Team Preview - The First-Place St. Louis Cardinals
by David Young on Jun 7, 2010 1:36 PM PDT
in Team Previews
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Print[Editor's note - the engagingly written portions of this article are the work of Eric Stephen and those paragraphs are marked with his initials. For the balance of the drivel, blame the name on the byline.]
(Draft chat continues here)
The St. Louis Cardinals return to Dodger Stadium for the first time since Game Two of the National League Divisional Series, when Matt Holliday's two-out error in the ninth inning on James Loney's sinking line drive to left field opened the door to a comeback, walk-off victory, a 2 - 0 series lead, and an eventual sweep by Los Angeles.
The Cardinals have tallied a National League-leading 33 victories, tied with the Dodgers, the just-departed Atlanta Braves, the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.
Classically constructed with defense up the middle, offense from the OF and the corner IF, and two top starting pitchers, the Cardinals should pose a formidable challenge in this midweek series.
Position Breakdown
1B - Albert Pujols. 'Nuff said.
2B - Skip Schumaker sees almost all the playing time here. He has struggled with the bat all season and has a line of .240 / .309 / .311 / .620 to show for it. His career UZR/150 at 2B is -10.2, so he's not making up for the lack of offense with stellar glovework either. A Southern California native, Schumaker played at Aliso Niguel High School and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
SS - Dodger fans got an eyeful of Brendan Ryan's defensive prowess last year as he made several outstanding plays in the field. He carries a career UZR/150 of 7.9, which helps him sleep at night while he hits .211 / .287 / .317 / .604 this year. However, he is hitting .357 / .400 / .643 over his last ten games. Ryan graduated from Notre Dame High School of Sherman Oaks.
3B - 27-year old rookie David Freese, obtained by trading Jim Edmonds to the Padres, has been holding down the hot corner capably (1.7 UZR/150, but in only 57 career starts), while hitting a robust .314 / .383 / .445 / .828 this season. Freese is day-to-day however with a right ankle sprain and may be limited to pinch-hitting at least to start the series.
LF - Matt Holliday is actually a decent fielding left-fielder with a career UZR/150 of 1.7, with only one season under 3.3, but Dodger fans tend to see Holliday through the glasses of one particular play in Game Two of last season's NLDS. Oh yeah, he's a pretty good hitter too: .305 / .384 / .467 / .851.
CF - Colby Rasmus is also day-to-day with a calf injury sustained in Sunday night's game. The 23-year old, a Cardinals first-round pick in 2005, is a fine fielding CF (4.7 UZR/150) who has been a good hitter this season as well: .293 / .405 / .569 / .974. Last year Rasmus' offense was dragged down by his performance against LHP, but he is hitting all comers this year, posting line of .273 / .368 / .515 against lefties.
RF - Ryan Ludwick continues his late-blooming career in St. Louis by batting .290 / .365 / .481 / .846 this season to complement his career UZR/150 of 6.3 as a right-fielder.
C - Yadier Molina has started 49 games or one more than LA's Russell Martin. Molina crouches behind the plate with a reputation as an excellent defensive catcher, but has been even more powerless than the Dodger catcher with batting numbers of .253 / .337 / .331 / .668 this season.
Bench - Felipe Lopez was coveted by some Dodger fans for the backup jobs that Jamey Carroll and Ronnie Belliard are occupying for Los Angeles. He has started 24 games at the infield skill positions this season and has even pitched a scoreless inning in relief during a tied ballgame. The Reds cut Aaron Miles in the spring and St. Louis purchased his contract on June 1 to be their last infielder on the bench. The Cardinals were so enamored of their outfielder depth they signed the recently jettisoned Randy Winn after he was DFA by the Yankees. He joins Nick Stavinoha on the bench, but might start in CF if Rasmus can't go. Lopez, Miles and Winn are all switch-hitters. Jason LaRue is the backup catcher who has seen less playing time than A.J. Ellis.
