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WP: Rich Harden (2 - 1) LP: Todd Wellemeyer (1 - 2)

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Game 19 Overflow

by azruavatar on Apr 26, 2009 4:37 PM EDT Comment 135 comments

Just passing through -- looks like we need a bit of a rally.

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Game 19 Open Thread -- April 26, 2009

by chuckb on Apr 26, 2009 2:15 PM EDT Comment 805 comments


Harden	Wellemeyer
1-1, 4.20	1-1, 5.29

Wellemeyer’s been the bizarre-Pineiro so far this season – sandwiching 1 good start between 2 pretty bad starts. He had 9 swinging strikes in his 2nd start but only 6 combined in his first and third. It also probably helped that the D-backs swing at damned near everything. The good news is that he’s yet (knock on wood) to allow his first homer. Throw strikes, keep the ball down, and hopefully we’ll be ok.

Harden has walked 8 and struck out 26 in 15 innings. He’s also given up 1 HR in each start, going for the title of the only three-true-outcomes pitcher in the majors. Because of high pitch counts, he’s yet to get an out in the 7th inning so far this season. Hopefully we’ll be able to work counts (Rasmus absolutely should be in there) and make him extend himself and then we can get into that bullpen in the 5th or 6th.

Going for the sweep

Harden versus Wellemeyer

Cards need to work counts

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WAR Cards -- the hot corner

by chuckb on Apr 26, 2009 10:31 AM EDT in News Comment 21 comments

About a month ago, I began a series of comparing Cards’ players since 1955 by position in terms of their WAR as Cards. With the beginning of the season, I let it fade away but w/ the Cards playing so well right now, I decided to come back to it. After all, what more can be said? We’re pitching. We’re hitting. Defense is OK. So today I’m looking at the hot corner. I’m using Sean Smith’s fantastic historical WAR database as the basis for my information.

I didn’t realize really how much turnover there’s been at third base until looking into this. I figured I could easily rattle off about 6 names of players who’ve played there for several years and then realized a lot of guys were only there for a couple of years – Torre, Tatis, Polanco. But the hot corner’s been pretty good to Cards teams over the years and, recently, it’s enabled us to forget the Todd Zeile years. (I’d have figured he would have at least made the top 5 but would you believe he didn’t have 1 league average year at 3B for the Cards?) Anyway, w/o further ado, the top 5 Cards third basemen since 1955.

1. Ken Boyer

I would have put my money on Rolen being #1 but Boyer was much better than I realized. Not only did his tenure w/ the team enable him to pile up 52.2 WAR, but his top 5 years bests Rolen’s as well – averaging more than 6 WAR in those 5 years. He was also the 3B for the 1964 World Series champs. Truly an all-around baseball player, he got value from offense, his defense, and from playing nearly every game every year.

2. Scott Rolen

A fantastic player in his prime, it’s sad to see how far he’s fallen. Injuries have really taken their toll on him but, for 5+ years in a Cards’ uni, he was simply one of the best, if not the best, 3B in the game. A cornerstone of the 2004 MV3 group – along w/ Edmonds and Pujols, he also won a ring on the 2006 World Champs. Inexplicably denied the MVP of the Series, Rolen’s OPS during the 5 game series was 1.213. He hit one of the 2 homers hit by the Cards and had 3 doubles in the 5 games.

3. Terry Pendleton

A mainstay on the Cards’ World Series teams of 1985 and 1987, Pendleton is the 3rd best 3B of the last 55 years. He was up and down during his time as a Cardinal, but earned more than 2 wins playing half a season as a rookie, and was worth 3.4 and 4.1 WAR in 1987 and 1989, respectively. His game winning homer off the Mets in 1987 was huge in helping defeat our main competition for the NL East title.

4. Joe Torre

Joe was a third baseman for the Cards for just 2 years – in 1971 and 1972. He won the league MVP in 1971 by hitting .363 w/ 24 homers and 137 RBI. He was worth 6.7 WAR that season but just 2.7 in 1972.

5. Ken Oberkfell

Like Shannon, Zeile, Polanco, and Torre, Oberkfell is one Cards’ 3B who also earned significant WAR at another position. Oberkfell was the 5th best 2B for the Cards and he’s also the 5th best 3B of the last 55 years. He was a solid, if unspectacular player during his tenure in St. Louis, and was an above average 3B for the 3 years he played the hot corner w/ the Cards.

3rd Base	Total WAR	5 year peak
Boyer	52.2	31.3
Rolen	25.3	24.1
Pendleton	13.3	12.7
Torre	9.4	9.4
Oberkfell	8.2	8.2

I’ll have a game thread up in a few hours as the Cards go for their 2nd consecutive sweep. It won’t be easy, however. Rich Harden’s on the hill for the Cubbies!

21 comments | 0 recs |

Game 18 Overflow thread

by chuckb on Apr 25, 2009 5:30 PM EDT in News Comment 744 comments

Beautiful day. Beautiful crowd. Beautiful win?

744 comments | 0 recs

Game 18 Open Thread -- April 25, 2009

by chuckb on Apr 25, 2009 4:00 PM EDT in News Comment 618 comments


Marshall	Boggs
0-0, 4.50	0-0, 4.50

The Cards got to Marshall for 9 base runners and 3 runs in 5 innings before getting 4 more on the Cubs pen in an 8-3 win last Thursday. I’m excited about seeing what Boggs has got this year. He was pretty awful last year, w/ 22 BBs and 13 Ks in 34 IP. It won’t hurt that A-Ram won’t be in today’s lineup. It was a tough night for the Cubs last night – losing both Ramirez and Marmol to injury. I’ve seen no word on how long the two will be out but if you take the best hitter and best reliever out of any team’s lineup and they’ll be hurting. And now for today’s haiku:

Boggs against Marshall.

