been bad in close and tight games since his return and well since the beginning of the 2013 season.   Matheny calls on his long lost son Boggs to close a 2-1 game that belonged to rookie starter Michael Wacha, who exceeded the hype on Thursday and pitched a dominant brilliant precise 7 innings and left with a lead.  When you see Boggs warming in the pen breathing heavy and looking distressed(he didn’t just watch the LOST finale, trust me), Wacha should have known.  He saw Boggs in AAA earlier this month.  Ouch!  Boggs comes into the game to face Jeff Francoeur, who would swing at a pitch if you threw it into the Cards dugout.  Boggs throws a fastball in and Jeff lines it down the left field line foul.  Boggs got away with one.  The next pitch drops right in the middle of the plate and Francoeur launches it into the damp, rainy and muggy night for a game tying two run homer.   Boggs walks another batter, and then Victor Marte comes in and allows a go ahead two run single after a hit batter and single.  In about 10 minutes, the game was turned over to the worst relievers in the bullpen because Matheny thought this was the best way to manage a 2-1 lead.   You are 18 games over .500 and you give one to a pathetic Royals team. Bad move Mike.  
 
Where does the problem lie?  Right with Mike Matheny.  I really like Matheny as a manager.  He is tough, loyal to his players and shoots the media straight every night.  As I said in the winter of 2011, he was the right choice for this team after Tony La Russa left.  The players love playing for him and he has gotten results.  However, he has a weakness that extends to his loyalty with his players.  He sticks with damaged goods way too long and the biggest case is Boggs.  In April during his struggles Matheny continued to push him out there.   What started as brave and noble turned into risky and dangerous.  When he came back from Memphis, Boggs looked more like Elvis but still couldn’t get outs.  He was the absolute wrong choice for the 9th inning on Thursday because there was no precedent this season that gave two cents to the fact that his ability was right for that night.  Mike Matheny has shown a newly developed dangerous allegiance to wounded players.   He kept putting Fernando Salas into high leverage situations when it wasn’t working.  He did it with Boggs far too many times.   
 
Matheny does this because he knows he is partially responsible for breaking the mental wall of Boggs.  I’ve said it 3,000 times but how about one more time.   Why pull Mitchell Boggs from an area where he clearly thrived in during 2012 to put him in an unknown suspect arena that is known as closing?  It was a bad move from the start and yes Boggs didn’t pitch well and made the pitches that gave way to danger.  Any time a pitcher steps on the mound they may be told to leave sooner rather than later.  However, this could have been avoided if Matheny kept Boggs in the setup role from the start and especially if he didn’t force him back into high leverage appearances so soon.   Boggs showed no improvement in close games in order to be counted on Thursday night.  NO WAY.  Chris Duncan can talk all he wants about what he did last year on The Turn on 101.1 ESPN on Friday and I will laugh at him and hit him a pop fly to prove my point. Mitchell Boggs is a liability and may always be one for this team.   Matheny broke his psyche by placing him in an area where he couldn’t succeed and doing it multiple times.  The team should have waived or released Boggs on Friday but they demoted him again in hopes of the young man reclaiming his previous form.  Unless you build a new stadium, find new fans and relinquish the pressure from his shoulders, that will never happen.  The Cards have too many young capable arms to give innings to damaged goods like Boggs.  Things happen quick in this league.  Players are up and then far down.  It’s life.  It’s tough.  Deal with it.  Move on.  Hopefully Mike Matheny learned a lesson.  Loyalty should never be crossed with insanity.   
 
Bright spots.  Wacha pitched great and should get another turn.   Tell Jake Westbrook to keep throwing bullpen sessions.   Michael Wacha and Tyler Lyons are turning in serious work.  A year removed from throwing baseballs at aluminum bats, Wacha dazzled our senses on Thursday.   93 pitches, 1 run, 2 hits, 6 K’s and 1 walk.   Lights out pitching.  His fastball routinely touched 95 and his changeup was as good as advertised.   Yadi Molina continues to sting the ball and is hitting over .340 and exists as a batting title and MVP threat.  If the league wanted to seriously identify the most valuable player on a Cards team, it would be Molina.  He means so much to the pitching staff and his defense changes another team’s game plan.  He does so much before he even picks up a bat and hits .340 through a third of the season.   There is a good reason why the young pitchers come up here and do so well.  They listen to Yadi and make pitches.   David Freese has found his bat and his clutch hitting touch.  He is driving the ball all over the field and getting timely hits again.  It was only a matter of time before the hometown kid got it going.  Allen Craig has only 4 HR but is ripping the cover off the ball, driving in runners and hitting for a high average.   The 4-5-6 spots in the order are downright deadly.  
 
Reasons why the Cards are 35-18.
1.)The rotation is the best in baseball and that’s with an ever changing cast.  Lance Lynn is holding up well, Waino is aces and Shelby Miller doesn’t give up that many runs.  
2.)The bats hit well with 2 outs and RISP.   The trend hasn’t died yet.
3.)Edward Mujica is 17-17 in saves.  Amazing.   Still puzzled by the Zach Cox trade?  No.
4.)Matheny trusts his players and that’s(mostly) a good thing.  
5.)Our inner division record is fantastic and that will help in a tight race.  The Reds aren’t going anywhere.  
 
There are more reasons but not enough time to list every one of them.  I will say this.  The Cardinals have the best problems right now.  Who should we play here?  Who pitches?  What if this guy gets healthy?  They have an insane amount of depth at the moment and it’s glorious.  If Westbrook and Carpenter come back, you have 7 credible worthy arms to play with in the rotation.  If Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras really heat up, you have to find a spot for them.  Matt Adams is your power stroke off the bench.  This team has the best farm system in the major’s but also the best translation rate of minor league to major league results.  It’s a fresh issue to see in Cardinal Nation and makes the future bright.  When Westbrook, Carp, Furcal, Beltran and others fall off the payroll in 2013, you don’t have to rush out and sign big names, hand out cash and hope to remain competitive.  The Cards have all the talent in their own house.  
 
Thursday’s loss stung because there was a very clear reason why the ball was dropped.  I get resting young pitchers and closer’s with over 100 games to go in the season but not doing it at the risk of losing a winnable baseball game.  
 
End of story.  Thanks for reading.  
 
-Buffa

 

Redbird Torture Chamber Notes

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Being a Cardinals fan is like being a fan of Evel Knievel.   Every time they go to work, something bad could happen.   A chaotic horse race.  A traffic jam on a broken highway.  Loud noises in a grocery store.  Baseball will snap your heart 10 ways from Sunday and there’s no stopping it.  The season is so damn long you wonder how your body and mind adapt and survive every year.  This is why I admire and respect the casual fans.  They watch, put one foot into the door and escape before devotion and addiction settle in.  Believe me, if you can do it, I am all for it. The problem is when I was 5 years old I was hooked and haven’t let go since.  Baseball owns me.  I own myself partially.  Life goes on.   

 
Let’s talk about a few things and I will try not to bore you, waste your time or lose your attention to the point of you playing a cellphone game while you read this latest dose.  
 
Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook Hit The DL
 
It was announced an hour ago that Tyler Lyons would take Garcia’s spot in SD this week.   An unfortunate development in Cardinal nation that compounds when you add it to the loss of Jake Westbrook(elbow inflammation) last week.   The St. Louis Cardinals attract doom like Oklahoma lures in tornadoes and this latest storm may rock the pitching surplus filled ocean shores of Busch Stadium.  The Cardinals  will have to go back into the vault to fill a spot and Lyons doesn’t intrigue me.  He has a 4.30 ERA over 2 seasons at Memphis and is a lefty who doesn’t throw too hard.   He doesn’t walk a lot of guys but what does he bring with him?  Questionable intrigue.   Let’s back up and complain about the Garcia injury before I forget because this is classic Cards medical staff foolery.  
 