Starting Pitching for our Series:
Game 1 - Blake Hawksworth, RHP (vs. Carlos Monestarios, RHP)
As of last night, Tony LaRussa hadn't yet officially chosen between P.J. Walters or Hawksworth. From Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Before Sunday's game, La Russa had said the only reason Hawksworth wouldn't start tonight was if he had to be used in relief of rookie Jaime Garcia Sunday night against Milwaukee. Hawksworth wasn't used but after a 4-3 loss in extra innings, a terse La Russa said, "You may be ready to turn the page but I'm not. I'd like to think about this game for a while. I have no interest in talking about tomorrow."
Hawksworth said he had been told before the game that he likely would start if he didn't have to pitch Sunday. He said he wasn't sure how long he would be able to go but he said, "I imagine we'll all get a little action (tonight)."
It would be the first major league start for the 27-year old Hawksworth, who has thrown 61 innings in relief in 2009 and 2010. After striking out over seven batters per nine throughout his minor league career, Hawksworth has struck out 4.87 per nine in his brief time in the majors. He got his first major league win last season against the Dodgers, by pitching three scoreless innings of a 15-inning game to end what started as a pitching duel between Clayton Kershaw and Joel Piñeiro. (ES)
Game 2 - Chris Carpenter, RHP (vs. Hiroki Kuroda, RHP)
Carpenter is having another typical Carpenter year: not a lot of walks (2.09 per nine innings), a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than three-to-one (3.68), averaging nearly seven innings per start (6.88). Carpenter is 7-1 with a 2.76 ERA, a 3.90 FIP, and 3.39 x-FIP. If there is one sign of weakness -- and this is a reach -- it's that Carpenter has allowed 1.1 home runs per nine innings, his highest figure since 2004. (ES)
Game 3 - Adam Wainwright, RHP (vs. Clayton Kershaw, LHP)
Wainwright is just a younger, better version of Carpenter. He has more strikeouts (8.69 per nine innings), a stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.86), and averages more innings per start (7.33). Wainwright is fourth in MLB in ERA (2.05), third in FIP (2.61), and second in x-FIP (3.08). Wainwright has a better FIP and x-FIP than the amazing Ubaldo Jimenez. Still, with Kershaw getting the nod, there's no reason for the Dodgers to throw in the white towel. (ES)
Bullpen:
The Cardinals' bullpen is second to the Padres in the National League in bullpen ERA (2.91) and WHIP (1.145), but are more middle of the pack in FIP (3.92) and x-FIP (4.19). Closer Ryan Franklin picked up where he left off last season, with a sub-2.00 ERA despite not striking out many batters (5.8 per nine innings). Franklin has had great control this season, with just one walk in 26 1/3 innings. Power right-handers Jason Motte (9.64 K/9, 3.40 FIP) and Kyle McLellan (8.20 K/9, 3.52 FIP) are a formidable setup duo. Trever Miller (.125/.192/.292, 2.98 FIP, 2.38 x-FIP against LHB) and old friend Dennys Reyes (.179/.378/.286, 5.87 FIP, 4.85 x-FIP against LHB) are the Cardinals' LOOGY options. Mitchell Boggs and either Walters or Hawksworth round out the pen. (ES)
Old Friends:
Brad Penny, who is on the 15-day DL from the strained right lat muscle suffered while hitting a grand slam, Dennys Reyes, and Trever Miller.
Be sure to check out Viva El Birdos, the SB Nation Cards' blog, for in-depth analysis. Here is a Cardinals vs Dodgers series preview from The Sports Network as well.
Cardinals news on Twitter: @stlcardinals @thebirdos @MatthewHLeach @dgoold @JoeStrauss @PitchersHit8th @andrewdmoses @Steve_Sommer
Statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com and fangraphs.com.
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Funny pitching match-ups
Game one is a dog on paper and the next two are playoff caliber. With the novelty of interleague play returning this weekend, this should be another real good test for us. (And yes, rereading this, “dog on paper” is awkward.)
I find myself wishing Billz could go against Carpenter
but oh well. Kuroda will be…dece…nt?
