The Cardinals need another dependable starter. They may have one in their bullpen.
Reality set in for Jaime Garcia on Friday night – taking 82 pitches to get just ten outs – the reality is that he isn’t going to be able to maintain an ERA at two all season long. Most likely, there are some further bumps ahead and if so, the Cardinals’ first-half big three of Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Garcia, may drop to just two.
Kyle McClellan then came in to get Garcia out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fourth inning and went on to toss another scoreless frame. He fanned one and yielded just one hit while picking up his first win of the season as the resurgent offense expanded their lead over visiting Los Angeles in the eventual 8-4 victory.
The Cardinals need at least one more dependable starter.
Why not Kyle?
McClellan was tried in the role this spring, but Garcia just plain beat him out. He didn’t lose the job, they all said. It is only a matter of time until he is a starter, they assert. Interestingly, Kyle had a lower spring ERA and lower opposing batting average than Jaime.
Maybe now is the time to revisit the situation.
Yes, I know GM John Mozeliak said if he had one bullet, he would use it on a starting pitcher. What if he can’t find anyone better than Jeff Suppan in the trade market at an affordable cost?
Yes, I know Kyle Lohse is supposed to throw a bullpen on Saturday and Brad Penny is in indefinite limbo. If miracles occurred and there were too many effective starters, McClellan could always slide back into the pen.
Yes, I know McClellan isn’t stretched out. Neither was Blake Hawksworth when he was moved from relief.
Yes, I know McClellan is said to be too valuable in the bullpen. I also know that compared to the rotation, the pen is in pretty good shape, with an ERA of 3.50, fourth-best in the National League. On the other hand, the Cardinals are just 13-20 in games not started by the first-half big three this season. Where is the help more needed?
While McClellan has a stellar 2.05 ERA, Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte have moved into more important roles and done well, easing the potential loss of McClellan in relief.
Further, one of the best closers in Triple-A, Fernando Salas, 17-for-17 in save situations, is waiting in Memphis for his fourth chance after impressing in each of his first three MLB trials this season.
Would you rather see Salas relieving McClellan or McClellan relieving Suppan?
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The problem with McClellan as a starter is he was unable to hold up physically in the role in the Midwest League. Whereas Hawksworth started for 2.5 years at AAA, McClellan has not started at AAA, or at AA. So while it might seem easy to move up a reliever, as done with Hawk and with Wainwright, they were AAA trained.
McClellan could be tried out. But we could also give Walters another try. Or give Cotton Dickson a shot. And Mo can find an experienced starting pitcher, if he sets his mind to it.
If Garcia or another pitcher suffers an injury, always a possibility, then maybe McClellan will get his shot at it.
McClellan pitched in the Midwest League in 2005, before he had surgery. That is a lifetime ago. Duncan has been quoted more than once in saying McClellan will eventually be a starter. He isn’t the kind of person to say things that he doesn’t believe just to be nice.
Edit: I will say that in each of the last two seasons, I suggested putting McClellan in Memphis’ rotation to start the year and be ready for the inevitable first need in St. Louis. That obviously didn’t happen.
Another possibility is Boggs. He started at AA and AAA. McClellan has better breaking pitches, why Daddy Dunc likes him. Its an annual rite of spring, Dunc eying McClellan as a starter. It could happen someday.
“The Cardinals need at least one more dependable starter. Why not Kyle?”
Indeed!
Assuming that the GM cannot find a marquee starter by July 31st, let us imagine that Jaime comes back strong (approximating the 7 innings of excellence that he pitched against Milwaukee). Why couldn’t Kyle then be considered for the 5th Starter job? Jeff Suppan has served his purpose and there cannot be a doubt in anyone’s mind that Kyle’s ability exceeds his.
“Would you rather see Salas relieving McClellan and McClellan relieving Suppan?”
Very well put!
Would you rather see Salas relieving McClellan OR McClellan relieving Suppan?
Correct, thanks Jumbo.
Yeah, they ought to give him a shot for sure. He’s been lights out in the bullpen and has at least four pitches to work with. He has no problem getting lefties out. Stretch him out and get your better pitchers on the mound for more innings.
Tony has talked about McClellans valuable role in the pen. That might block him somewhat.
Might as well send MacLane back down. I get the feeling Tony saw enough.
As iffy as Suppan is, we have been treated to Anthony Reyes and Kip Wells in recent years. They make Jeff look good.