*Last year around this time, Garcia went down with a shoulder strain.   It was later discovered that he had a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.  Rest was prescribed.   He didn’t return until September.   After starting against the Nationals in Game 2 of the NLCS and sucking, Garcia gave in once again and left the series and playoffs with the same injury.  He saw a number of specialists in the offseason, including the increasingly popular Dr. Andrews.  Out of four surgeons, Andrews was the only one to tell him rest could heal the torn piece in his shoulder.  More rest.  Rest hasn’t done this team good the past 6 months.  Let’s review.
 
*Rafael Furcal hurt his elbow in August last year.  The doctors found a torn ligament in his elbow in the offseason but no surgery was required or so the experts told us.  Rest was prescribed all the way up until spring training in February when Furcal hit another wall and Tommy John Surgery was authorized and the shortstop’s season was lost.  
*Jason Motte felt a pop in his elbow in March and was prescribed REST.  When it was found that he had a partially torn ligament in his elbow, the same condition as Furcal, he was still prescribed rest and given a shot of cortisone. Weeks later, he tried to make a last ditch attempt to return by playing catch from 60 feet before the arm said something like this, “HEY JASON, GUESS WHAT, I’M TORN AND NEED REPAIR, SOFT TOSS WON’T HELP HERE, THANKS…YOUR ELBOW”.  
 
Jaime Garcia is a talented young pitcher.  When right, he can dominate and his record in 2013 backs that up.   5-2 record with a couple wins taken away by a man called Boggs who coincidentally replaces him on the roster this weekend.   The young lefty has a 4 year deal that is in progress that pays him 7 million per season.   With shoulder surgery on the horizon, I just ask one thing.  Could this have been done last November?  When it flared up again, why was rest given AGAIN?  Post Dispatch writer Derrick Goold told me that teams and players never want to rush to surgery.  I understand that but also push this forward.  What if there are no other viable options and you are hurting your team’s chances this year and next by delaying the inevitable?  Motte resting and making the one pitiful effort may cost him next April as well.   Garcia could be gone for the rest of the season.  Was rest the best option and when did players become doctors? They are hired to pitch and not have the final say on their health right?  If my back was preventing me from doing a good job at my warehouse gig but I told my bosses(who have a business to run) that I could work through it, I would hope they would stop me and tell me to rest up and heal properly or get a procedure done so 100% Buffa returns sooner.  It’s just logic.  I understand when the paid writers have to think about the team they are covering when breaking this issue down.  I just fire off what I think and know from a team that I have followed, studied and loved for 26 years.
 
Thunderstorms strike this team in doubles often.  As Garcia goes down, Westbrook hit a setback in his recovery and needed another shot of cortisone(that magical serum currently on back order at Busch Stadium) and will miss another start.  Who knows when the fire in his elbow will go out and he can resume throwing?  John Gast will get a 2nd start today after pitching decently against the Mets on Tuesday.   Lyons starts in San Diego this week and may just be a temporary fix until Seth Maness and/or Carlos Martinez can get prepped for starting duty.  I would prefer Maness and Martinez stay in their current roles because the bullpen has benefited from their precise abilities.  The depth in this organization’s pitching arsenal will be tested all season and this is the biggest strike.  Don’t forget about a guy named Chris Carpenter who is rehabbing as we speak.  Sports Illustrated just visited the team this past week to do a feature on their stellar rotation.  Is this the SI curse in full force or is that too much?  The cover hasn’t ran yet so maybe it’s not a viable complaint.  At this point, I’m looking for anything.    
 
That’s the biggest news for this team right now.  They are 27-15 and doing very well.   Having a great homestand that is only limited by their ability to not beat lefthanded starters and shoot themselves in the foot.  After losing the final game to Jonathon Niese and the Mets on Thursday, the Cards took Friday’s game 7-6 but blew a 2-0 lead and lost in 10 innings yesterday to the Brewers 6-4.   Joe Kelly made his first appearance in weeks and didn’t look good.  Maybe he needs a trip to Memphis to get reworked as a starter.   He isn’t being used correctly or barely at all here at the moment so why not.   
 
Let’s break down the options for the future of repairing this leaking rotation.
 
  1. Carlos Martinez.  Fire ball tossing mini Pedro Martinez has been with team for 3 weeks and would need to be sent back to Memphis to retool as a starter again.  I like him as the fireman in this bullpen, the strikeout artist who can pitch a full inning.  Leave him be for now unless setbacks occur.
  2. Seth Maness.  He is a strike throwing machine and gets more double plays than Cardinals Care can keep up with but would also need to be sent back to Memphis to retool to be a 5-6 inning arm again.   He is so effective in his role, like Martinez, that I don’t want to move him right now.  Future wise he is a starting prospect.  Right now he is a plumber who fixed a leak in the bullpen first, taking over Edward Mujica’s role when he left for the closer spot.
  3. Joe Kelly.  Once again, he was used in relief yesterday and has been playing more catch with the right fielder between innings than pitching in games.   I am not sure if he bought Mike Matheny a knife for a gift this year or was he simply forgotten.  He needs a Memphis trip to be retooled as a starter so he can help this team in June and onward.
  4. Michael Wacha.  The most intriguing choice was passed over for Lyons even though his next start would fall in turn with Garcia’s missing appearance.   The Cards may not want to start Wacha’s clock too early but I say if the kid has the goods to pitch here, then start the ticker and get him here.  Why waste a start with Lyons when you have Wacha dominating Memphis bats?  He stays in AAA for now.  Excuses to follow in the papers.
  5. Chris Carpenter.  A month away at least but the big guy is progressing with a starter workload in his rehab.   He is throwing close to 100 pitches and getting closer to a rehab assignment in Memphis.  If all goes well there, he will step into either Garcia or Westbrook’s role, especially with the rotation on fire.  John Cast and Tyler Lyons are intriguing young arms but if you have a guy named Carpenter lurking in your corner, you put the gloves on him and send him into combat.   Chris Carpenter at 75% is better than most pitchers at full blast because of his tenacity, intensity and pure volatility on a pitching mound.  Hanley Rameriz still can’t get the shit stain out of his pants from the time Carpenter screamed at him up the first base line at Busch in 2011.  Chris Carpenter is brass balls fury and will make it to Busch sometime in June.  
  6. Tyler Lyons.  I don’t know a thing about this kid and neither does any scribe on twitter yet so we will have to wait and see when he takes the mound in Ron Burgundy Country this week.
  7. John Gast.  If he pitches well over 2-4 starts and Westbrook comes back and Carpenter isn’t ready, you move the young crafty lefthander into Garcia’s spot.  For now, he faces a big task today in taking the rubber game against the Brewers.  
Other Cards Bits-Reading Time, 1 cup of slightly cooled off coffee
  • Anybody else hear the boulder fall off David Freese’s shoulders on Friday when he launched that grand slam to center field in a home run reminiscent of his 2011 World Series bomb from Game 6?  It was one hit but a meaningful one for the native.  He is a good hitter and will bust out of the funk.  Friday’s bomb helped.
  • I like resting Carlos Beltran 2 times a week.  It will keep him fresh and ready to roll in the late season high stakes action.  
  • Edward Mujica’s work is truly remarkable and isn’t getting enough attention, which could be a good thing.  He is 12-12 in save opportunities in the month since taking over in mid April.  He has retired 40 of the 46 hitters he has faced since that time.  He is making it look easy.  He is also a cool dude and a father of a young girl.  Just icing on the cake.  Chief is getting the job done in a big way. If it continues, this will be the most shocking and smooth recovery in the Cards bullpen in years.
  • No one hits a ball harder than Matt Holliday and sports science backs it up.  According to studies, the ball comes off Holliday’s bat at near 100 mph.   The only player who stings the ball harder is Giancarlo Stanton in Miami.   Holliday hits into so many double plays because he hits a missile to the middle infielder on a hop and its an easy turn.  Holliday sprints down the base line every time.  Something to think about to go with Holliday’s effectiveness in 2 out/RISP situations in 2013.
  • The Cards only like to score a lot of runs with 2 outs.  Kind of their thing so far.  I expect this to change.
  • CORRECTION-Joe Kelly has pitched 4 times in the past 6 days.  This guy was wrong.  He still doesn’t have a role and deserves better.  With Gast, Lyons, Maness and Martinez up here, it would be good to send Kelly back down to retool as a starter.  I think he helps the team the most in that role.
That’s it. I am sure I forgot a few things but that is why I always come back to rant a little more.  Non sports notes of the day.  Listen to Alabama Shakes tune “Always Alright” and watch Broken City on DVD/Blu Ray.  Quality picks.
 