BRANDON RYAN!! He was the one with the “Don’t Touch Kids” mustache last year. Ugh. Very good but his choice of facial hair was…disconcerting.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
by Maddz on Jun 7, 2010 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
He looked like a blast from the past
With that mustache and the socks. I kind of liked it.
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
I get it conceptionally
and it’s cool, I like the retro look (to a point). It just…I…there are no words.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Oh yes he looked really creepy
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
the internet
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Laughter and anger are the only two services I provide
I had to find a way to combine them.
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
He's kept the socks, but lost all the facial hair, at least as of May 23
But I think the socks and chain/necklace combo sucks.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
It doesn't work without the stache
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Skip Schumacker went to my HS
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Added to the article
I meant to mention he was a local.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Hah He was already in the minors when I started school there
He might have been there when my brother was a freshman, close enough right?
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
I had no idea he was raking at such a high level
Last year he was all glove, no bat, and this year it’s the opposite to a certain level. Wow. I’ve always like Rasmus (and the Cardinals…don’t judge me!), and I’m glad to see he’s finally hitting like the MVP he was in the minors a few years back.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
opposite now?
has his defense regressed a lot?
hard to say
his single-season breakdowns on UZR scream small sample size (+13ish to -13ish in UZR/150). He has a reputation of being a bona fide CF.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
That depends
Do you think of UZR as a representation of reality? He misplays a lot of balls when I watch him. Bad routes, balls clanking off his glove, miscellaneous incompetence, but he’s fast and gets to a lot.
I think I might hate the cardinals more than any other non-divisional team in the NL.
by hee came hee seop'd he choi'd on Jun 7, 2010 1:50 PM PDT reply actions
Really
more than the Phillies?
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
in my fan lifespan
The Cardinals pimp slapped us in the playoffs before the Phillies did.
One of my Cardinals highlights was seeing the debut of a certain young man who struck out the mighty Pujols. This is when the Jacksonville 5 were the toast of DT because the regular season was such a washout.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200507290.shtml
by hee came hee seop'd he choi'd on Jun 7, 2010 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions
perhaps theres a certain irony of Broxton debuting with a blown save.
by hee came hee seop'd he choi'd on Jun 7, 2010 1:55 PM PDT up reply actions
This never gets old, does it? (Click this to hide)
No, no it doesn’t.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Jun 7, 2010 1:50 PM PDT reply actions 4 recs
I couldn't see it
cos i was on the other side of the stadium at the game.
White towels FTW?
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Gotta love those fans who sat 1,000 feet up from the ground who were waving those towels ;)
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Who would ever hide that?
I would let my computer explode before I would hide that.
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Huff huff CLANK ARGHHH thunk
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Jun 7, 2010 2:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Let's start a chant...
Rec this shit! Rec this shit! Rec this shit!
This is my all time favorite play to watch…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Jun 7, 2010 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions
I was sitting in the Reserve section on the first base side, and I turned to my friend to say “he took it in the junk”
by robotmadeofnails on Jun 7, 2010 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions
brendan ryans notre damn HS in SO
great grad party on sat night…
aaron miller
someone on minorleagueball who follows him says his velocity has risen to 93-96 mph this year…
i Was not Complaining
i just said that his velocity reports were too high…
i listened to broadcasts of the game and the guy was saying 89-90 in the 3rd inning, but exactly where he wants it… wasnt complaining
if it fails
it’s your fault, bro.
I’ll tweet from the game. If anyone is interested in hearing just how good Ethier’s backside looks from my vantage point.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
My prediction
Fantastic.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
oh god dammit
copy and paste fail.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
I was very excited that I got them in the same frame
for I am very bad at photography
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
I'm sure you weren't just trying to get a double eyeful there
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
I wish I could delete the double. :(
If a mod wants to do it for me…? :)
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
The one time we sat in the RF pavilion, my wife said the view was quite good
And Andre hit three jacks to boot.
