As expected, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is drawing heat in some quarters for his first-week deployment of his four outfielders. Yet the skipper is doing exactly what he said down in Florida he would do when the regular season began – rotate at-bats among his four “starters”.
Of course, the four are incumbents Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan along with rookie Colby Rasmus. Ludwick is coming off a rough spring, while Ankiel and Duncan each missed the end of the 2008 season due to surgeries and though he remains one of the top prospects in baseball, Rasmus is unproven at the major league level.
The simple math says that to share playing time equally, one outfielder is going to sit every fourth day. Coming into Sunday’s final game of the Houston Astros series which ended the initial seven-game homestand, Ankiel led the group with 20 at-bats. Guess which one of the four didn’t start on Easter?
Through the first two series, here is how the at-bats have been distributed:
Ankiel 20
Duncan 20
Ludwick 18
Rasmus 18
With three middle infield reserves on the roster, Skip Schumaker has been serving as the defacto fifth outfielder. The starting second baseman has been moved to the outfield late in games as the manager puts in a more experienced defender at the second base position while trying to protect a lead.
No matter which outfielder’s name is not written in the starting lineup on any given day, there is going to be a segment of fans in disagreement.
Some want to see Ankiel as an every-day regular, always positioned in centerfield. Many believe Ludwick’s right-handed RBI bat has to be written on the lineup card in ink. Others point to a rejuvenated Duncan and want his power production in left while a vocal group view Rasmus as the club’s best and most athletic option in center.
Each of them has a good case, but so far, La Russa is sticking to his plan. With the Cardinals enjoying a 5-2 break out of the gate that represents the best record in the National League Central Division, it seems to be working for now.
Right field footnote: Coming off his All-Star, Silver Slugger Award 2008 campaign, right fielder Ludwick’s presence in the outfield rotation may be the one of the four drawing the most criticism of La Russa’s approach.
As a point of reference, Tom Orf recently sent me the following, which documents the Cardinals opening day right fielder over the last quarter century and concludes it is a position of high turnover.
| 2009 | Mon, Apr 6 | vs PIT | L | 4-6 | Ludwick |
| 2008 | Tue, Apr 1 | vs COL | L | 1-2 | Schumaker |
| 2007 | Sun, Apr 1 | vs NYM | L | 1-6 | Wilson |
| 2006 | Mon, Apr 3 | at PHI | W | 13-5 | Encarnacion |
| 2005 | Tue, Apr 5 | at HOU | W | 7-3 | Walker |
| 2004 | Mon, Apr 5 | vs MIL | L | 6-8 | Sanders |
| 2003 | Mon, Mar 31 | vs MIL | W | 11-9 | Marrero |
| 2002 | Mon, Apr 1 | vs COL | W | 10-2 | Drew |
| 2001 | Mon, Apr 2 | at COL | L | 0-8 | Drew |
| 2000 | Mon, Apr 3 | vs CHC | W | 7-1 | Davis |
| 1999 | Mon, Apr 5 | vs MIL | L | 8-10 | Davis |
| 1998 | Tue, Mar 31 | vs LAD | W | 6-0 | Jordan |
| 1997 | Tue, Apr 1 | at MON | L | 1-2 | McGee |
| 1996 | Mon, Apr 1 | at NYM | L | 6-7 | McGee |
| 1995 | Wed, Apr 2 | 6 vs PHL | W | 7-6 | Jordan |
| 1994 | Sun, Apr 3 | at CIN | W | 6-4 | Whiten |
| 1993 | Tue, Apr 6 | vs SFG | L | 1-2) | Whiten |
| 1992 | Mon, Apr 6 | vs NYM | L | 2-4 | Thompson |
| 1991 | Tue, Apr 9 | at CHC | W | 4-1 | Jose |
| 1990 | Mon, Apr 9 | vs MON | W | 6-5 | Brunansky |
| 1989 | Mon, Apr 3 | at NYM | L | 4-8 | Brunansky |
| 1988 | Mon, Apr 4 | at CIN | L | 4-5 | Lindeman |
| 1987 | Tue, Apr 7 | at CHC | W | 9-3 | Lindeman |
| 1986 | Tue, Apr 8 | vs CHC | W | 2-1 | Van Slyke |
| 1985 | Tue, Apr 9 | at NYM | L | 5-6 | Braun |
Since George Hendrick started five straight opening days (1980-84), no one has started more than two opening days with 19 total different players in the 25 years starting opening day in right field.
Even if you go back 50 years, the next most opening day starts in right field is just three, by Reggie Smith (1974-76) and Joe Cunningham (1959-61).
Many fans seem to think they are smarter than TLR, who has only been managing ifor three decades. And smarter than Mo. As a result, some fans think Rasmus should already be in the Hall of Fame; others are angry about Ludwick not playing enough; and about Duncan and Schumacker playing too much. Maybe to placate the fan base, the Cards could seek special permission to play wtih 9 position players, including 4 OFs. Nothing less will satisfy our loyal fans.
don’t understand using AB’s when PA’s paints a clearer picture.
Tony uses nearly all his position players in every game. He does a good job of keeping them sharp.
The writers must have been hard up for a story to criticize LaRussa for his lineups after only 5 games.
Ludwick will probably get as many or more plate appearances than he had last year.