Have a good day and thanks for reading,
 
Buffa

Breaking Down the Blues and Cardinals

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My take on the Blues before Game 4-

After losing to the Kings 1-0 on Saturday, the Blues found out a few things about themselves.  First, putting the puck on net is harder than it looks.  The Blues lead all playoff teams in missed shots.  Second, they found out Jonathan Quick can be pushed around in his crease by a 175 pound Frenchman named David Perron.  Third, they and the fans realized Brian Elliot can carry them in a game.  
 
Since they can’t hit Quick with a brick and knock him out of the game, they will have to find ways to make him uncomfortable.  Putting pressure on him and his defense.  Force him from the crease, where he is shaky.  Put shots on him, and get them up high.  The Blues seemed to have like 40 chances to stuff a rebound and couldn’t while the Kings slammed home their lone goal on a rebound.   The key to the game is pounding the net and keeping the majority of the shots on goal.  
 
The Blues defense and goaltending has been superb.  The offense has been dull save for Alex Steen and Barrett Jackman and a puck going off Patrik Berglund’s leg.  Where is Chris Stewart, TJ Oshie, Perron, Andy McDonald and David Backes in this series?  Effort and defense is great but results are another.  The Blues got the 2-0 series lead on Thursday but must act on it and not let the advantage slip away.  It isn’t easy but it was never drawn up that way.  NHL Playoff hockey is tough and brutal.  Raising that cup often means several players have to raise their game to get there.  
 
Who stands out for the Blues tonight because Elliot can’t hold the Kings off for much longer.  Allowing 3 goals in three games to a decent offense is otherworldly work from a goalie who had zero confidence in March.  
 
Can the Blues forwards actually step up and win a game or will the Blues return home Wednesday tied up in the series?  We find out tonight.  

 

My Take on the Cardinals before their series in Chicago-

On April 30th, the Cards were barely above .500 and hurting from bullpen malfunction.  Starters were producing wonders but the bats were cold and the relief gave anything but help.  Mitchell Boggs was self-destructing and Mike Matheny was holding the on/off switch.  A week later, they are 20-11 and carry the best record in the NL.  How?  Finding their bats and being consistently rotten to their division foes.  
 
It started with Jaime Garcia, Matt Holliday and Edward Mujica turning back the Reds last Tuesday.  Garcia fired 8 innings or brilliance, Holliday hit a laser and Mujica struck out the best three Reds batters to close the deal.  They beat the Reds the next afternoon and went to Milwaukee.  
 
On Thursday, the bullpen nearly got in the way of a 6-5 win.  Friday, they beat Kyle Lohse for the second time in a month in a big way.  Saturday and Sunday, they made statements.  Adam Wainwright got rocked and gave up a 4-2 lead, but the offense came to the rescue of the rotation for the first time.  They won 7-6 in dramatic fashion.  On Sunday, Allen Craig and Jaime Garcia shut down the Brewers and we won 10-1.  The Cards outscored the Brew Crew 29-13 and the lineup went nuts…on the road.  In the early part of 2013, the Cards are telling divisional foes that if we have to lose to you, it will be us dropping the grenade and not you.  They swept the Brewers and took a second series from the Reds after losing the first game.   This team is streaky with their bats but lethal with their balance.  
 
Mujica has stabilized the closer situation that cost the team 5 wins.  Boggs and Marc Rzepcynzski are in Memphis.  Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness are with the team and thriving.  Craig and Holliday are RBI monsters.  Yadi Molina is ridiculous with his batting average.  
The rotation members all rank in the top 15 in wins and ERA.  They have been terrific ALL YEAR.  Where does this team go from here? 
 
To Wrigley Field for 2 games and then home.  It’s time the Cards step foot in their nemesis’ home and do damage.  Keep the bats flying and the arms mighty.  The Cards are white hot!  
 
The only way we lose is if we do it to ourselves.

A Rant About My St. Louis Cardinals

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Pay attention, I am going to make this quick.  As I light up Twitter and Facebook, I will speed up the latest launch of Buffa prose to your skulls.  As my kid tries desperately to hurt himself on hardwood floors, my time is here to unplug for a little bit and inform you on my take.  I’m letting the hands go now.  This will be random, brutal and quite well…direct.  

 
*The St. Louis Cardinals played an ugly weekend of baseball at Busch Stadium to wrap up an uneven week.  Last weekend, they lose 2 of 3 to Philly and ride into Washington to sweep the series.  They beat Steven Strasburg on Wednesday and after a day off, they destroy the Pirates on Friday night.   
 
