Tag: mark reynolds

2015 Cardinals are the most resilient team you’ve ever seen

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imageThere they were. Standing over their fallen teammate in the outfield. Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and Peter Bourjos looked like a ton of bricks just fell on their shoulders. Stephen Piscotty was down and out, barely moving after a collision with Bourjos in the 7th inning of Monday’s hotly contested series opener. After being carted off the field on a stretcher and giving the proverbial “I’m okay” wave, Piscotty’s absence hung over a team that came into the game with a MLB best 98 wins but seemed bruised and removed from competition for the moment. An hour later, they had a piercing 3-0 win that trimmed the magic number to 2. The Cardinals are officially the toughest team in baseball. They take hits and seem to move faster and more efficiently than before.

There was Mark Reynolds pumping his fist after a two run home run that silenced PNC Park even more than the Piscotty collision did and even elicited some boos. His blast emptied the lower levels of the ballpark and stamped a expiration date on the chances of the Bucs catching the Cardinals. Monday night showed baseball fans why the game can be so frustrating and uplifting at the same time.

It wasn’t pretty. The Cardinals tried to lose the game multiple times. They gave the Pirates ten walks, free passes to score. The Pirates loaded the bases four times and couldn’t score. This was the ugliest shutout in recent memory. Lance Lynn, the up and down rotation cheddar dispenser, gritted his teeth for five stout pressurized innings. He escaped jams with pop ups, strikeouts and amazing defense that included a Jason Heyward assist in the second inning. Heyward’s cannon shot from center field to nab the Pirates risky attempt at an early lead seemed to swing things back in the Cardinals direction. It’s just the following events didn’t play out that way.

Pirates starter J.A. Happ(owner of one of the best earned runs averages in baseball since coming over from Seattle) shut the Cards down for six innings. A maddening stretch that totaled 13 innings of shutout baseball over two starts from Happ on the Cards. When he left, it felt like Sandy Koufax was taking a holiday. Okay, maybe not, but the man was dealing.

The Pirates bullpen, one of two teams with a better ERA than the Cards’ backend arms, denied the Cards access for two more innings before the 9th inning. Mark Melancon, owner of 50 saves and a build that reminds me of Ken from Street Fighter, took the mound and quickly dispatched Greg Garcia on a strikeout. His cutter, which he picked up from Mariano Riveria in New York, was filthy and was causing roadblocks in the Cards lineup all season. He was the slightly less hopeless divisional rival behind Aroldis Chapman. Matt Carpenter poked a single to right center. Jon Jay followed with a seeing eye single that caused Gregory Polanco to fumble it and Andrew McCutchen to also mishandle it, allowing Carpenter to score from first base. Reynolds followed with the smoker and it was time for Rosenthal.

Following back to back outings of serving up heartbreaking losses, Rosenthal immediately lit fires around the hearts of Cardinal Nation in the 9th inning. He walked Cutch and then Starlin Marte got a single. Neil Walker came up and seemed to take a 20 minute at bat, which nearly ended with a groundout but Walker pleaded with the umps that he fouled it off his foot. Too bad he faked it by hobbling on the wrong foot. Rosenthal blew him away with a 98 mph heater tailing away to send him walking back to the dugout. Francisco Cervelli lined out to Heyward and then it was Aramis Rameriz, the famous Cardinal killer nicknamed the Sith Lord by my good friend Daniel Shoptaw. Rameriz lined out. It was over.

The Cardinals crossed Heartbreak Ridge again with a narrow victory that looked more like 3 to 2.5 plus blood, sweat and tears rather than a 3-0 shutout. Rosenthal picked up his 48th save, which gives him the single season record for a Cardinal. He did so in classic Jason Isringhausen fashion, putting runners on and playing with St. Louis fans blood pressures and nerve endings. Would we have it any other way? Don’t answer that.

With a win Tuesday, the Cardinals would collect win #100 and clinch the National League Central division. It’s that close, ladies and gentlemen. The worries of a long hard 162 season coming down to one last win. The mark seems more special this year due to the numerous injuries and setbacks.

