Rookie David Freese’s season-ending injury and fill-in Felipe Lopez’ leadoff role means RBIs from the St. Louis Cardinals third base position have been increasingly rare.
Ideally, third base would be a power position, where a big bat can drive in runs with regularity. The reality is that the during the Tony La Russa years, since 1996, the St. Louis Cardinals had multiple good years from Scott Rolen and one year each by Fernando Tatis and Troy Glaus. That has been about it.
The position hit bottom in 2009. Many Cardinals fans recall the continuing problems at third base all season long. Eight different players had a share of the job from spring training through October, but none of them produced for more than a few weeks at a time and others, not at all. Some of it was injury, some ineffectiveness, while others were overexposed. Whatever the reason, their aggregate line was .229/.292/.369/.661, worst in MLB.
Another indicator of the lack of production was their meager total of 65 RBI. That is the lowest sum by a group of St. Louis third basemen since La Russa joined the organization prior to the 1996 season.
This spring, the Cardinals came to camp with rookie David Freese anointed as the starter at the position. The 27-year-old got off to a quick start before leveling off a bit. Still, he drove in 36 runs over his first 70 games. Projected to 140 contests, Freese would have plated a respectable 72 runs over the full season. Over an unrealistic 162 games, Freese’s rate would have led to a total of 83 RBI.
Problem is that Freese suffered a bone bruise on his right ankle early in June and by the 28th was placed on the disabled list. A dropped weight, a rehab stint that lasted less than one game due to a season-ending injury followed by another surgery is how it ended for him.
The Cardinals had little choice but insert veteran Felipe Lopez at the hot corner, where he has a .287 average and a .364 OBP. His offensive profile is better suited for second base with a game consisting of less power and more on-base. As such it is easy to see why La Russa addressed his club’s inadequacies at the leadoff spot by stationing Lopez there. Bottom line, we should not be completely surprised that Felipe has just 15 RBI in 188 plate appearances as the Cardinals third baseman this season.
Extending Lopez’ RBI rate over the remainder of the season if he played at third every day would get him to 34 RBI. Adding that to Freese’s 36 and Tyler Greene’s two would project to a total of 72 RBI from the club’s third base position through 162 games.
The good news is that 72 RBI would still be a slight improvement from last season’s black hole. The bad news is that it would tie for the third-lowest production from the position in the La Russa era, with only last season and 1998 worse and equaling 2005, a year in which an injured Rolen drove in just 28 and journeyman Abraham Nunez tried valiantly to hold down the fort, but knocked in just 31 himself.
If this doesn’t illustrate why the Cardinals need to get more out of the third base position, I don’t know what does.
St. Louis Cardinals third basemen, RBI, season, 1996-present
| 3B RBI | Team | Leader | # | ||||||||||
| 2010 proj | 72 | Freese | 36 | Lopez | 34 | T. Greene | 2 | ||||||
| 2010 YTD | 53 | Freese | 36 | Lopez | 15 | T. Greene | 2 | ||||||
| 2009 | 65 | DeRosa | 27 | Thurston | 18 | K.Greene | 8 | Barden | 6 | Freese | 4 | Glaus | 2 |
| 2008 | 101 | Glaus | 96 | Lopez | 3 | Miles | 2 | ||||||
| 2007 | 77 | Rolen | 58 | Spiezio | 12 | Ryan | 3 | Miles | 2 | Cairo | 1 | Branyan | 1 |
| 2006 | 122 | Rolen | 95 | Spiezio | 27 | ||||||||
| 2005 | 72 | Nunez | 31 | Rolen | 28 | Seabol | 5 | Luna | 4 | Mabry | 4 | ||
| 2004 | 138 | Rolen | 124 | Mabry | 10 | Luna | 2 | McKay | 2 | ||||
| 2003 | 109 | Rolen | 104 | Perez | 4 | Delgado | 1 | ||||||
| 2002 | 89 | Rolen | 43 | Pujols | 24 | Polanco | 20 | Cairo | 2 | ||||
| 2001 | 83 | Pujols | 44 | Polanco | 27 | Paquette | 12 | ||||||
| 2000 | 99 | Tatis | 62 | Paquette | 31 | Polanco | 6 | ||||||
| 1999 | 122 | Tatis | 107 | Paquette | 13 | Polanco | 1 | D.Howard | 1 | ||||
| 1998 | 68 | Gaetti | 36 | Tatis | 24 | Mabry | 6 | Jordan | 2 | ||||
| 1997 | 79 | Gaetti | 66 | Sheaffer | 7 | Bell | 4 | Gallego | 1 | Gulan | 1 | ||
| 1996 | 75 | Gaetti | 72 | Bell | 2 | Sheaffer | 1 |
Special thanks to Tom Orf for the data table above.