Let’s go further into this series.
*The Friday win had weirdness to it.  Granted, the Pirates lost Jonathon Sanchez after four batters because the umpire Timmons thought he threw at Allen Craig after surrendering three bullets to start his game.  I say this because I don’t think he should have been tossed.  I have watched the replay seven times and don’t think it was intentional.  He let a fastball go and it went off Craig’s wrist, where he has enough padding to hold off a baseball made of steel and stone.  The benches didn’t clear, the Pirates lost a manager and the Cards packed on a few more runs to win 9-1.
-On Saturday, they let a 2-0 lead evaporate after Jake Westbrook leaves and lose 5-3.   A disappointing loss to be sure and one that had the bullpen’s finger prints all over it.  Joe Kelly came in and gave up two quick runs in the 7th.  Trevor Rosenthal poured more gasoline on in the 8th inning.  The Cards lost a game.
-Sunday, things got ugly.  The Cards bats were shut down by a pitcher named Locke.  Shelby Miller gave up 3 runs(2 earned) in 5.2 innings.  The bullpen came in and demolished things.  Fernando Salas, a pitcher who carries little worth in my mind these days, comes in with an inherited runner in the 6th and on the first pitch gives up an RBI double.  The next inning, he surrenders a home run.   Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepcynzski give up 5 more in the 9th and we lose 9-0 at home.  When this team goes bad, they rub it in our faces and get down on dirt level.   Opening day was a game where they just got ripped.  Today is more of the same.  It’s just ugly.
*The Cards lineup ripped through the Nationals and Pirates on Friday but then went completely cold for 2 games, scoring 2 runs in 18 innings.   This offense can be exposed and shut down for multiple games like any other team.  It happens.  The lineup scored tons of runs and then couldn’t buy a run versus Locke today.   The more disturbing news comes in the bullpen work this weekend.
*Mitchell Boggs needs a Memphis assignment badly.  Demote him.  Reset his clock.  His head is in the gutter and his arm is close.  This guy was ruined by Matheny when he was shoved into a closer role he was ill prepared for.  Save me your bullshit about being able to pitch any inning because he is in the major leagues.  That isn’t the way it works.  Boggs found a niche in the bullpen when he was a setup man.   He got it done in the 8th inning last year.  Why change that? Why  mess with that?  Now, his confidence is shot, his mechanics are way off, and every time he pitches, bad things happen.   Friday and Sunday featured Boggs performances and he didn’t finish an inning.   It’s at the point where you can just send him down.  Make a switch.  Shake things up.
*Send Fernando Salas to the desert or Memphis if necessary.   Salas is a shade of the reliever the Cards brought up three years ago.  He doesn’t get hitters out in clutch spots on a consistent basis anymore and his pitches have zero action.  He got raked today and let a close game go wide.  If Eduardo Sanchez’s forearm gets healthy, send him up and get rid of Salas.  Of course this will not happen.  Salas is one of Matheny’s boys.
*Mike Matheny just said in his post game Serious John Wayne speech that his team wasn’t expecting the results that occured today.   Count us in that boat Mike.  This team is a freak concoction of unpredictable madness.  They win big, win close, lose close and lose big.  Four weeks into the season, and the convoluted Redbird Blues  have begun.  Matheny must do something to shake this up.  Send a couple pitchers down, flip a table over, yell at somebody, punch a wall, and get a message sent to this team early.   24 games in, and the questions are piling up.  
Let me fire off some definitive statements.  
*Edward Mujica did a good job as the closer last week.  Don’t expect that to continue.  His history doesn’t support his current performance.  I am glad if I am wrong here.  
*Trevor Rosenthal is having issues, but not in the same capacity of error as Boggs, Salas and Rzep are having.  Rosenthal has learned to rebound from his faulty innings and blow guys away.  He had trouble in Wednesday against Wash and ended the inning by striking out 2 batters on six pitches.  Yesterday, he got a little wild and rung himself in with a couple ground balls and a flyout.  Rosenthal, unlike Boggs, isn’t flaming out and torching an inning.  He stays.  
*The bullpen needs work.   Plain and simple.  What happens before Monday’s game to shore up this area?
*The Rotation, ladies and gents, is the best part about the team.  After dominating Washington, the staff came home and did this against the Pirates.  If you judge games by the starting pitcher, the Cards could have swept this weekend series.  Lance Lynn threw 7 innings on Friday night, striking out 9 and giving up a run.  Westbrook threw 6 scoreless innings on Saturday and struck out six.   Shelby Miller struck out 7 on Sunday and allowed 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings.  Add it up and you have another solid weekend series from our starters.   
*Its a small sample size with the rotation but 24 games in and they are the support belt of this team.  A question mark heading in is shaping up to be a potential strength.  Adam Wainwright has settled in.  Jaime Garcia has pitched well minus one start.  Lynn showed consistency with his fine start on Friday.  Westbrook has done his job.  Miller has been amazing for a rookie.   With more innings, hazards will accompany answers but right now this team is powered by their starters.  Without them we have maybe 6 wins.  
*Ty Wiggington doesn’t deserve to be on this team.  His 2 million dollar contract looks like a charity case the team took this offseason.  ‘Support a dead weight aging hitter” fund.   The bad part is he has been this way for 3 years.  
*Pete Kozma is doing just fine.  He is hitting .255, collecting some hits, keeping the errors at a minimum and doing what was expected.  If he goes on a terror, good for us and him.  He can hit .260 all year, play solid defense, drive in 30 and hit 5 homers and with his salary look like a bargain.  If THE REST OF THE LINEUP HITS THE WAY THEY SHOULD, Koz doesn’t need to do anything extra special.  Just be yourself Pete.  
*Jason Motte is throwing from 65 feet and playing catch.  Two days in a row.  Great.  Don’t expect me to get excited until he is firing 99 mph heaters into a catcher’s mitt from a mound and feeling zero pain the next day.  I’m sorry but the history of the Cardinals with players and their elbows is about as iffy as a Brazilian kidney transplant department’s activity.  Chris Carpenter wasted most of 2007 before going under the knife in August and missed almost all of 2008.  Rafael Furcal avoided Tommy John Surgery all fall and winter and finally succumbed to it this spring and is gone for the season.   Unless you can tell me Motte’s elbow received some voodoo magic, he will probably need surgery.  It’s science people.  Elbow’s with torn pieces don’t heal with REST.  When he ramps up the velocity he will feel the twinges and pain.  Again, as with the Mujica Trials, I hope I am wrong and Motte sprinkled some of his beard trimmings on his elbow along with Lou Diamond Phillips ancient herb formula.  Motte’s departure set off the bullpen’s destruction and that will have to be corrected through trades or signings.  
*Mitchell Boggs is giving a little more attitude to the media as I write this.  That’s wonderful.   Too bad it doesn’t translate to IMPROVED performance.  Boggs is troubled.  Mitchell Boggs doesn’t look the same without a beard by the way.  First bout of prescription meds.  Grow a beard son.  Keep your mouth shut.  Head down.  Ask Mike for a road trip.  Boggs won’t improve here.  Why?  He walks out there with a mountain of adversity on his shoulder.  It doesn’t matter if Matheny has faith in him or is shooting arrows at his knees.  Think of Brian Elliot in February.  When Halak(Motte in this situation) went down, Elliot(Boggs) was thrown into the starting role and got rocked.  He was horrible.  What happened?  He didn’t start for two weeks.  He went to Peoria.  Found something.  Came back and currently leads the Blues into the first round with home ice advantage as the starting goaltender.  
That is as good as a point as I can make folks.  
 
Here’s something positive.  The Cards take the mound tomorrow night with Adam Wainwright on the mound.  Baseball is good because it reloads every day.  A team can recover the next night with a win after losing 2 in a row.  162 game season is still young.   As La Russa said two years ago famously, “It’s only the fourth week of the season.”   That is to myself as much as anyone else.  As a diehard, you find it hard at times to remember where you are in the season.   It’s early, and while this team is troubling and needs work, there is plenty of time.  
 
Wrap Up-
Cards offense is inconsistent that but’s expected.  Bullpen is horrible and that can be helped with a shakeup.  The rotation has been great but that won’t last.  The end.  
 
Side Notes-
*The Blues will get their own blog tonight or tomorrow but let me say this.  Their 29-18-2 season was fantastic because of their ability to bounce back at home.  After dropping several games in the early and middle going, the team finished on a 7-1 route on home ice.  That helped their collection of the 4th spot in the Western Conference and their home ice advantage.  The acquisitions of Jay Boumeester and Jordan Leopold helped the defense.  The Fourth Line play of Ryan Reaves, Chris Porter and Adam Cracknell helped the slumping goal scorers like David Perron and David Backes.  The goaltending was locked in by the resurgence of Brian Elliot, which surprised the hell out of me since I asked for his head in March.  The Kings are a good opponent because they will present the Blues with a stiff test early on.  Why mess around with the Sharks and win a round only to get smashed in the second round.   Last year’s team raised the bar for hockey in STL.  We expect more than a series win.  We want it all Blues.  Bring it.  The Blues went 0-3 against the Kings this season.  That’s a good thing.  They have lost 7 straight against them.  If we beat them, the Blackhawks don’t scare me at all.  Actually, no other hockey team would.  Beat the Kings and earn our enthusiasm.  
*I wrote a Buffa Quarterly Movie Report for Film-Addict.  Review of this paltry four month run of films.  Read it here. 
The band of the moment for me is The Fossil Collective and their debut album, Tell Me Where I Lie.  Great folk rock music that needs an open road and the window down to go with a dark sky.  
 
Tonight, I get over my rough baseball weekend by watching Mad Men and Game of Thrones.  All new episodes.   Tortured soul ad men from the 1960’s and warriors from the Westeros.  
 
I’ll take my whiskey and sword and settle right in.  Take care my friends and thanks for reading.
 
-D. Buffa

Cardinals Opening Day Preview

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Now that the wait is over and the cover on the 2013 season for the St. Louis Cardinals is being thrown off, let me throw out some things about the team.  I am going to put this out there and if you want to take it, great and if not, go ahead and throw it right back.  

 
First, an opening rant about the whining crowd.

