Brad Thomas

At 42-30 the Cardinals are currently one of the best teams in baseball. Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan called them ‘the little team that could’ and I tend to second that sentiment. With a cut and paste lineup and patchwork rotation, the success of this year’s Cardinals team under Tony La Russa has been nothing short of extraordinary.  The Cardinals aren’t the prettiest team, they aren’t the fastest, the strongest or the most talented, but what they do bring is hustle, and a lot of it. So far this season the Cards have done nothing but win despite countless injuries to key players (Carpenter, Pujols, Wainwright, and recently Wellemeyer and Molina).

I’ll be the first person to admit the Cardinals have been somewhat lucky.  Don’t get me wrong Tony La Russa is good, but is he THAT good? To be honest, no one, not even I, could have predicted that Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, Brian Barton and Rick Ankiel would have a coming out party. Not to mention that Braden Looper and Todd Wellemeyer would be pitching as consistently and dominantly as they have been. The bullpen has been suspect at times, and had it not been for it, or more specifically Randy Flores, the Cardinals would be leading the NL Central and probably have the best record in baseball. Although La Russa can’t be faulted for that, Tyler Johnson would have been used in the situations Flores was being used in had he not been injured along with 8 other Cardinals pitchers. St. Louis is playing loose without any pressure on them as they were predicted to finish in the basement of their division.

Can the success continue?  With Pujols out for a small, but important portion of time, some others have got to step up and step up big until he can return (that’s YOU Chris Duncan, you were given a second chance, make something of it!).  If the Cardinals can continue this streak of effort, decent pitching and defense (and get a bit more help from the bullpen) they will most likely be the NL wildcard.  Personally I think the Cards need to take a run at a serviceable bat in order to bring some power that’s been lacking, and another starter wouldn’t hurt either.

Good news! Chris Carpenter will begin rehab soon since he was given the green light earlier this week. This could mean we could see him in August and if the Cards are still in contention at that time, that would be just what the doctor ordered.

Thanks For Reading!

BT

Brad Thomas

As the Cardinals continue to play above .500 baseball, their divisional rivals, the Chicago Cubs are on fire. They have won 9 straight and the best team in baseball at the moment. With the Astros and Brewers both fading quickly, it seems as though it could come down to the best rivalry in the National League. The Cardinals continue to get incredible (also surprising) performances from Todd Wellemeyer and Braden Looper who are now 6-1 and 7-4 respectively. Cardinals pitchers continue to look great early on in games and then make a mistake late before the bullpen is called upon. The latest example of this was a few nights ago when Adam Wainwright fell to 5-3 because he gave up a grand slam to Jason Michaels after surrendering only one hit through is first 5 innings of work.

The Cardinals need to up their consistency to keep within striking distance of the Cubs. They need to avoid giving up the big inning, hit the ball on a regular basis and continue their commitment to team defense. A few guys in my mind need to step up in order for this to happen. Adam Wainwright is a strong finisher and will find the form he had last year late. To end the regular season, he was the toughest pitcher to face in the NL outside of Brandon Webb. Troy Glaus needs to pick up the power as he only has 3 home runs. He’s not even the guy being relied upon to protect Albert Pujols so he needs to get it together. I understand that Rolen needed to go, but Glaus has been nothing short of disappointing to me. Joel Piniero needs to find himself once he returns from injury. He has been okay, but the Cardinals need to be able to count on getting reliable starting pitching on a game to game basis if they want to compete for the divisional title.

In Other News:

The Cardinals demoted struggling Chris Duncan to Memphis (AAA). To be honest, he’s lost it and I think he’s done in St. Louis. He’s developed lots of holes in his swing and the NL pitchers eat him up. Also, Mark Mulder is not progressing as wanted, and may not be back in time for the All Star break. Matt Clement is set to begin rehab, and Chris Carpenter is still not immanently returning. Albert Pujols was pulled tonight against Washington due to tightness in his thighs, but he should be okay.

Thanks for reading!

BT

Brad Thomas

   The Cardinals came into their series against the Pirates facing a team that had won seven of its last eight. After battling hard and getting homeruns from Troy Glaus and Albert Pujols in game one, bullpen troubles and the lack of an arm that can shut the door late again was the story. Ron Villone blew the save and the Cards went on to lost 8-4 in extra innings. The Cardinals struck back in game two riding the arm of unlikely contributor Todd Wellemeyer, who is now 5-1 on the year. He shut down the Pirates through 7 innings and got some help from the human highlight reel that is Rick Ankiel who robbed Adam Laroche of a homerun then almost took his head off when he threw the ball in. In game three, Jason Isringhausen is making even the most optimistic of Cards fans pessimistic. He gave up a 3 run homerun to Jason Bay which put the Pirates ahead and opened the floodgates in what ended up an 11-5 loss.

   Before heading West, the Cardinals hosted a 3 game set against the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays. They were shut down in game one by Andy Sonnanstine who shut the Cardinals out for 8 innings. Sonnanstine at 6-2 on the year is just another member of the surprise Rays that continues to impress. He also helped his own cause with 2 hits. In game two, the Cardinals and Rays struggled back and forth until Ryan Ludwick ended the game with a walkoff homerun in the tenth inning. Ludwick is having a real breakout year, he’s hitting .390 against right handers and Dan Wheeler became part of that statistic in a hurry. In game three, after honoring Stan Musial by renaming a street bordering Busch Stadium after him came back in dramatic fashion. They trailed by three going into the ninth, and the rally was capped off by a walkoff double by Skip Schumaker, another guy who’s finally getting a shot and is impressing everyone.

   On the first game of their West Coast trip, the Cardinals set off fireworks in an 8-2 win over the league-worst Padres. Pujols had two homeruns, Ludwick hit yet another to extend his team lead to 12 and Caesar Izsturis hit his first homer of the year. Todd Wellemeyer again dominated through 6 innings and the bullpen picked up the slack, shutting the door in the final 3 to seal the Cards’ win. In game two, Joel Piniero was great and rolling until he walked 2 in the sixth inning. After going down 1-0 to Kevin Kouzmanoff, he served up a pitch that was hit out of the park to straight away center field, and the Padres never looked back. In the finale of the series, the score was not the most important element of the game. The Cardinals won 11-3, and got big games from Troy Glaus and Ryan Ludwick (3 RBI each). They also got solid pitching from Braden Looper and a pinch hit homerun from Rick Ankiel in the eighth inning.

    In the third inning Albert Pujols hit a line drive that struck Chris Young (who is 6’10) right between the eyes. He is truly lucky to be alive as head injurys are no laughing matter, and from what I have heard he has a broken nose and probably a concussion. Also, while trying to take home in the same inning, Pujols slide into catcher Josh Bard and shattered his ankle. Can things get any worse for the Padres?

Cardinals open up a set in LA against the Dodgers tomorrow. I will also take a look at the Cardinals’ closing situation tomorrow.