Let’s help the kid. Get some runs.

Brooms ready Sunday.

618 comments | 0 recs

Anatomy of a Great Start

by chuckb on Apr 25, 2009 11:18 AM EDT in News Comment 119 comments

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

#5's been a big reason the Cards are off to a 12-5 start. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Browse more photos »

Well, Wainwright finally gave us what we’ve come to expect from him and was able to pitch around Skip’s coulda-been-disastrous flub in LF by getting a DP. Albert and Ludwick gave us 2 seeing eye singles and a stolen base to produce the game winner and Franklin closed it out for our 4th straight win. This team, save dropped pop flies and Ankiel at the plate, is really playing well right now. The key has been the offense, which is leading the league in many different categories. 5 of the 8 starters on offense have an OPS+ greater than 125 plus Rasmus, Barden, and Ryan are over 100.

Right now the offense leads the NL in runs scored, runs per game, hits, doubles, homers (tied), batting average, slugging, and OPS. They’re second in walks and OBP, and have the 4th fewest strikeouts in the NL. They’ve stolen 10 bases against only 2 caught stealings – very good considering how poorly the team fared in SB% last season. Unsurprisingly, Pujols leads the league in a number of offensive categories including slugging %, where Ludwick is #2. A team that bangs out 6.12 runs per game is going to be tough to beat.

On the pitching side, the news isn’t quite so rosy. Lohse has been outstanding and Wainwright was strong last night. Pineiro’s been pretty good. Franklin’s been terrific – 5 base runners in 8 innings. Many of us were concerned about McClellan entering the season but he’s been very good. Motte’s improving and Reyes has been fine. The pen, all in all, seems to be coming together, though Franklin’s track record tells us it’s not all going to be sunshine and flowers when he pitches. Despite Wellemeyer’s troubles, the ‘pen’s troubles, Carp’s injury, and the fact that P.J. Walters and Mitch Boggs have already thrown some important innings, the staff is holding its own. Our ERA is 3rd in the NL and we’ve given up the 6th fewest runs per game in the league. We’re leading the league in the fewest walks per game and are tied for the fewest homers per game. Anytime your staff can avoid walking people and can keep the ball in the ballpark, you’re going to win some games. It gives the team a lot more flexibility to give up singles if it takes 3 hits to score a run.

Defensively, we haven’t been quite as good as we have been in the other 2 areas. Our defensive efficiency is just .690 – 10th in the league – though we have had only 6 stolen base attempts against us – fewest in the NL. I suppose that’s going to happen when you’ve got an OF playing 2B, a 2B playing 3B, a DH playing LF, and a RF playing CF. As long as the team continues to score, the defensive issues won’t matter quite so much. But we know we’re not going to average more than 6 runs per game for the year. We know Lohse isn’t going to finish the season w/ a 2.50 ERA. There’s going to be some regression to the mean but I wouldn’t expect Ankiel to finish the season w/ a .306 OBP either. Still, you’ve gotta like what’s happening now. Let’s ride the wave as long as it lasts.

There’s a pretty good article over at fangraphs about prospects in the Texas League, including our very own Daryl Jones. If he keeps this up, that outfield’s going to get really crowded really quickly.

Everyone probably knows by now that Lohse is OK and intends to make his next start Tuesday. It goes w/o saying that that’s fantastic news.

I’ll be back in a few hours w/ a game thread. Another day game. Another lefty. It’s been standard fare for the 1st 17 games – and still we’re 12-5. Not bad, huh?

119 comments | 0 recs |

Game 17 Open Thread: Cubs at Cardinals

by DanUpBaby on Apr 24, 2009 8:15 PM EDT Comment 892 comments


Dempster	Wainwright
1-0, 5.00	2-0, 3.31

With apologies to the red baron, Ogden Nash, and the city of Nantucket:

There once was a pitcher named Wainwright,
Who pitched all his pitches from Wainheights.
He used to be great,
Now he can't find the plate,
On the zone he could stand to shed Wainlight

892 comments | 0 recs

Good Morning

by DanUpBaby on Apr 24, 2009 8:30 AM EDT Comment 366 comments

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Jimmy!

Browse more photos »

I'm really sorry, everybody—I've been putting in all of the work I shirked through my first three years of college over the course of this current semester, and all the work I shirked throughout this semester in the last two weeks. As a result, I have nothing for you this morning, except a lengthy and ill-formed set of short-answers about anthropology.

So consider this an open thread. As far as a prompt goes, a question I discussed with somebody a while back: What is a slump? You can imagine who we were talking about when this came up.

Obviously players have slumps, in the empirical sense—they don't hit 1-4 every day when they're .250 hitters, after all. But are they mental, when they aren't physical? Are they random chance? Are they the result of certain skill-sets, such as Ank's bizarre combination of a fastball-slow bat and terrible strike zone control, being predisposed to extended bouts with futility?

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Post Game 16 Thread

by azruavatar on Apr 23, 2009 6:47 PM EDT Comment 100 comments

800 comments on an overflow thread for a day game. . . me thinks several someones didn't get their work done in the office yesterday.

In any event, the Cards sweep the Mets (Yay!) in another outpooring of offense by the score of 12-8.

In potentially bad news, Kyle Lohse felt a pop in his knee, which remained sore after the game. He went for an MRI -- results on Friday. With Carpenter down, the Cardinals may have to go trolling their AAA reserves again or see if one of Paul Byrd/Pedro Martinez/Swamp Gas is available.

Have at with any fretting over Lohse, post game elation or starting pitching trepidation comments.

100 comments | 0 recs