The Cardinals have been dealing with loss since last October, when the team lost young phenom Oscar Taveras in a brutal drunk driving related car accident. The death rocked Taveras’ best friend, Carlos Martinez and the clubhouse. In March, Tommy Pham injured his quad in spring training. Jaime Garcia went down in March also with a leg injury, not returning until May 21st. In April, Adam Wainwright and Jordan Walden went down. In May, Matt Adams tore his quad. In June, Matt Holliday tore his quad. Jon Jay was injured for the majority of the season. Reliever Matt Belisle missed 2.5 months. Randal Grichuk injured his elbow in August. Now Piscotty goes down. The Cardinals just keep winning, making this 2015 group a truly special band of brothers.

Word on Piscotty is all tests for concussion and other head related injuries came back negative, meaning the kid will be sore today but otherwise escaped a more drastic setback. Finally, a bit of luck for the Birds.

Tonight, it’s Michael Wacha and Charlie Morton, a matchup heavily favoring the Cardinals, which is why you should expect a 1-1 game in the 9th inning. With this team, anything is possible. They take “You Never Know” to a whole new level.

As Joe Buck said in 2011, “What a team. What a ride.” I have a feeling this October will be even more memorable. Stay tuned for more roller coaster theatrics.

Cardinals: Sky isn’t falling but it’s ugly

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Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Important note to start out with. It’s not giving up on a team to call a recent string of play ugly.

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of a bad stretch of baseball, their worst in 2015. Their September record is 3-8. Their lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central Division of 6.5 games a week ago is now 3 games before the Pirates begin play tonight against Milwaukee. There is only so much kool-aid a man can drink before he recognizes what he is seeing is bad for business.

A slump is one thing, but the timing of this particular slump and the opponents beating the Cardinals make this one hard to digest. After dominating the Central all year, the Cards lost series at home to Chicago and Pittsburgh and one on the road this weekend to Cincinnati. Take away the miraculous come from behind win Wednesday and this streak is very ugly.

It doesn’t help when the Cardinals are losing to average rookie pitchers and bad teams. For example, with the three wins in a row this week against St. Louis, the Reds have moved to 27.5 games behind the first place Birds.

This weekend, the following Reds rookie starting pitchers have shut the Cards down. John Lamb, Michael Lorenzen, and Anthony Desclafani. These kinds of pitchers and teams are the lowly scrubs that the Cards need to dismiss and destroy in order to keep a stranglehold on the division. At the most important time of the season, the Birds are playing their worst baseball.

Was a slump like this to be expected from a team clinging to great pitching and dealing with the worst slate of injuries in the league? Yes, but that doesn’t make the results digestible. While the pitching has come back to earth the past 10 games, the hitting is still what’s plaguing this team.

A look at a few hitters and their performances these past 7 games. 

Mark Reynolds 0-11 with 7 strikeouts

Brandon Moss-0-21 with 11 strikeouts

Jon Jay 3-17 with 7 strikeouts

Jhonny Peralta 2-19 with 5 strikeouts

The rest of the lineup won’t get a pass but these are the prime suspects. Jay clearly hasn’t improved since his return from a persisting wrist injury and Moss’ supposed hot streak has burned off. Peralta’s second half slump continues. Reynolds’ bat has slowed down.

Matt Holliday can’t return fast enough. Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk have returned from the disabled list but are not 100%. That needs to change. The lineup needs something. With Holliday’s return, Stephen Piscotty moves to first base and pushes cold bats like Reynolds and Moss to the bench and Grichuk’s return won’t give Mike Matheny the opportunity to use Jon Jay as much.

Other bad news. Tommy Pham’s once hot bat can’t find the starting lineup and Tony Cruz needs at bats to get ready for his undeserved playoff roster appearance. There’s no refuge in sight save for Greg Garcia’s surprising presence at shortstop and second base and Kolten Wong’s return this weekend. To say there is a light at the end of the tunnel is a tough sell, even for a team that has endured all kinds of setbacks and obstacles this season.

17 of the final 20 games this season are against N.L. Central opponents. The Cards finish the road trip against the Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and Cubs before coming home to deal with the Reds and Brewers and finish with the Pirates and Atlanta Braves. It’s a weak schedule on paper, but any opponent looms as a threat right now, especially inside the division.