The Cards could bring up Salas in lieu of MacLane. TLR should get MacLane into a game to get one guy out, so his ERA can be defined. Right now it is infinite. If he could get one guy out, it would have to decline.
Josh Kinney seems to have overcome his struggles and lifted his game. Josh is a vet who could help the ML pen.
bb, TLR and DD also said for months that Garcia would be better served to start 2010 in Memphis. Things change.
It’s no secret that, until his last several appearances, I haven’t been a fan of Kyle McClellan. My respect for him was pretty much solidified when I saw that he was definitely not a party to the Bullpen collapse in Colorado. Last night, when he was sent in to rescue Jaime and put out the fire, his hosing-down of the Rockies was crowned by striking out one of the National League’s best hitters; Ethier (who was .327 until Kyle had cut him down). Unlike a few other relievers, in which the ERA betrays the allowance of runs which are charged to the preceding pitcher’s record, Kyle’s ERA since the debacle on that miserable night in Phoenix reflects bona fide stinginess: His last four appearances represent a grand total of 6 innings, in which he has given up only 4 hits and 0 runs. It’s like Nutlaw has indicated, however; Kyle has done so many short stints that he needs a few games of stretching-out.
This afternoon’s game…
During the past couple of games, we’ve scored a grand total of 15 runs playing small-ball. What do you think may happen today, if our big boppers should suddenly erupt? It goes without saying that, if our Ace is “on”, the Dodgers are doomed for getting shut-down again. So, the question centers upon how badly that our offense will dismantle Hiroki Kuroda. Although he pitched a 7 inning 4-hitter against us in early June, his last 3 games have been nightmares (a total of 14 runs in 14 innings). He’s looking rather vulnerable, with righties hitting .270 against him, lefties are doing better; .284.
I like our chances with Waino on the mound, but Sunday’s game worries me. Suppan has been ok, but he is going up against Padilla and his funky curve ball.
crdswmn: Entertaining the tantalizing idea of eventually replacing Suppan with Kyle McClellan, I’ve been trying to avoid any thought of tomorrow, thinking to myself; “We’ll jump off that bridge when we cross it”. Hopefully, our offense will continue to awaken and our boppers will be bashing; allowing for us to compensate for the 4 or 5 runs that Suppan will likely give-up.
While I like the Idea of Mac as a starter I can’t see it happening this season unless we have another injury. The more likely scenario is that Mo will make a deal for another starter.
I’m thinking along the same lines..
Or wait for one to be DFA’ed. Or he could always try to lure Smoltz back.
What? A line-up with not much to complain about?
3b Lopez
cf Rasmus
1b Pujols
lf Holliday
rf Jay
c Molina
2b Schumaker
p Wainwright
ss Greene
No complaints? Nah, not on this blog
A 10 pitch first inning! Adam is just plain wicked today!
…and Flips leads-off in style!
Well… at least Colby drove-up the count to full…
I don’t thik we are going to drive out Karodu early today.
All 3 of our boppers went down a-swangin’! After Flip’s double, Kuroda struck-out the side!
What a difference an inning makes: The first two batters that Adam faces get on base with singles!
Adam got out of that one.
(My computer has been giving me technical difficulties…)
While I’ve been rebooting and cursing, it seems as though Jon Jay got caught stealing and we otherwise went down in order…
Now, it seems as if Adam is back… with a vengeance! A strikeout and a groundout already?
Tyler took one for the team, Flip walked… Both moved up on a Kaarodu wild pitch.
Then, with two in scoring position, Colby strikes out! Damn it!
And Albert doesn’t fare much better, flying-out to center…!
So far, we fight and claw our way on base and our Boppers keep letting us down…
Evidently, Adam’s curve just isn’t diving today… DeWitt damned near homered!
4 innings and 60+ pitches… Adam is not having his best day…
All RIGHT! Matt collects the second hit of the day!
All RIGHT! Yadier collects the third of the day!
Now, with guys on the corners, what will Skip do?
Why, he will simply double and give us a run!
Our guys need to stop swinging at so many of Kuroda’s pitches.
After having such a fine day at the plate yesterday, it’s a shame that Tyler chose this moment to go down swingin’ and strand two in scoring position…
Oh, well… At least Adam has a run to work with…
You’re right, crdswmn; The fact that Kuroda’s pitch count is 70+ after 4 innings, means that our guys have been swingin’ at anything and everything, fouling ‘em off right and left…
All RIGHT! A ten pitch inning for Adam! Now we go to the top o’ the order for the 3rd time today: It’s time for our bombers to let loose!
