MVN - Most Valuable Network

Possible September Callups

With September right around the corner and the Cardinals trying to claw their way into the Wild Card, next week’s roster expansions couldn’t come at a better time. The Cardinals have several young prospects that could help us big in September. Many of them have already had stints with the parent club this summer, while others might be getting their first taste of big league life. The following list of players are MY picks as to who I would call-up if I were the general manager. Some of these guys won’t be called up, but any of these guys very well could be. And I have had the added benefit of watching these guys play every day here in Memphis, so I have an added advantage over the average writer. If the Cardinals are able to make it to October baseball, here are just a few of the names that could help us in September:

Before I get started, let me address Colby Rasmus. He has been sent back to A Palm Beach until he is fully healthy. Personally, I see no need to rush him back to AAA for the last week of their season, or even St. Louis for that matter. But if he is to earn a September call-up, it could totally depend on whether or not the organization thinks he is healthy enough and could help the Cardinals next month. Now on to the other guys (yes the Cardinals actually do have other prospects):

1. Brendan Ryan - We are all familiar with Brenden. And we all knew he will be back in St. Louis come September. The reason for his “demotion” (if you even want to call it that) was simple. He was not getting the playing time with the Cardinals that he could get here in Memphis. And while he hasn’t set the Pacific Coast League on fire (.226 BA), we all know what Brendan is capable of. He brings an enthusiasm and energy to the team that is reminiscent of David Eckstein. And by the way, he has even been playing a little left field down here in Memphis, so now he is even more versatile.

2. Bryan Anderson - This guy is the best catcher in our minor league system. He has worked his way quickly through the Minors and finds himself in Memphis this season, hitting .284. He has incredible work ethic and is humble down to earth guy too. The problem the Cardinals have is we already have Yadie, so long term, it isn’t certain that Anderson fits into our plans. But it is a good problem to have. If the Cardinals do call-up a third catcher, it will be Anderson.

3. Brian Barden - Fresh off being a member of the Olympic Team, Barden could easily find himself in St. Louis come next week. He is hitting .293. He is an average to above average shortstop in the field, but could give the Cardinals a little more depth in the infield as well as provide a good pinch hitter off the bench.

4. John Jay - Let me start by saying that I do NOT think Jay will be called up. He was just recently promoted to Memphis. But he has hit at every level of the organization. And his .345 average he is sporting here in Memphis could possibly earn him a spot come September. The problem is two fold for Jay. First off, the Cardinals don’t really need more outfield help. We have enough problems as it is, making playing time for everyone now. Secondly, there are other guys that would probably get called up first, like Nick Stavinoha.

5. Nick Stavinoha - UPDATE….Stavinoha has already been called up again, and I didn’t know that when I wrote this…Nick is officially the only guy to ever play for LSU that I like (ROLL TIDE). With Mather called up and Rasmus under-producing this season, our offensive leader has been Stavinoha. He is hitting .337 for Memphis this season and will no doubt give St. Louis some much needed help this September.

6. Josh Phelps - A Major League veteran that was an opening day starting first baseman for the New York Yankees a few years ago, he would play a Chris Duncan type roll if called up. I don’t see it though, as Mather can play first if Albert goes down.

7. Rico Washington - Remember Rico from early this season? After spending around a decade in the minors, he finally made it to the show, only to be sent down when Brendan Ryan got healthy. Well, I just saw Rico go deep (hitting in the cleanup spot) about an hour ago for Memphis. The Cardinals don’t really need another infielder, but he is a reliable bat and good glove if they do.

8. Mitchell Boggs - He is my favorite pitcher in our entire minor league system. He has already had a brief stint as a member of the Cardinals rotation earlier in the season, and really impressed me. I have paid close attention to him all season here in Memphis, and in my opinion he is the best starting pitcher to come through Memphis since Adam Wainwright. He will definitely be called up.