 
I am tired of dealing with people who scream “Don’t give these overpaid players too much credit”, as if I were standing at their doors worshiping their lives and the way they do it all.  Let me get something straight.  Every baseball player is overpaid in the logical scheme of life.  Every old fart thinks they get paid too much to play a game but forget that in the first place OWNERS and AGENTS started this game of greed.  If you are told you can make millions over lesser amounts of money, you WILL take it.  Please don’t tell me you are any different.  If you think they are all overpaid, DON’T watch the games.  Don’t watch and continue to watch the crooked game of college sports where kids drive BMW’s and cheat on their tests so they can keep playing their GOD given talents.  I am telling you its a waste of time to whine about the salaries of athletes.  In any sport, they make too much money for their own good but why not tip the cap instead of grow angry.  They made it and are paid for their own services.  They don’t have to work in a warehouse and push the dollar.  They had a talent and didn’t waste it, and when the owners and agents opened the door to being millionaires they took it with ease.  Why not?  Complain about Wainwright’s deal all you want but remember 20 other arms in baseball make that much money.  Tony Romo just got 6 years to play catch with receivers.  Offensive lineman get paid millions to block.   Chris Carpenter gets paid 12 million to be a cheerleader from his house in 2013.  Furcal is a glorified surgery patient for 7 million.  Complain about it all and you will be exhausted within 5 minutes.  I don’t waste my time with it.  I just enjoy the game.  There is plenty of injustice in the world and athletes making millions isn’t a big worry.  Focus on the money hungry politicians sucking from the biggest tit in the world to do nothing for 4 years and you have borderline criminals.  Look everywhere around you and there is a man or woman making a lot of money to do a job with the occasional exception(police, firefighter, doctor, etc.).  I love the game of baseball and don’t dwell on the salaries because that is out of my control and doesn’t even fall on the players for blame.  Anyone who complains about it is the biggest hypocrite of all time and will still watch the games and bleed at the result.   There are things you can’t control in life and things you can and this is where I just let the world run its course and I get my enjoyment out of a game that hasn’t changed that much to me.  The way it is played is the same and the goal is still the same.  If people want to complain about millions, leave the Cards alone.  They have consistently competed without raising their payroll too much and avoided the retarded splashes that other teams are guilty of. I can tell you I am proud of MLB for dialing down on cheaters.  They will be testing blood this season and that is a huge step in the direction staying clean. If the thought of baseball players making too much money is so bad, then once again, stop watching.  You know what?  You won’t.  It’s too hard to look away.  Trust me, I know.
 
On with the action.  10 Things About This Team to Look for As Opening Day Lands.
1.)Walking Wounded.   Before a pitch is thrown, the Cards will be without Chris Carpenter and Rafael Furcal for the long term and David Freese and Jason Motte for the short to slightly longer term.  This team has taken fire.  Carlos Beltran has a broken toe.  Matt Holliday’s back is already barking.  Jaime Garcia may wake up in a bad mood in SF this weekend and blow up.  Lance Lynn is lifeguard ready in his weight but may still be susceptible to long balls.  Shelby Miller is being thrown(rightfully) to the wolves.  Jon Jay has to learn how to hit away from home and avoid the outfield wall.  This team’s ER is full.  Hopefully, the pain can stop for at least a series.
2.)Let’s be Clear.  While listening to 101.1 Fast Lane today, a question was raised.  Who is the Cards MVP this year?  The answer is easy.  Yadi Molina.   He is integral to a young pitching staff, a clutch hitter and the best catcher in baseball.  He extremely limits or takes away entirely the running game from the other team and is one of the smartest hitter in the game.  When I think of true value, I think of the one player this team couldn’t afford to lose.  Allen Craig isn’t the guy.  He may be your offensive player of the year but that’s not the same.  MVP is your heart and soul.  The heart line.  Molina is that vessel.  He is important to the offense and vital to the defense.  As Randy Karraker pointed out, take Craig away and you insert Matt Adams. Take Yadi out and you are in trouble.  
3.)Matt Holliday is a consistent solid offensive producer and an average outfielder.  He isn’t Chris Duncan but he isn’t Jon Jay.  He makes the plays, throws and does his part in left field but could be confused with a white Ron Gant at times.  However, he is the hardest worker on the field and plays the game like a football player.  He’s tougher than most think.  Marco Scutaro wasn’t the first player to be run over at second by Holliday.  He is built like a linebacker, swings like a lumberjack and plays the game old school.  At 17 million, compared to Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, he is an above average dollars to performance ratio style of player.  However, I am still waiting on him to have that monstrous season.  When will he crank 35 HR, drive in 115 and hit .325 and steal 15-20?  He put together some big years in Colorado and hit well away from Denver.  Will he have one of those seasons or continue to bang out 25-100-.300 brand seasons? Just wondering.  An explosive Holliday makes this team extremely deadly.
 
4.)If I get 125 games from Carlos Beltran, I consider his contract and time here a success.  If he is at least 85 percent healthy, he will produce.  Keeping him on the field is a premium.  If not…
 
5.)The Oscar Taveras Watch gets rolling.  The kid isn’t just a Colby Rasmus like talent.  People from around the league and around this team think this kid is going to blast NL pitching and be a star for a long time.  I am joining this bus.  He has a unique talent and a hit it anywhere around the plate ability that reminds me of Vlad Guerrero.  He doesn’t strike out a lot and will grow in the field.  He will make the departure of Beltran easier to handle if Carlos performs decently in 2013.  The team is only getting younger and Oscar leads that pack.
 
6.)Jason Motte is talking about elbow surgery and I am a little worried.  All that torque and pressure he puts on his arm during his stride and follow through is showing now.  This always happens after the player signs an extension!  Surgery isn’t a real option yet but I am hearing whispers that I don’t fucking like.  At all.  Motte was a huge part of our World Series run in 2011 and our near WS appearance in 2012.  If he is down for a long time, I REALLY think the Cards need to insert Trevor Rosenthal into the closer role and return Mitchell Boggs to the 8th inning.  This is not a smack to Boggs.  He is a good setup man and my gut feeling tells me he will falter in a closing role.  Just a thought.  I am worried about Motte’s elbow.  Cards reports aren’t saying much which means he could be scheduling a stay at Barnes sooner than we think.  I hope I am wrong.
 
7.)The Cards are golden at first base.  Allen Craig is primed for a breakout MVP caliber season and Adams is the perfect lefthanded big bat foil for when Craig goes to right or takes a trip to the DL.  Sooner or later Craig’s 60 year old legs will speak up and knock him down.  Adams will be ready or Matt Carpenter slides from his 2B/3B platoon into the other corner.  Lots of options here.  Fuck you Pujols!  Sorry, that just slipped.
 
8.)The Bullpen is the talk of the sports writing house but I am not as worried.  Sure, the loss of Motte hurts the group but when you can slide in guys like Joe Kelly and Trevor Rosenthal, the sting lessens.  Until we know the extent of Motte’s injury and how long he will be out, the need to panic is less.  Randy Choate and Scrabble hold down the left side.  Boggs, Edward Mujica, Rosenthal, Kelly, and Fernando Salas(help me!) round out the group.  As long as the rotation doesn’t make this group bend over backwards in April and May, the long term strength of the relief corps will be fine.  But then again…
 
9.)The main reason local scribes worry about the bullpen is the youth of the rotation.   Adam Wainwright and Jake Westbrook are horses to a certain extent, but what about Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller?   That is where the intrigue lies.  Will those three have a Kyle McClellan like quick start and fade fast and hard after hitting an innings wall or can they make it through 6 months?  That is the question.  There is no real way to tell here but let’s just say the rotation blows a gasket and the bullpen bends over backward to fix it and breaks leading to mass panic.  You have to think worst case scenario with the Cards in order to survive a whole season.  Trust me there.  Want to feel better?  Check out the opening day lineup.  
Jay, Carpenter, Holliday, Craig, Beltran, Molina, Descalso, Kozma, Waino.   
Sure it gets weaker toward the end but those little middle infielders may surprise you.  When Freese returns it gets a lot stronger.  
 
10.)Mike Matheny had a very strong freshman season.  He is a true tough guy and a leader.   Players look up to him, trust him and listen to him.   He is young only in manager years because of his years as a player and assistant to Mo.  He answers questions bluntly and doesn’t mess around.  He is the opposite of La Russa with some of the same idiosyncrasies.  I will take it.  His sophomore season will only be a bigger test due to the injuries but since 2012 was no picnic I am sure he will roll with the punches and keep moving forward.  
 