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Third base with its big bat status………..is an expensive position to fill. BD likes to obscure that fact.
The Marlins traded Cantu and got a blue ship backup to spell Helms just by watching for an opportunity. ………………………… as long as that position is vacant………..BD has control of Tony’s on field options………..don’t think that that isn’t the big focus of current tensions.
They won’t try Craig because they have plans for him as a first base alternative this winter. They don’t want him wearing that………………………..this is such a crucial issue, that not to deal with it, even at some expense shows ulterior motives.
Lat money is shifting toward the Marlins……….never a good sign. That is the Cardinal bullpen speaking. Still a surprising amount of money coalescing from cardinal fans. MIles is actually a break. We need 3 runs in the first 4 innings……………or loose.
So now Tony is colluding with BD to keep Craig in standby to replace Albert? Man the plot thickens daily. kkkkk Craig is not even our best 1B hitting prospect that is major league ready.
The Cards are not in a desperate way at 3B, because of forward thinking.
They recruited Rueben Gotay last winter. Rube socked his 11th dinger last night, is a glutton for walks, and has an on base percentage over .4. If Tony’s beloved Aaron Miles had not come available, we would have been enjoying Rube’s play already. We have been training Gotay in the art of defending 3B at Memphis just for this possibility. Smart.
In addition, Tyler Greene’s injury was not bad, or so I thought. He should be back in 10 days. Hard to imagine Greene or Gotay could be worse hitters than LaRoche.
These two players give Mo the upper hand in terms of negotiating a waiver deal. We are not in desperate, have to make a deal, please rip us off in a trade condition.
Yeah, Jumbo, one of those please rip us off deals a season should be enough.
This morning we have a better picture of Freese’s prognosis and more info about Skip’s hand/wrist. Freese seems unlikely to be ready for ST next year. Given his history with foot/ankle problems, and one-thing-after-anotheritis, maybe nothing should be counted on at all right now. And through all this adversity, we hope his off-field issue does not raise its ugly head. He seems to have done an admirable job with that.
The Skip wrist issue adds a twist. One good argument against moving Flip off 3rd is that he gets full time duty there, and we need him to lead off. If he were to play a lot at second, then the leadoff issue goes away.
Jumbo is starting to convince me that maybe Gotay should get a look. If Skip goes out we will need somebody, and a top of the order get-on-base guy is a need. Surely we could live without skip for a couple weeks so we could get a look at Gotay at third with Flip at second.
Changing issues, if Lohse goes active and is ineffective, we’re screwed. Can’t carry 14 pitchers.
As to Wainy, last year’s felonious CY voting disgrace proves that number of wins is not enough. Tony was right to leave Wainy in there on a night he was really on. Wainy looked as good in the ninth as most guys ever do. Jimenez shimenez, flash in the pan wannabe doesn’t close them out like that.
Those were some big league breaking balls that got Colby. Pitcher recognized that the ump had a wide outside corner and would give him the back door late breaker. Colby should have recognized it as well and been ready. Coaches/teammates should have made sure he was ready for it and maybe they did, I don’t know. At any rate, that’s how a big league pitcher uses everything available to him, and Colby will live and learn.
A desperate trade was trading two promisnig young relievers Chris Perez and Jess Todd for DeRosa. Then Mo was unlucky because DeRosa immediately got hurt. We were lucky to get a compensatory pick for him signing with SF (Seth Blair). Mo had to pay a lot for DeRosa because Glaus and Freese were unexpectedly hurt last year.
This year we stocked up with Freese, Lopez, and at AAA Howard and Gotay. Howard is a switch-hitting long time AAA 3Bman, but Gotay beat him out and Gotay has several years of ML experience.
We do not have to surrender a strong prospect in a waiver deal for a mediocre 3Bman like LaRoche, because we have Gotay and Greene in reserve.