9. Randy Flores - No explanation needed. Welcome back Randy.

10. Ron Flores - Remember last season when we played Oakland in Oakland, and Rany Flores’ little brother was their lefy specialist out of the bullpen. He did very well against us. Now he is a member of the Redbirds, and while I doubt we will call up that many lefties, he would do a good job if called upon.

11. Kelvin Jimenez - I am the wrong person to talk about Kelvin. I cannot stand this guy. He is terrible and I would gladly trade him for a used fungo bat. He is a minor league version of Izzy 2008. But the Cardinals like this guy and you can bet he will be on the team come roster expansions. He has shown me nothing here in Memphis….nothing.

12. Jason Motte - If Mitchell Boggs is my favorite starter in the minor leagues, Jason Motte is my favorite reliever. A catcher turned pitcher, this guy is both entertaining and effective on the mound. Picture 1/3 Eric Gagne, 1/3 Al Hrabosky, and 1/3 Joquain Andujar. Just kidding, but seriously this guy is going to be a stud closer or set up man in the bigs someday. And he may get his first taste of life in the bigs next week.

13. P.J. Walters - The other “Bama Boy” (Colby being the other), he is pitching tonight. He is 8-4 on the year, but has a 4.67 ERA. He is, in my opinion about where Mike Parisi is, in that he has potential, but needs more time at AAA. But you never know, he could get a start or two if the Cardinals need help.

14. Mark Worrell - Who can forget the sidearmed pitcher that slung some hash for the Cardinals, then even hit a home run in his fist major league at bat earlier this sesaon. He has a 2.26 ERA and would no doubt help our bullpen.

So there you have it folks, some of the guys that I think could get a call-up next week. I guess we will see. The more important issue though, is can we get back into the thick of things. And I will be addressing that in my next post.

Adam Wainwright: Rotation or Bullpen?

As I sit perched in the press box at Autozone Park, I could easily write about Adam Wainwright and his difficult and brief rehab outing for the Memphis Redbirds.  But it doesn’t matter.  Adam Wainwright will be fine.  The guy is a stud and my time would be better spent discussing just how Wainwright will fit into the mix when he does return to St. Louis.

If you are a Cardinals fan, I am sure you have realized just how terrible our bullpen is.  We lead baseball in blown saves, and if my stats are correct, this year’s bullpen is the 4th worst in the history of baseball in blown saves.  We have 30 blown saves and it is only August 8th.  If we won just half of those games, we would be in the driver’s seat in the National League.  Instead, we find ourselves as the underdogs in the NL Central, trying to claw our way back into the thick of things.

Izzy has lost the ability to close out games.  Ryan Franklin is even worse.  Franklin is simply not a closer, and why La Russa insists on handing him the ball in pressure situations is beyond me.  Franklin misses his spots, is rattled easily, and is not intimidating.   Why haven’t we used Springer in the closer’s role?  Our bullpen going into spring training was the one area where I was not worried.  And now, it is our Achilles’s heel.

Help is on the way in the form of Chris Perez.  But after a short stint with St. Louis, was optioned back to Memphis to work on a third pitch, his slider.  He has since returned and was actually used in a save situation, picking up his first career save against the Dodgers this week.  But he is still very green, and may or may not be able to step up and take over the closing roll just yet.

Which brings me back to the title of this post…  Is Adam Wainwright better served re-joining the rotation or would it be better for the Cards to stick him into the closer role that he filled when the Cards won the World Series in ‘06 and Izzy was injured?  Before we decide, let’s look at the rotation.

With Carpenter back, we have our ace back.  In his absence,  Wainwright stepped up as the ace of the staff.  But then he went down with a finger injury.  Kyle Lohse, statistically, has been the “ace” of the staff for most of the year.  So now you have Carpenter and Lohse atop the rotation.  Then you have Todd Wellemeyer and Braden Looper, two workhorses who eat a lot of innings.  Wellemeyer was a border line All-Star until he missed some time with an injury.  Then you have Joel Pineiro shoring up the rotation.  For the most part, our starting rotation has surpassed all expectations.  So the rotation is not our problem.  True, Adam would only improve the rotation, and I can even make the argument that you want your best arms pitching the most innings.  But why upgrade something that is already pretty good, when you have a bullpen that is TERRIBLE?