Bottom Line-I like this team and think they can easily hang with the Reds.   Look, if Aromis Chapman blows up and doesn’t work as a starter and they don’t make the change fast enough, the Reds will have to hit their way to another NL Central title and I think the Cards are deeper in the pitching department and can hang with them offensively.  The NL Central is essentially a two team race unless the Pirates and Brewers surprise everyone.  The Cards can easily challenge for a wild card spot but I think they are NL Central Division contenders.   If Mo makes a trade or two to balance the injuries and the rotation doesn’t suck it up, The Cards can go a long way in 2013.  Look at what happened in last fall when we all thought they were toast.  This team never fails to compete and remember the season is a long epic endurance testing 162 game journey.  Run, don’t sprint to conclusions my friends.  
 
The best part of sports is…you never know what may happen.  It’s the rock of the appeal of this madness.  We watch and hope at Halloween we are celebrating another World Championship or at least glad to be one of the final two teams.  That is the gamble we all play and the reward we seek.  A chance at winning it all.  
 
I won’t chant 12 in 13 just yet but I like our chances against the rest of the league. I don’t see one team that just wins it all in this league easily, even on paper.  It’s open and that is what makes this game great.  The kid kind of mellowed me last year with his presence and my upside down flipped world, but I am still a manic-obsessive Cards nut and always will be.  This team now owns me until November.  The marriage is complete.  Ring is on the finger.  Medicine is in reach.  Whiskey in the freezer.  Hands ready to fire.  
 
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s fucking showtime!  The St. Louis Cardinals are back!!!!
 
Settle in and prepare yourselves and have a good night,
 
Buffa

 

More Cowbell Please(Carpenter talk)

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I am here to talk everything having to do with the Carpocalypse or the end of Chris Carpenter’s career with the Cardinals.    I broke it down yesterday, but one is never done until the head is completely clear.   Late last night, I felt a stinging pain in my mind.    I wouldn’t get to watch Carp pitch again for the Cardinals.   That’s like your favorite rock band breaking apart.  Your favorite artist leaving the spotlight never to return again for an encore.   Carpenter was an artist.  He destroyed hitters with arrogance and intensity to go with a devastating array of pitching talent build on sheer will and tons of confidence.  He was fucking lion out there.   His performance in Game 5 against Philly was epic, but so was the rest of his 2011 postseason and month of September.  He recorded 4 shutouts in the final month and a half of the season and postseason.  When the Cards made their comeback, they needed their ace to act like a true act and Carpenter was that guy.  He pitched unreal for an extended stretch of play.  I’ll never forget his swan song in 2011.  He was otherworldly good.  He shut out Milwaukee and Cincinnati and Houston to clinch a playoff spot.  He dueled with his best friend Roy Halladay in Game 5 and prevailed in the tightest of contests, 1-0.   After the final out, a grounder that collapsed Ryan Howard’s Achilles and body, Carpenter pumped his fist and screamed like a banshee loud enough that the arch recorded a vibration.   That was Carp.  Intensity personified.  The man lived and breathed pitching but didn’t act like a dick off the field.  He participated in charities, gave quirky interviews, talked like a hockey player and turned into one on the field.   He is the reason officials don’t let pitchers carry a baseball bat to the mound.  He won 10 postseason games.  He only won 146 games in his career but he achieved a level of dominance more than a few Hall of Famers can’t claim to own.   His HOF credentials are solid only to a certain set of eyes.  He won a pair of World Series, and led his team into three of them.   He may own 3 rings if he didn’t tear his triceps before the 2004 World Series with Boston.   If he starts Game 1 instead of Woody Williams, you just never know.  The Steroid Red Sox may not have won the series if Carp had been around.   He was a difference maker.  He won a Cy Young and could have won another.   He broke in with the Toronto Blue Jays and was slammed with shoulder injuries.  He was shipped to St. Louis in a dump and trade swap with no guarantee.  In 2004, He was a dominating ace.   In an interleague game, Carpenter went back and shut out the Blue Jays on one hit, avenging their failure to give him time to blossom in Canada.   Their loss was a Cards fan ultimate gain.   Carpenter’s only demon was his own body, one that caused him to miss entire seasons.    For most ballplayers, they shake their shoulders and sit on the bench.  Every game Carp missed, a small part of him broke off.   At least that’s what I thought.  They don’t make them like this guy anymore.  If you are tired of me talking about Carpenter, then leave this page or go read another digestible column about Kobe and Dwight.  This is a Cards fan spot.

The Cardinals are losing more than a player.  They are losing a symbol of toughness and confidence.  Some stories don’t end happy.  I was hoping to get one more vintage Carp season.   16-17 wins, 215 innings, 185 strikeouts, 3 shutouts and a postseason appearance.   He will be missed because of what he brought to the table.   Players retire every year.   Carpenter is different.   In the grand scheme of things, his career can be trumped by others.   Take what he meant to this team for 8 seasons and you have a special player.  Word has it that when he called John Mozelaik and Mike Matheny last week, he teared up when telling them those simple words.   I can’t pitch.   I don’t doubt it because of how competitive he was.   He is the rare ballplayer that needs to play in order to feel right.   Without him, this rotation looks questionable.   Durable and carrying depth but just not as good.

Instead of Wainwright and Carp, you have Waino and Westbrook as your two veterans.   After those guys, you get a bag of arms including Lance Lynn, Jaime Garcia, Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal and Shelby Miller.   Who makes the starting day 5 is a prediction I can’t make now that Carpenter is out of the equation.   That’s the effect of a true ace.   We have found out before that he would miss a lot of time.   We have never heard so bluntly and honestly that he is OUT until now.   A quiet winter with the Cards has gotten loud all of a sudden.  Who steps in for Carp?  If there is a silver lining in all of this, it’s that a crew of young arms will be thrown to the wolves.   We will see what Miller and Rosenthal can offer.   Joe Kelly will push for a spot.  These guys haven’t accumulated a lot of starts or wins but they are intriguing.  They aren’t guarantees but they offer promise.   With Carpenter, things would have been too easy.  Now the Cards are in for a fight in the NL Central.  An even deadlier one.  The Reds are stacked and won’t back down.  The Cards have questions marks and tons of talent.   A healthy Cards team just doesn’t make sense.

On The Lohse front.  Keep this in mind.   There is still time before spring training games start and the season begins.   Scott Boras won’t let Lohse sign a one year deal.   The Cards can only hand him a one year offer if needed.  If they pay him 2-3 years, you can kiss a Waino extension goodbye.  If Lohse gets 15-16 million for 3 years, what will Waino want for 4-6?  Just saying.   The Cards don’t need to go searching down the Kyle Lohse path yet.

I will end it with this.   Carp was probably the best pitcher I have ever seen.   He was everything you wanted in a pitcher, starter, and ace.   He was the captain of the not fucking around crew.   His work will be missed.   2013 just got a little less fun.

Goodnight,

D.L.B.

Chris Carpenter Obituary and Cards Future

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Short and sweet, like the tall striking intimidating #29 always provided in his postgame “grunts”, allow me to fire up a look at the effect of today’s news on the Cardinals.  In a nutshell, the season has unofficially begun and has its first casualty.  Chris Carpenter.