And you can trot out all the alphabet stats you want. I normally want Schumaker in the game.
PA at bip’s suggestion:
Ankiel 23
Duncan 26
Ludwick 20
Rasmus 23
Schumaker 23
OPS:
Ankiel .598
Duncan .990
Ludwick 1.228
Rasmus .613
Schumaker .772
We are going on the road tonight. Will the three veteran OFs will be in tonight’s lineup? I guess yes.
Maybe not, Jumbo. Let’s pretend to look over TLR’s shoulder. Career results against AZ left-hander Doug Davis:
Ankiel and Rasmus: no record
Duncan: 0-for-3, 2K
Ludwick: 2-for-10, 2 BB, 3 K
Schumaker: 1-for-6, 1 K
I will guess Duncan, Ankiel, and Ludwick. Duncan is hitting lefties pretty well right now. Ankiel can hit them. Its a home run park.
Uncle Tony is not going to start Rasmus in a hostile park, against Davis. That does not set Colby up in a good situation to succeed.
Perhaps we should have a daily contest to guess the lineup for that day’s game. I’ll guess tonights’s lineup as:
Rasmus, lf
Greene, ss
Pujols, 1b
Ludwick, rf
Ankiel, cf
Molina, c
Freese, 3b
Wellemeyer.p
Schumaker, 2b
Molina sits tonight. It is likely Shumaker starts in the outfield Tuesday. Rasmus will likely sit tonight. What some may be missing is that the Mather move, while giving BD what he wanted, also gave Tony a green light to hit Chris with less pressure. If Mather were here, you would have to go with him against the lefties. Colby has incredible tools, but so far is as inflexible at the plate as Ankiel. His two hits on Saturday were created by trying a simple adjustment to cut down on his pop ups. They resulted in the unintentional flare singles to left that resulted. McRae was right to suggest taking the ball deeper, but that is hardly the only issue here. This grace period will soon run out, and we are going to see both Colby and Rick have some serious problems. By the end of the month. Scouts are good, pitchers are paying attention.
I agree that it would be a good night to give LaRue a start. Career against Davis:
Molina: 1-for-13 (.077), 3 BB, 1K
LaRue: 7-for-23 (.304), 3 BB, 2 K,
A consideration might be Colby’s ability to draw walks and bunt. Davis is a crafty guy.
WC, Suggesting Schumaker will start in the outfield on Tuesday is a really strange prediction.
That may not happen Dizzy. Just a hunch. He might sit Shu down. Can’t see him playing on that field with a ground ball pitcher.
Well, he started Thursday with Carpenter on the mound vs. the Pirates so I don’t see why he wouldn’t start against Scherzer tomorrow.
To be honest, the longer Tony keeps him viable, the better his chances are in the end. A Carp start at this point is the riskiest of all adventures at this point. Well see tomorrow.
All pitching entails the acceptance of risk. Not just Carpenter.
Count me in the camp that says unless he’s too tired or risking an injury, Ludwick is far too dominating a hitter to be benched in favor of the likes of Ankiel, Duncan, or Rasmus.
I’m with you, Nutlaw. AGAIN tonight TLR is benching Ludwick because of the left-right thing, but Ludwick has earned a spot in the lineup every day — and besides that, he hits righthanders just fine. He’s hitting .409 with power, but will now have missed 3 of their first 9 games. That’s not acceptable…
have to agree nutlaw, 150 or 155 GS for ludwick would be great if possible. a pace for 108 GS worries me that the other all-star might start getting benched
i hear ludwicks reverse splits thrown around a lot. his weak side ops split, is better than any of our 08 outfielders, best side ops split.
kudos brian, you had no problem posting the PA and OPS. i did wonder if you were skillfully producing the “desired” results for the article. you proved you weren’t. hat-tip
Scherzer is a different kind of animal than your normal right-handed starter as he bring serious heat.
His splits last year were:
vs. RHB .167/.252/.263
vs. LHB .319/.396/.418
Luddy might be a good fastball hitter but those numbers are worth considering. I’ll defer to TLR here.
Something must be wrong with Ludwick as he was called back and Brendan Ryan hit instead with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Ryan fanned on three pitches and Ankiel also failed following him. I believe Ludwick and LaRue are the last bats remaining on the bench as the game goes into extra innings.
Update: La Russa said after the game it was a matchup decision only. He said he liked Ryan better in that situation.
I can understand TLR’s reasoning. Bases loaded, one out, pitcher on the ropes. Ludwick is a big swinger vulnerable to striking out. The situation calls for a hitter who will put the ball in play, but not be easy to double up. Ryan fits this bill. What does Brendan do? Whiff on three sliders, the thing he was sent up to the plate most to avoid. Then Ankiel did not pick him up, even though he had the favorable matchup. And so the Cards snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, for one night anyway.
Maybe the Carpenter injury will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Lets say Carp misses two months. Two months of wear and tear on his arm is saved. It shortens his season and means he will be fresher during the back half.
Also an injury provides a chance to test a rookie like Walters. Next season there may be two rotation openings (Wellemeyer and Pineiro). Its good for starting pitcher candidates like Walters, Boggs, Mortensen to gain ML experience in 2009, to ready them for 2010.
No, I don’t think that losing a former Cy Young winner for six weeks will be in any way a blessing. Not at all.