Following is a look at the Cardinals’ past numbers against Sunday Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly and the Cubs’ hitters success facing Cards starter Todd Wellemeyer (pictured). Of course, some of the “start” players may sit and “sit” players may be in the lineups, but this does indicate what occurred previously.
Cards vs. Lilly
Since coming over to the National League, Lilly has been tough on the Cardinals as a team and Ryan Ludwick specifically with nine strikeouts in 20 at-bats. As no surprise, Albert Pujols seems to hit against anyone, any time, including the veteran left-hander Lilly.
| Lilly | G/Starts | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | OBA |
| Career vs. StL | 11/11 | 75 1/3 | 6-2 | 2.99 | 1.06 | 0.223 |
| 2008 vs. StL | 5/5 | 35 1/3 | 3-0 | 3.06 | 1.05 | 0.238 |
| Start ‘em | ||||||
| Chris Duncan | 2-for-6 (.333) | |||||
| Rick Ankiel | 3-for 12 (.250) | 1HR, 5K | ||||
| Albert Pujols | 9-for-28 (.371) | 2HR, 5BB, 3K | ||||
| Sit ‘em | ||||||
| Khalil Greene | 1-for-10 (.100) | 1K | ||||
| Ryan Ludwick | 3-for-20 (.150) | 4BB, 9K | ||||
| Yadier Molina | 4-for-23 (.174) | 1HR, 2BB, 5K | ||||
| Skip Schumaker | 1-for-12 (.083) | |||||
| Brendan Ryan | 4-for-17 (.235) | 1BB, 4K |
Cubs vs. Wellemeyer
Since Wellemeyer accrued the majority of his MLB appearances to date as a reliever wearing the Cubs uniform, almost all of his results facing them occurred last season – a very small sample.
Ryan Theriot has reached base in seven of his 12 plate appearances vs. Wellemeyer on three walks and four hits. On the other side of the coin, Friday’s hero Alfonso Soriano has whiffed in five of nine career at-bats against the Cardinals starter.
| Wellemeyer | G/Starts | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | OBA |
| Career vs. ChC | 5/4 | 22 2/3 | 2-2 | 3.18 | 1.37 | 0.256 |
| 2008 vs. ChC | 4/4 | 21 2/3 | 2-2 | 3.32 | 1.38 | 0.256 |
| Career at Wrigley | 35/1 | 61 | 6-3 | 5.31 | 1.48 | 0.247 |
| Start ‘em | ||||||
| Ryan Theriot | 4-for-9 (.444) | 3BB | ||||
| Reed Johnson | 5-for-12 (.417) | 3K | ||||
| Joey Gathright | 2-for-3 (.667) | |||||
| Mike Fontenot | 2-for-5 (.400) | 2BB | ||||
| Aramis Ramirez | 3-for-9 (.333) | |||||
| Sit ‘em | ||||||
| Kosuke Fukudome | 0-for-4 (.000) | 1BB | ||||
| Derrek Lee | 2-for-12 (.167) | 2K | ||||
| Alfonso Soriano | 2-for-9 (.222) | 5K | ||||
| Geovany Soto | 1-for-8 (.125) | 2BB, 1K |
Programming note
I have agreed to co-host a live blog during Sunday evening’s game with the folks at Baseball Daily Digest. If you want to participate or just look in, here is the link.
rick ankiel 7-for-39 (.179), .273 OBP, .231 SLG…2-for-15 (.133) vs. lefties.
colby rasmus 8-for-34 (.235), .266 OBP, .265 SLG…1-for-8 (.125) vs. lefties.
both are similar but i say let’s start rasmus to get him some at-bats and sit ankiel vs. lilly.
Rick is an incredible gifted athlete. He has emotional issues. His swing is an extension of his personality, an emotional projection of his value system as it applies to a fragile self esteem if you will………………………
The question here shouldn’t be whether he should be given opportunities to get it together. It should be about how far is he really from entering into that dysfunctional emotional loop even in the best of times. He is now where he ended his 2008 season, without injury excuses. He seems unable to make adjustments at the plate, seemingly because someone feels that could really screw him up!!!! Why is this team continually in these dialogs about trying to get a product from troubled and unbalanced players. Throw Duncan into that hat. He has a great swing, balanced against his obvious short comings, why are we laboring to make these guys regulars. No other options or other players around? Colby’s swing looks to much like Ricks. ML pitchers eat those guys up. He has tried to take the ball later, resulting in the OPO flares and miss hits, but it really his batting eye and walks that make him the best choice.
A question………….. is Albert struggling with all of this contract and career posturing by his agent and Cardinal management? Trouble at home? What?
Ah Oh!! Just ran into this.
First baseman Albert Pujols played Saturday after being struck on his left elbow by a breaking pitch from Cubs closer Carlos Marmol in Friday’s ninth inning. Pujols took a full round of batting practice Saturday, landing several shots on and over Waveland Avenue.
“I’m fine,” Pujols said. “Why would you ask?” Pujols endured a tough game, however, going 0 for four with a walk.
This statement answers the question for me.
Wednesday: Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 2-0, 5.40) vs. Mets (John Maine, 0-1, 7.20), 7:15 p.m. CT
• Thursday: Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 2-0, 2.57) vs. Mets (Livan Hernandez, 1-0, 4.63), 12:40 p.m. CT
• Friday: Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 2-0, 3.31) vs. Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 1-0, 5.00), 7:15 p.m. CT
Whats your take on this tweak Brian? Is it just numbers?
The rainout means they can skip the #5 starter one turn until Saturday, which makes sense. I don’t know why Wainwright was slipped, but I would imagine that La Russa wants to get the Cubs series started off as strongly as possible. Also WW hasn’t been as sharp as usual so two more days of rest could benefit him.
(The original rotation was Pineiro Tuesday, WW Wednesday and #5 spot Thursday.)
It was the 4 spot that was filled, out of order, and would have become the 5 spot in normal rotation on Thursday. Are they conceding something to the cubs, and going for numbers against the mets? Lohse hasn’t pitched that well against the mets if my memory serves me. I believe that will give you LaRue in the afternoon slot this time. Possible their hoping for a long outing again to rest the pen before the weekend. I believe Lohse might be back to 6 inning Jones, if he’s lucky.
My mis read. Your right about Waino being on Wednesday.