Chris Carpenter won’t pitch in 2013 because of lingering pain in his shoulder and neck from the nerve injury in 2012.  He tried to throw and simply couldn’t.   This wasn’t mind blowing news.   Carp is a warrior and the most competitive bastard in baseball but his upper body is held together by super glue, spare parts, rib scraps and duct tape.  He was bound to fall permanently. It’s a shame but a predictable occurrence.  I would have loved one more season of vintage Carp but his body denied me and millions of others of one more thrill.   The Cards can handle this without handing Kyle Lohse 12 million.   Give Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller or Trevor Rosenthal an opportunity.   Save money by staying internal with the issue.  One can assume that Carpenter will do the gentlemanly thing and void out his final year of 12 million.   He has made enough money, especially while on injury leave.   I’m not being a dick by going all bank clerk here but the Cards can’t afford to be sentimental and throw that hail mary toss through rehab or good faith one more time.   In 2002, Mark McGwire handed back the final year of his contract due to his bad knees.   Carpenter was a soldier and is no thief.  If he isn’t going to pitch at his level or at all, help the team by handing it back.   That money can be put to use elsewhere, like finding real middle infield depth when Rafael Furcal pulls a muscle and Roger Cedeno’s bandaide comes off.  I will miss Carp and can only hope he becomes a coach and stays around the game.  He dominated the mound for a solid period of time, won 2 rings, and was a throwback to Gibson.  They don’t make them like that anymore so the young guys could use his knowledge, guys like Lance Lynn and Trevor Rosenthal and Shelby Miller.  This is a sad day in Cardinal nation but the team can handle this and is equipped for it.  This team isn’t allowed an easy ride.  2013 will be no smooth walk.  Spring training is a week away but the Cardinals fever has officially begun.

Options For The Team-

*Call Kyle Lohse?  My initial reaction is no.  At this point, The Cards have to explore their vast depth of internal pitching support.   Names like Kelly, Miller and Rosenthal will come to mind instantly.  Lohse has either been duped by his overreaching agent or is the victim of a tender offer/draft pick compensation reward.   He is looking for work and would love to come back to Busch to get to it.  However, his asking price of 12-15 million dollars will be too much.   He has lost his pride but still retains a brain.  He will still want a 2-3 year deal or at least 15-16 on a one year deal.  It’s not worth it with our current count of young arms.  We are already paying Carpenter 12.5 million to contemplate his future, Jaime Garcia 7 million to wince and whine and Jake Westbrook 9 million to win 14-15 games tops.  Our rotation budget is maxed until Carp either voids his cash or something moves.   Such as Mr. Garcia coming up limp in camp and needing surgery on his shoulder.  Is Waino’s elbow intact and ready to fire up 200 more innings?  How is Westbrook’s oblique?  Lance Lynn’s head?  These are things to think about if and when they go into effect.  Right now, we don’t need Kyle and his weak boy name.

*Joe Kelly.  He pitched a lot better than his 2012 record indicates.  He recorded several quality starts and got little run support and improved as the season went on.   When Lynn caught his second wave of optimism, Kelly was assigned to the bullpen, where he cleaned up several of Lynn’s messes.  Kelly can pitch, has a decent arsenal of pitches and the head game to make it.  He can fill the spot and provide at least Westbrook results if not better.

*Shelby Miller.  The kid came up in September and pitched well, including shutting out a fully equipped Reds lineup on the last day of the season.   He fared as good as a wet backed rookie could in the postseason and comes into camp gunning for a role.  Right now, a role in the pen is hard to find for a righthander.  Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs, Jason Motte and Trevor Rosenthal all return along with Kelly.  Miller will be a starter or someone is moving.  He deserves a chance to compete for Carp’s spot.  I am not declaring him ready to be a force in 2013, but he is ready to throw some ambition against the wall in Jupiter this spring.  He will be right there.  He is our #1 draft pick and future ace.  He can’t be passed up.

*Don’t forget about Trevor Rosenthal.   I would like his 102 mph cooker and deadly changeup to stay in a 6-7th inning role, but if push comes to shove and a heat lamp is needed in the rotation, take a look at Rosenthal.  I will take 5 innings and 90 pitches full of propane fireball fastballs and knee snapping changeups.   Rosenthal started in Memphis and is built for it.   He is a deadly weapon and must be utilized in the best possible way.  He is a versatile arm.

Lance Lynn will get a spot based on his 18 win offense inflated record in 2012.  I can sit with that.  We need to find out the answer to his fat husky riddle of a right arm and fragile mind.   Carpenter was working on him in his final days in the postseason and has faith in him.  That’s like Chuck Norris telling you this young soldier can hunt so I will give Lynn a spot.   Right now it’s rolling out like this.   Wainwright, Garcia, Westbrook, Lynn and ___.   Fill in the blank and get the engine heated.   Whether we are ready or not, the car on this 2013 season is firing up soon.  In one week, pitchers and catchers report.  If I am a young gun like Miller or Rosenthal, this will be the longest sleepless 168 hour stretch of my life.  The spring training session just got juicier today.

I will miss Carp.  I will be saying that all week.  His intensity and competitiveness on a mound was a rarity and hard to find elsewhere.    Carp wasn’t like Carlos Zambrano or another dumb hothead.  He was a controlled yet caged lion on the mound.   A bulldog mentality with a need to strike hitters the fuck out.  It was all or nothing to him.   Every start was D-Day.   You couldn’t convince him different.  I will never forget Hanley Rameriz looking like a little kid who stepped on Darth Vader’s boot a couple years ago when he got into hot water with Captain Carp.   Rameriz was with the Marlins and did something to piss Carpenter off after he reached base.   As Rameriz walked down the line, Carpenter shouted something profane and lethal towards the young player.   Hanley looked petrified.  Carpenter looked like he wanted to eat him raw and spit him out cold.  It was awesome.  That was Chris Carpenter.  He was cool and humble off the field.   A general on it.  He didn’t like other ballplayers during the game.   He wanted them to fail.  He was old school.  Old Testament Justice system.  I will never forget him ripping off his shirt after defeating the Phillies in the NLDS in 2011.  He screamed like a hungry baboon.   I will never forget him reaching for first base in game 1 against the Rangers in that same postseason.  I will never forget him looking lost after The Giants conquered him again last October.   He was blunt, honest and talented.  In my mind, he is a Hall of Famer.  2 rings, a Cy Young, serious time period of dominance.  He belongs in the Hall.  Right now, he needs to call it quits, at least for the time being and help the team out and serve the kids for a season.   There will be no Carpenter innings thrown in Jupiter or Busch this year.  I really hope there is some Chris Carpenter teaching this spring and season at the ballpark.   It’s where he belongs.

Have a good day and thanks for reading.

-DLB

The Cardinals Demise And Future

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On Friday, I didn’t think I would be writing this obituary.  The hazard signs on this team’s trail were luminous but easy to avoid because of the lead we had in the series.  The Cardinals were up 3-1 in the series and everything was looking up.  Then…Barry Zito and the Giants wrecked the party on Friday, sent the series back to San Francisco, where the Bay collects many foes and the fans scream beyond the ability of one single soul.   I could tell you I saw this downfall coming, but it wouldn’t be too convincing.  After we came back against Washington, I thought this city was bound for October greatness again.  This is a lesson to all fans to never take anything for granted.  A lead, momentum or an historical night.   Every team has to keep playing and the Cardinals, in humble opinion, took their foot off the pedal on Friday night, thinking the series was wrapped up and there was no way the team could lose 3 straight.  Every season has a way of humbling a team and their fanbase.  The lesson this time was don’t stop fighting until the fight is done.

Honestly, I didn’t think we would make the playoffs.  I thought we would fumble away the second wild card spot and falter.  I didn’t think we would beat Atlanta.  I didn’t think we could stay with Washington.  When San Francisco came along, I overlooked the fact that the team had as much fight in them as the Cardinals.   They just overcame a 2-0 deficit to redirect the Reds flights home instead of onward.  They had Buster Posey, Matt Cain, Hunter Pence, Bruce Bochy and a resilient bullpen.  They had the lead scrapper of the year in Marco Scutaro, who came over in a midseason trade from the Rockies that made little waves until…well October 22nd.  The Giants were formidable and we all took them for granted.  The Cardinals beat Cain and Tim Lincecum at home to take a 3-1 series lead and found out Barry Zito could still pitch in Game 5.  We also found out that the Cards defense, a problem child all year, was poisonous.  Crucial errors in the last three games doomed our chances along with an offense that went very cold and a rotation that never recovered from last season dysfunction.  Here are statistical reasons we lost.  The Cardinals scored ONE run in the final 28 innings of play.  The rotation yielded one quality start during the last 8 games of the postseason.    Mike Matheny stuck with Lance Lynn a little too long in Game 1 and 5.  In his first season as skipper, Matheny learned some things as well.