Optimism lies in the belief that the pitching will right the ship and the returning veterans can add some firepower. The Cardinals can use any sort of offense at the moment. After seeing their division lead shrink, the Cards have walked into Cincinnati and scored just 3 runs in 27 innings. That’s pathetic for a team with the best record in baseball. When your rivals aren’t quitting, there’s no room for a slip.

Is the sky falling in St. Louis? No. Is it apparent that something is wrong and there’s a malfunction in the system and a fix is required? Yes. The Cardinals need a boost. Who will give it to them? Stay tuned. September just got interesting. Have the Cards ever made it easy on their fans?

Cardinals: Sit Mark Reynolds and run with Xavier Scruggs

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In case you haven’t noticed, the St. Louis Cardinals have suddenly fallen on hard times. For the first time since August in 2013(thank you Rob Rains), they have lost four in a row at home. The lowly Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres did the trick, outdueling the Birds in late inning battles.

What’s wrong? Who is the main suspect? Well, during those three losses, the Cards have scored just five runs. Five runs over 31 innings isn’t going to win any tea that many games, so the culprit is clear as day. The struggling offense has been shoved out into the light and right now, any spark would help. While he isn’t going to carry the team, Xavier Scruggs deserves to start a lot of games before the All Star Break.

The reason? Mark Reynolds isn’t doing much. Reynolds has lived up to most of his preseason billing. Lots of strikeouts(72 in 204 at bats), streakyimageedit_1_3887059628 hitting and an ability to play multiple positions. The one part of his billing he hasn’t produced yet is power. He has a measly five home runs and none since June 15th. It’d be one thing if he had 10 homers to go with the whiffs but not even close. Since taking over for Matt Adams in late May, Reynolds has SEVEN extra base hits. That’s pitiful. His power is gone and his swing and miss rate has sky rocketed. Reynolds hit .218 for June and his slugging percentage was a Tony Cruz like .345. Marching Reynolds out there is as illogical as letting Jon Jay take swings with a sore wrist. It has to stop.

Scruggs has collected some big hits since he showed up on June 19th, going 10-27 with 6 RBI and a pair of doubles. Pinch hitting Thursday night, Scruggs came up with a key base hit that gave the Cards a chance to win in the 8th inning. Scruggs is finally getting the resemblance of an opportunity and making the best of it. Why not give him more with a struggling offense a completely missing person in Reynolds at the plate? Scruggs can’t do any worse than Reynolds and deserves to get more starts against San Diego, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

You never know what could happen. Maybe Scruggs collects more hits and other teams take notice of a journeyman first baseman finally getting a chance at age 27 to show his worth. Maybe they remember his name when trade talks open. Maybe not. The options for the Cards to improve with what they have are minimal. Matt Carpenter is struggling but has no real backup at third outside of Reynolds. Matt Holliday is on his way back but won’t help a weak hitting Reynolds improve. Mike Matheny and John Mozeliak can’t lose a thing by showcasing Scruggs. Let him start for 4-5 games in a row. If he whiffs and goes 1-20 than you know what is needed at the deadline. They must find out the whole answer.

x manWhat choices are there? The Cards trade chips took a hit with Matt Adams going down and Jay hitting the disabled list. Stephen Piscotty won’t be called up because he needs to start every day. Tommy Pham doesn’t have a clear spot to start. Scruggs does have a spot and is blocked by a 2 million dollar journeyman slugger who isn’t slugging much. Time to make the move. Insert the X-Man and see if he can help spark the offense. If not, this could be a sad weekend before a vital eight game stretch against The Cubs and Pirates heats up a previously quiet NL Central race.

Before a trade can formulate, the Cards must try everything. The one thing they haven’t tried is running wild with Xavier Scruggs at first base. Together with Holliday’s return, one can hope the lineup gives a little more support to an MLB best pitching staff.

Since a trade isn’t as easy with the double wildcard and lack of trade chips, the Cards will have to rely on guys in their own lineup to solve the problem. Starting Scruggs for an extended period of time is a good start.