The bullpen has been overused, inconsistent, and underperforming.  Kyle McCllelen has pitched well for the most part, but Franklin and Izzy have been terrible.  Villone has been good at times and bad at times.  Jamie Garcia offers us a fresh lefty who I think will one day be a member of our rotation.  Springer has been decent.  Brad Thompson has been pretty good too in the long relief role.  But overall, we just can’t seem to close out games that we should win.

So, for that reason, I believe Wainwright should step in as our closer for now.  I know he is a starter, and will be a member of our rotation for years to come.  But right now, it is August 8th, and we are 7 games out of first place and need to stop the bleeding.  So stick Adam in the ‘pen, continue to let Perez progress, and stop handing the ball to Izzy and Franklin.  Trade Franklin for a used fungo bat, and DO NOT pick up Izzy’s option next season.  We will need the salary we save from not having Izzy next year if we stand a chane of retaining Lohse for 2009.

But back to tonight.  Adam was on a low pitch count for this outing, but he didn’t even make it out of the first inning.  He gave up a three run tater and was back in the dugout 15 minutes into the game.  But don’t worry.  This outing was not about the score.  This was about Adam getting into game situations, so he can return to St. Louis…

And Adam, please hurry up and get back to St. Louis, before it is too late.

Carpenter Makes Start For Memphis

Ok guys, let’s play jeopardy.  The answer is 11.  What is the question?

No, it isn’t Anthony Reyes’ pitch count after one batter.  And it isn’t the number of World Series Championships we SHOULD have if the 1985 “incidient” had been called correctly.  It is the number of pitches that Chris Carpenter used to strike out the side in the first inning Friday night here in Memphis.

Carpenter last made an appearance for St. Louis on Opening Night in April of 2007.  I was at that game and little did I know it would be the last game Carpenter would pitch for 15 months and counting.   Carpenter has been the “stud” of the pitching staff over the past several years and in my opinion, he is the best pitcher to pitch for the Cardinals since Bob Gibson.  So you can understand how important a successful return for Chris to the rotation is for the St. Louis Cardinals.  We have made do in his absence, with names like Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse assuming the role of ace.  But neither is Carpenter.

Friday night, the press box was packed with guys covering Chris.  I am actually sitting next to Jim Hayes of FSN as I write this article.  The evening started with Lydia Hart, wife of former Cardinal second baseman Bo Hart, singing an amazing rendition of the National Anthem.  Then Chris, donning number 32 for the Memphis Redbirds, began his first AAA rehab start.  He went right after the hitters in the first, mowing them down faster than I could take pictures of it.  In the second inning, he loaded the bases and allowed a run, and allowed another in the third.  But overall it was a very successful start.  He has been pitching pain free, which was the biggest concern for the Cardinals.  His fastball topped out in the mid 90’s and had incredible movement.  And his curve, well, let’s just say it was nastier than Rosie O’Donnell.  He mixed his pitches well, and tossed 5 plus innings and 78 pitches.  In my opinion, he could be ready to join the Cardinals as early as next week in Atlanta.

In my next post, I am going to address our bullpen issues.  We have blown more saves than anyone in the Majors, and would be the best team in baseball if we had just won half of those games.

Cards Use Longballs To Beat Red Sox

Game # 75 Fri. June 20, 2008

Cardinals 5 Red Sox 4

Ahh, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, my two favorite teams. I have always been a huge Cardinals fan, but have also always rooted for the Red Sox. In 2004, while I hated to lose the World Series, I was happy that if we weren’t going to win, that Boston did. There is so much class and tradition in Boston, and Fenway Park is a beautiful setting for baseball.