As crazy as Kuroda’s been pitching he could have a dozen walks by now if our guys hadn’t been swinging at everything.
That was Colby’s 3rd strikeout of the game…
That was Albert’s 2nd groundout (the other out was when he went down swingin’…
C’est la vie…
That was Adam’s first walk of the game… Now, we have runners on the corners and only 1 out…
Adam is better at getting out of jams than any pitcher I’ve seen.
What a masterful (and TIMELY!) doubleplay! Wow!
Whew!
You’re right (again), crdswmn; We can safely credit Adam for inducing the much needed grounder for that doubleplay…
Jon will get one more opportunity to extend his hit streak…
Only 3 of our guys have NOT struckout…
We need to get to the bullpen.
With Kuroda’s pitch count at 101, we’ll be getting to their worn-out Bullpen pretty soon…
C’mon Kyle: Let’s see some more o’ that good stuff!
After the strikeout and groundout, the Dodger bench is complaining; “HIM again?”
The Dodgers don’t like Kyle very much..
I suppose with Winn being inserted at rightfield, Jon will NOT get that final opportunity. So it is, that his hit streak was stopped at 12…
What? Brendan replacing the guy responsible for our only run of the game?
It’s good that Winn got the 4 BB off of Kuo: That pitcher is absolutely DEADLY
With 3 foul balls and the pop-out, I’m surprised that Tyler was able to make so much contact against Kuo.
I’m equally shocked that Flip managed another round of 4 BB of that guy!
Well, at least Colby didn’t strikeout this time. Yet, 2 men were once again stranded…
Hey, look at Kyle’s ERA after that groundout (1.99)!
Three up and three down! The result? A 1.96 ERA for Kyle!
I say, leave him in to save the game for Adam and to stretch him out some more!
All right, Matt! With Albert on base, now is a crucial time for something substantial!
A single is good enough! Thank you, Matt!
This would have been a great moment for Jon, but we’ll happily settle for something out of Miles…
Good! A sacrifice is good (especially when it results in 2 RISP)!
Has Yadi ever been Intentionally walked before? And why is Brendan batting? Is TLR crazy?
By showing such respect to Yadier, the Dodgers must be hoping that Brendan will ground into a DP…
Brendan has pulled miraculous clutch stuff before… Let us hope that this shall be another one of those golden moments..
Well, Brendan got an RBI. Still, I would have pinched hit Craig.
All RIGHT! A righteous productive out!
You’re right about the preference for Craig in that situation, crdswmn: This has turned into a classic nail-biter!
I would have been quite comfortable with stretching Kyle another inning: I’m not at all comfortable with Trevor under these circumstances. Why not Mitchell?
I must admit: Trevor is mighty good against lefthanded batters~
I hope Loney is allright.
14 wins for Adam!
What a lucky shot! A crowning fly-out, right into the mitt of our rightfielder! This was definitely Adam’s game (despite the fact that he was not 100%) and it was also Kyle’s confirmation! More than to either Trevor or Franky, I am sure that Adam is extending his warmest thanks to Kyle’s “H13″!
If Adam were 100% all the time he would have 20 wins by now. He pitched well.
If this were a 3 game series, we’d be celebrating a sweep. As it is, we are celebrating our 4th consecutive win. Even with a conspicuous lack of long-ball clout, our small-ballers are complementing the excellent pitching.
TLR offered his own explanation for why McClellan is not starting. He used Kyle in back to back games, 5 outs last night, 6 outs this afternoon. TLR needs KM not only to relieve Suppan, but Wainwright as well.
I have no problem with Suppan tomorrow and after that. His last three starts, all losses, ended up 4-2, 4-2, 4-1. The starting pitching was not the problem in any of those games. If we score 1 or 2 runs it doesn’t matter who the starter is, we will usually lose.
Our offense seems to be perking up, except for the lack of pop from Matt and Albert. Suppan should give us a chance to win as he has been doing.
It was quite hot at the park today, thank goodness for cold frosty beverages. Tomorrow I’ll be tending the BBQ in the back yard between innings, then Monday night will be enjoying the game from the air-conditioned comfort of the Red Bird club high above the first base line.