In retrospect, picking up Aaron Miles is turning out to have been a good move. He pitched an inning. He can play 2B and dink more singles than Skip. A lot of fans don’t like Miles, but he fits in with the Cards.
Suppan with the Brewers had an ERA of 7.8. With the Cards, Sup has shaved his ERA to 4.15, nearly 4 runs lower.
Though he does not get regular play, Miles has a BA of .308. And Miles has made another pitching appearance, his 4th for TLR.
Even Brendan Ryan has been a hot streak of late. We need Ryan to keep that going.
Last night we roughed up a 12 game winner but tonight we face a CY contender in Josh Johnson. On the road no less. It will tell us a lot about whether the Cards are contenders or pretenders. Johnson doesn’t give up homers, especially in that big park, so we will need to rack up the hits again. Not easy against a guy who gives way less than a hit an inning. Small ball rallys are extra tough against a guy that strikes out a lot of guys and doesn’t walk many.
We could give Wainy’s CY chase a boost by hanging some early crooked numbers on Johnson. Westbrook only contributes once in five days so lets hope he shuts them down.
Rasmus struck out twice, Westie whines away. Lopez struck out twice, but is not getting Internet tips. Holliday struck out twice too, but is still collecting monster paychecks.
Brad Thompson got cut by Astros AAA team. He’s got nothing left. Best wishes to him in his future endeavors.
I expect Brad got 4 years in the Majors, thanks to the Cards, so can qualify for ML retirement checks.
Its good to see the Cards are not going to plunge Lohse into rotation now. They did something smart and had Jorgensen and Benes scouting him at AA. This gives TLR grounds to tell Kyle he needs a bit more work.
The rotation is getting better: Wainwright, Carp, Westbrook, Garcia, and Suppan. Sup has an ERA of 4.1, not bad for 5th starter. When Lohse gets sharper, then Suppan can become the long man and spot starter. He can fill Brad Thompson’s old role.
Then we have two more cards up our sleeves. Penny could work his way back by September, possibly. Nate Robertson is in rotation for Memphis. He is the new Rich Hill (veteran starting pitcher stashed at AAA). Mo has been smart to vacuum up some extra arms this summer in MacDougal and Robertson, to provide depth.
“His players know the manager is almost always making the right tactical decisions, but the loyalty factor isn’t a high as Baker’s.”
Fox Sports article contrasting Baker and LaRussa as well as the managers in the tight AL Central race.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/managers-at-heart-of-al-nl-central-battles-080410?gt1=39002
Interesting, but I wonder how anyone, especially a New York writer, can accurately assess St. Louis and Cincy player loyalty.
They probably read TCNB comments to find out the secret thoughts and agendas of the Cards.
The more interesting comparison between the Reds and Cards is front office strategies.
The Cards got rid of Rolen because he disliked TLR, now Rolen is helping the Reds. The Reds got rid of Dunn and Griffey, looking to rebuild with Votto, defense, catching, and pitching.
Both teams know how to scavenge from the scrap-heap. The Cards have rediscovered Suppan and Miles, while Walt is bringing back Springer and Izzy. Walt will do some kind of waiver deal and obtain more help. The Reds are going to stay in the race.
Don’t you know the New York media are the center of the universe? They know everything.
We have to get past Rolen and the Reds, then probably Ludwick and the Padres. That’s another thing Scott and Ryan have in common.
Fos Sports isn’t as bad as ESPN.
I meant to comment further on Brendans double off the wall for 57′s benefit. It went over the left fielders head twice! On the way to the wall and again rebounding off the wall. He had to turn around and chase it down back towards the infield.
The Padres also enjoy the labors of ex-Cards 2Bman David Eckstein and prospect made good reliever Luke Gregerson.
A stimulating discussion friends…….. excuse me a minute……….WWAAaaaa…..WWAAaaaaa.
That feels better. Now where was I…………. Gotay? lets take a look………..anyone is the point. Lopez is needed elsewhere……….for his own good and the middle infield crew. Didn’t the Red finally light up the Cuban?…………………………..How many of the Reds are from Cinnci? NY isn’t that far away….
The Reds are taking huge financial gambles………….WJ will break them if they don’t get public support. But it must be said………he is playing to win…………..if the Cardinals win, Its likely going to cost BD 60/80 extra to make a run a AP. Don’t think that he isn’t aware of that. It won’t be long now if things turn bad before you here, ” we were just trying to create salary space to accommodate AP……………. that’s why we had to let Luddy go”.