Friday, the Cardinals went from getting swept by one of the worst teams in baseball (the Kansas City Royals) to beating one of the best teams in baseball (the Boston Red Sox). I guess that is one thing about baseball, anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Friday, the banged up Redbirds rolled into “Beantown”, still without Pujols in the lineup. The Cards offense was still effective though, with longballs from Skip Schumaker, Jason La Rue, and Yadier Molina. Kyle Lohse pitched well, picking up his 9th win of the season. Here is my analysis of the game:

Performance of the Game: Jason La Rue

What Went Right:

1. Unexpected Power - The home runs came from Skip Schumaker, Jason La Rue, and Yadi. Nothing against them, but they wouldn’t have been the three anyone would have picked to go yard from looking at the batting order. But you have to give this team credit. With Pujols out of the lineup, this team needs performances like that.

2. Kyle Lohse - His pitch count was a bit high (109 through 6 innings), but Kyle picked up his 9th win of the year. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits in 6 innings. The way he is pitching it is very possible that he could have 11 or 12 victories by the All-Star break.

3. Yadi - Considering how hard he was hit last Sunday against the Phillies in a home plate collision that left him with a concussion, no one expected Yadi to go yard in his first game back. He still isn’t back behind the dish yet, but served as the Cards’ DH Friday night in Boston. Good job, Yadi!

What Went Wrong:

1. Cesar Izturis - He pulled his right hamstring in Friday night’s game. The last thing we need is another injury. But luckily we have Brendan Ryan and/or Aaron Miles that can play short well. And if we need to call someone up, Jarrett Hoffpauir is waiting in Memphis. He is a 2nd baseman, that could allow Ryan or Miles to scoot to short, if needed. And don’t forget Kennedy. He has been really effective at 2nd also.

The win puts the Cardinals at 43-32, 11 games over .500, and still 3 1/2 behind the cubs. Tomorrow, Mitchell Boggs will make his 3rd major league start for St. Louis. Let’s hope the bats come alive.

Rehab Report: Mulder, Clement Struggle In Memphis

The Cardinals have definitely faced their fair share of adversity when it comes to their starting pitchers this season.  But considering all the injuries, the starting rotation has done remarkably well in my opinion.  Two guys that have yet to even be on the pitching staff this season are Mark Mulder and Matt Clement, both of whom are in minor league rehab assignments in an effort to join the rotation at some point in the near future.

Mark Mulder, after multiple poor outings for Memphis, altered his delivery and had some newfound confidence coming into his rehab outing last night with the Memphis Redbirds.  But new delivery or not, he had the same unsuccessful results as in his last stint with Memphis.  He allowed 6 runs in the first inning alone, and ended up allowing lasting 3 2/3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 10 hits and seeing his AAA ERA jump to 13.50.  His pitches lacked movement and for the first time in his comeback attempt, I am starting to really worry.  The reason for my worry is that up until now you could blame it on his arm and the surgery.  But he is throwing pain free now and just “doesn’t seem to have it.”  I am not saying he is done, but he is by no means going to be back in St. Louis until he figures things out here in Memphis.

And then we have Matt Clement.  He had a couple of decent outings before being sent to Memphis for a start tonight against the Albuquerque Isotopes.  As I am writing this, it is the 3rd inning and Matt seems to be struggling as much as Mulder.  Through 2 2/3 innings, he has already given up 6 runs, walked 3, and given up 2 homeruns.  I remember when Clement was with the Cubs, but I do not remember much about his pitch speeds. He has hit either 82mph or 83mph 99% of the time tonight, with an occasional 75mph changeup.  That simply put, is not going to get the job done.  I would like to see him in the 90’s and that has yet to happen.  But I will say this about Clement, he seems to be hiting his spots.  I think he is MUCH closer than Mulder.  This is pretty much spring training for Clement and you also have to remember he hasn’t pitched in the majors in a long time.

Long story short, the Cardinals would have loved to have an effective Mulder or Clement join their weary rotation.  But we don’t have an effective Mulder or Clement at this point in time.  So for now, we will have to continue to get the job done with what we have.   Luckily, we have some depth there.  I am very pleased with what Lohse, Looper, Pineiro, and Wellemeyer contribute, especially Wellemeyer.  And don’t forget about Adam Wainwright, who has been excellent, until experiencing some finger issues that landed him on the DL along with Carpenter and company.