I won’t break down the loss on Monday because I didn’t see it.  I spent three hours watching a pile of crap called Cloud Atlas.  I refused to watch us die.  Instead, I listened to it on the way home.  In pouring rain, the Giants finished us off.  We were shut out 9-0 and in a way humiliated on national television.  I re-watched the first three innings on DVR the next day.   The offense missed a flurry of opportunities early on, stranding 5 runners in the first three innings.  The Giants got on the board quick, with single tallies in the first two innings.  In the 3rd inning, the wheels came off for this Cardinals team that sealed the fate.   A five run third inning involved a misplay by Pete Kozma, a wicked grounder off the bat of Pence that hit his broken bat three times which produced a hook that eluded Kozma as well, a pair of infield grounders that produced runs and the sight of Kyle Lohse only completing 2 innings of work.   It was Lohse’s worst start of the season.  He didn’t have his bat crippling stuff and Joe Kelly was the victim of misfortune as he watched three groundballs bring in 5 runs.  Jon Jay overran a ball in centerfield.   Everything went wrong.  Our offense was shut down after that.  The Cardinals came undone after a long 176 game season that saw injuries(Carpenter, Craig, Freese, Berkman, Furcal, Garcia, Schumacher) and inconsistencies that came back to haunt them.

Chris Carpenter made 6 starts and people had this Carpenter mistaken for the 2011 postseason hero.   Stuck in April strength mode, Carpenter was never bound to do anything great this October.

Pete Kozma had 19 RBI from September 22nd to October 18th, but stopped hitting during the three losses.  We can’t fault him or his defense.  His name didn’t even come into full view until mid September.  He is a rookie.  Don’t forget he had the game winning hit against Washington.

David Freese stopped hitting in the NLCS after a home run in Game 1.   Yadi Molina had 4 hits in Game 7 but scattered hits before it.  Matt Holliday had four hits in the series and seemed to piss off Scutaro enough to send him towards MVP honors and an eye for eye mentality.  Holliday’s back finally succumbed.  Allen Craig went missing, along with his mighty RISP bat.  He collected 1 RBI in the series.  Jon Jay hit horribly away from Busch Stadium, as he has all season.  Daniel Descalso’s magic ran out.  Carlos Beltran had the best postseason but even his mighty bat produced only singles in the final three games.  The lineup bit the bullet.  The bench bats of Shane Robinson and Tony Cruz scared no one.

The bullpen was the unsung MVP during the postseason.  They patched up many games after a weakening rotation left them wide open.   Trevor Rosenthal became the player of the future, striking out 15 batters in 8 innings of work.  Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte put in good work.  Edward Mujica started to unravel a bit but finished well.  Joe Kelly was the long arm the entire postseason and proved his worth with great work picking up the garbage left over from Lynn and Garcia.  If there was a way that Game 7 could have been won, the MVP award would have had to be broken into pieces for the pen.

While we can sulk in misfortune and sadness, let’s not forget what this team accomplished.  It’s meaningful to remember that in a year full of big injuries and the absence of Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols, the Cardinals made it to the brink of the World Series.  I didn’t have them getting close, especially the way they were playing in early September.  This team surprised me constantly, let me down consistently, but remained an entertaining team to watch and one that holds a ton of talent for the near future.  We choked away the opportunity to play in the World Series, but we didn’t choke on the season and those two are different.  Instead of falling by the wayside in September, we closed well again, beat the Braves, outlasted the Nationals and almost beat the Giants.  In a way, the magic ran out.  It wasn’t meant to be this time because our arms and bats slowed to a halt.  It’s okay to be mad at the team but don’t spit on them this season.  They took us for a wild ride, accomplished a lot and gave us a lot to look forward to in 2013 and beyond.

Tip your cap to the Giants.  They never stopped playing and kept a cool head throughout the series.   When Pablo Sandoval homered in the ninth inning of Game 4 to make it 8-3, I felt that they weren’t going to just roll over.  They came storming back and won the chance to play the Tigers in the World Series.  As it starts tonight, I do feel a decent amount of pain watching the Giants take center stage.  After a horrible showing in Games 5 and 6, I still sat around Monday and thought there was a legitimate chance we could open the series here on Wednesday.  As it sits now, that won’t happen but its a testament to this team’s inner strength that kept the hope alive.  I am not choking the La Russa horse extra here on purpose, but bringing to light the fact that this team maintained their never say die attitude under Matheny and that bodes well for the future.  You could never count the Cardinals out.  Ever.  They produced one of the greatest moment of my sports life when they came back against the Nationals in Game 5 on October 12th.  That night will never leave my memory and will remain one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history.  If it had ended there, I wouldn’t have been disappointed.  I thought that during the 3rd inning when we were down 6-0.  Then, we stormed back and stole the game and series from an up tight Nationals team.   That can’t be forgotten.  The Giants did the same to us in this series.  They simply never stopped.

That’s all there is to say for this collapse.  Looking ahead to the future now.   Kyle Lohse will depart as a free agent because he will command 15 million or more a year at 4-5 years.  Scott Boras will get him that in Washington, Arizona, or Boston.  He finished up very well here giving two solid seasons for two uneven ones.  He reestablished his career in St. Louis.  When he came to us, he was 67-73 and stuck in Edwin Jackson territory.  A gun for hire.  He went 55-35 in St. Louis and will now command top of the rotation type money.   Lance Berkman will either retire to play a year in Houston as their DH.  I hope he finishes in Houston, where his triumphant and quietly Hall of Fame career started.  He was a good guy who got his World Series trophy here and now can rest easy.  I will miss his candid nature with the local media and I am sure they will too.  The rotation is set up for a dogfight at the end.   After the Cardinals use the Lohse money to lock up Wainwright long term, he will lead a rotation with Chris Carpenter.   Can Jaime Garcia avoid surgery and come back from a bum shoulder?  Lance Lynn just completed his first full year in the majors, which means he gets a spot in the rotation with his 18 wins and youthful ambition.  He struggled down the stretch but deserves a chance to be in there.  The kid is only 25 years old.  Jake Westbrook is coming back, even though there are young arms like Joe Kelly and Shelby Miller who deserve a shot.  Westbrook is eating up 8 million for a spot I am sure Kelly could fill well for less than a million.   Kelly impressed me when he took his spot in the bullpen and worked well out of the long inning spot.   After Waino, Carp, Garcia and Westbrook, there will be a dogfight between Lynn, Kelly, and Miller for that fifth spot.  Rosenthal makes for a great blazing bullpen weapon so he could stay there and take Mujica’s spot.   With Lohse and Berkman coming off the books that opens up 26 million in cash to play with.   Locking up Waino long term will cost the team close to 15-18 million per season at 4-5 years at minimum.   Taking into account his return from Tommy John and all, Waino performed well this season.  The Matt Cain contract end up paying Wainwright more money but I don’t think he will get overly greedy.  You pay him 5-7 million more than you are and that leaves 15-16 more to find a RH bat off the bench and a second baseman to challenge Descalso.  Kolten Wong is lurking as your future at second base in 1-2 years and Oscar Taveras will be ready for right field when Beltran departs after 2013.  This team has a deep farm system and a roster full of young talent.  The next 5-10 years will be exciting to watch.  Keep that in mind while you mend the pain of a sudden departure in the 2012 postseason.   We all saw the signs of this club breaking down over the last week or so.  We just wanted to overlook it because we were having so much fun watching this team.   Reality settled in.   There is no honest one real answer as to why we collapsed.  As is the case in any long season of baseball, there are various explanation and theories.  That’s baseball.  That’s life.  It’s never just one thing.  That allure brings us back every February for another round of torture.  See you then.

Look for the occasional blog on the Rams or sudden death of the Blues or film spots or random plugs, but it’s safe to say these hands will be taking it easy for a little while.

Thanks for reading this season,

Dan L. Buffa