I’ll be at the game also, in bhsportsguy’s seats. But I don’t have mobile capabilities.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Its a good thing my wife doesn't like pretty guys
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Thought this was interesting
from the Dodger game notes:
Longest Active Win Streaks when Leading after 7 Innings, National League
Dodgers 40
Cardinals 40
Marlins 26
Braves 24
Phillies 19
back last august
a girl i was seeing took me to a dodgers/dbacks game in phx and when she saw Ethier on the jumbrotron, she swooned and wouldn’t stop bringing him up the whole game.
that's the price you pay
if you get a girl you like to go to a Dodgers game, there’s a very good chance she will be enamored with Ethier’s looks and ability to jack home runs. Chicks dig the long ball, after all.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
who knows,
we sttopped seeing each other after that day actually. She was 22, not cougarish enough for me.
There is an automatic retort to that comment
but while this is not a family-friendly blog, I will ignore it.
she's not innocent, she's just not a cokehead
RiRi’s been on record stating she’s both a size queen and sends her boyfriend pictures of her starkers when she’s on tour.
Matt Kemp, we salute you!
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
This lack of preview from VEB makes me sad.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
:D
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/06/07/mlb-power-rankings-al-easts-fearsome-foursome/
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
hah our june schedule is chock full of teams in the top 10. must.. survive.. june..
by hee came hee seop'd he choi'd on Jun 7, 2010 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions
I moved the draft thread to the top of the page
http://www.truebluela.com/2010/6/7/1505211/draft-day-coverage
For draft stuff go there; there is also a link to watch online if you are so inclined.
An article not believing the pitching magic of Kershaw
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/is-clayton-kershaw-an-ace/
What they don’t realize is that Kershaw is not like these normal human pitchers, and his better than average numbers aren’t due to regress because he’s just not like the others :)
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
On Facebook
the official Dodgers page, or whatever it is, is calling the Dodgers the “Walk Off Warriors”. Apropos and enjoyable! (AND HOW!)
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
No Dodger lineup yet here at the ballpark. Perhaps something to do with the Beard or it could be nothing.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 3:36 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
It would be awesome
if they did a Sports Center commericial about the Beard. It’ll never happen. But a girl can dream.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Dodgers lineup - I wonder if Martin is hurt
Furcal SS
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Ramirez LF
Loney 1B
Belliard 3B
DeWitt 2B
Ellis C
Monasterios P
Cue the catcalls and snickers
From Dylan H:
Jon Link called up from triple A; Charlie Haeger to the DL.
Chances this is legit?
I mean his toe did get injured a bit ago…
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Why Link instead of the German?
I really want to call him Travis von Strike, but there’s no reason. I just really want to call someone that.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
They can't call him back up because there is a 10 day mandatory wait period right?
Unless a pitcher is DL’d
Right
so Haegar DL’d means they could have called him up.
How about Clayton von Strike?
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Russell Martin
It seems odd because he pinch hit yesterday and was fine scoring the winning run, maybe something happened in batting practice?
BP hasn’t happened yet. I’m waiting for Torre’a pregame.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 4:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I was wrong on the dates
Last June 30 – July 1, Martin didn’t start two games in a row (hat tip to Jon Weisman)
The clown?
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
Padres will lose tonight.
because I told someone they would win. I just hedged my bet there. Hedging is overrated if you ask me though. What’s the opposite of hedging? That’s what I usually like to do. I’m an anti-hedgite.
Torre confirmed Link is only here for tonight. He’s the ‘link’ to Sherrill who will be back tomorrow. Link was told already.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 4:28 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Just beat up and Torre told him to take another day.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 4:32 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Blake is swinging at bat near the BP cage. Looks like he may take BP.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 4:55 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
The Beard looks good running around the bases.
by Alex41592 on Jun 7, 2010 5:00 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Jon Link
He is the 2009 Blake DeWitt award leader so far. This is his third time up with the big club this season.
Cole Hamels just gave up his first hit, in the 7th
and now trails the Padres 1-0.
Adrian Gonzalez HR
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