Brad Thompson, after his start this week, was optioned back to Memphis and Mike Parisi was recalled.  Personally, I disagree with that move.  Thompson has much more experience and success at the major league level.

All in all, I think the Cardinals and their pitching will be fine.  It is just obvious to me that an organization’s pitching DEPTH is just as, if not more important than their rotation.  And as for Mulder and Clement, they will continue to work out their kinks here in Memphis.  And Clement, it seems, is much closer to doing that than Mulder.

Cards Swept By Royals

Game # 74   Thur. June 19, 2008

Royals 4    Cardinals 1

Well, I am about to type a sentence I never thought I would.  The Kansas City Royals swept the St. Louis Cardinals in a three game series this week.  And they deserved to.  They just flat out beat us (unlike 1985 when we were robbed of a World Title by Don Deckinger).  Their pitching was incredible and the Pujols-less version of the Caridnals’ offense was next to dead, going only 2 for 29 in Thursday’s finale.  Here is my analysis of the game:

Performance of the Game:  Brad Thompson

What Went Wrong:

1.  The Offense - Simply put, without Albert Pujols in the lineup, the Cardinals are a different team.  And it isn’t just because of his individual contributions, but rather how the entire team is pitched to differently when he is absent from the lineup.  Mix in the fact that the Cardinals offense has been struggling the past few days anyway, and also factor in that the Kansas City Royals pitched really well.  The Cardinals managed only 2 hits in 29 (.069 batting average) Thursday.  There isn’t much more to point to about what went wrong.

What Went Right:

1.  Brad Thompson - He was called up to take the start that Anthony Reyes had originally been slated for.  And Brad did a pretty good job, allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings of work.  His sinker sank, which is always the key to his success.  What I didn’t agree with though, was no sooner had he taken a shower after his start, than he was optioned back to Memphis and Mike Parisi was recalled to join St. Louis.  Parisi is NOT ready yet, and needs more time at AAA.  And I may be mistaken, but I believe that Thompson is out of options (or at least very close to it), meaning we cannot send him down again without him having to clear waivers.  He may have an option left, but why waste it?  Leave him with the Cardinals, especially given the setbacks by Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement, as well as Wainwright’s injury.  Oh well, I am not John Mozeliak.

2.  Rick Ankiel - 1 for 3 with his 11th longball of the season.

The loss puts the Cardinals at 42-32, still 10 games over .500.  My least favorite team, the cubs lost too though, so we didn’t lose any ground in the standings, remaining 3 1/2 games back in the NL Central.  I don’t understand how we took 2 out of 3 with Philly, then get swept by the Royals.  But that is baseball.

Gotta Feel Bad For Braden Looper

Game # 73   Wed. June 18, 2008

Royals  3   Cardinals 2

The Royals took the series, winning for the second day in a row against the Cardinals in St. Louis.  You couldn’t have asked for a better effort from Braden Looper, who went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run.  And you also can’t be too disappointed in the Cardinals’ 11 hits (11 for 34, .324BA).  The Royals went deep twice in the 8th inning off of Kyle McClellan.  It was one of those games that you hate to lose, especially for the starting pitcher, but you have to tip your hat to Kansas City.  Here is my analysis of the game:

Performance of the Game:  Braden Looper

What Went Wrong:

1.  Kyle McClellan - He hadn’t been in the game five minutes before giving up two home runs, two home runs that cost the Cardinals the game.

What Went Right:

1.  Hits - Skip Schumaker, Aaron Miles, Chris Duncan, and Jason La Rue all had 2 hit nights.

2.  Braden Looper - As I said above, Braden had an excellent outing.  The no-decisions that I have seen this year are heartbreakers because they usually come off the bullpen after the starters have done an excellent job.

The loss puts the Cardinals at 42-31, 11 games over .500, and still 3 1/2 behind our arch enemy, the Chicago Cubs.