Can’t chase Johnson’s breaking pitch. It will be a tough game………..but they are snake bit right now…………Tony will be active with the runners again tonight…..if we have any.
Letting Waino go the distance last night accomplished more than padding his Cy Young resume. It gave the bullpen a rest, and in a sense gave TLR a rest too. He really didn’t have to do anything except sit back and watch.
La Russa and the Cardinals have a mutual contract option for the 2011 season, which means he’s a virtual lock to return next year.??????????????????????
he made that up didn’t he?
Rasmus’ rookie OPS was 714. This year, its 860, 20 percent higher. This is positive.
Because Rasmus drives the ball, the tradeoff is a higher rate of strikeouts. Since we do not have another big bat from the left side, we need Rasmust to keep doing exactly what he is doing.
There’s no need for us to go into tonight’s game as though Josh Johnson were 10 feet tall: In view of his record, which includes 4 losses, we know that he can be had. Furthermore, at least four of our hitters (two of which are marquee boppers) have the veteran savvy and the extensive seasoning necessary to peruse scouting reports and assemble a viable game plan. Bear in mind that Johnson has pitched only a single complete game this season (and ’twas not a shutout). Since San Francisco and San Diego (both contenders) have solved him, there is absolutely no reason that we can’t. If our pitching can hold the sub .500 club down to 2 runs or less, we can at least score 2 runs of more. Hell, there ain’t no reason that our game plan would not include a concerted effort to drive-up the counts and get Johnson worn-out by the 7th inning. Then, we’d go into their Bullpen and create carnage! If we don’t, Cincinnati will widen the gap and we simply cannot allow that to happen…
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_94b2db21-8a79-524f-80c3-937ec8e4a7bc.html
This depiction of the Kyle Lohse situation is probably realistic…………….however, it must be said that there seems to be an element of on- field/ off-field posturing again. There likely would have been two bull-pen session to evaluate technical/mechanical issues. I would say that the need to make a public statement at this point is more about the mental well being of Suppan than KL’s actual state of the union……………if Soup gets lit tomorrow (likely), I would look for Lohse will make the start against Chicago……………………… I doubt there is any pressure by Mo/BD to bury bury him under those future millions though. Caution is good. Lets hope Suppan continues to improve.
Solid, 57………….
From the Comments section of the article, “Loshe not ready for majors yet, LaRussa says”:
“rickardlh” said on: August 7, 2010, 12:46 pm
Lohse is the re-incarnation of Donovan Osborne. If he had pitched nine innings in what was supposed to be his LAST re-hab start…he would have givin up 22 hits! Are you kidding me? They act like this was the first time he picked up a ball in the last 6 months. He was pitching for a month before he went to the minors. He’s Ricky Bottalico-only smaller. He’s not a stud, and right now he’s not even good enough for triple A!
“CardsFanDan” said on: August 7, 2010, 12:43 pm
Why so much fuss over Lohse’s return? His starts have been almost automatic losses for quite some time. His black hole contract is a reason why the Cards didn’t go after high-priced pitchers like Oswalt and Haren.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_94b2db21-8a79-524f-80c3-937ec8e4a7bc.html?mode=comments
In an article on the Marlins website the reporter stated that Johnson had been “fatigued” and was given an extra days rest. If the Marlins had stuck with their regular rotation, Johnson would have pitched last night against Waino. I am going to take a page from Westy’s book and suggest that “fatigue” was not the only reason Johnson did not pitch last night.
About the LaRoche story….
It came out of Pittsburg, because Pittsburg has no use for LaRoche, now they have Alvarez for 3B. Pittsburg likes making trades and want to move LaRoche. So they tell a beat reporter the Cards are interested to make a story to make sure the Cards do not overlook LaRoche as a trade candidate.
LaRoche is son of a ML pitcher and brother of a 1Bman. He hit well in the Cape Cod League out of a Texas juco, so the Dodgers dropped a $1MM bonus on him, though he was a low draft round. He got lots of publicity from the LA media in the minors. But he could not make the Dodgers and they unloaded him on the Pirates. LaRoche had a ho-hum rookie season last year. This year, a sophmore slump and replaced by Alvarez, he has been terrible. He was hyped as a bonus baby and the LA media, but is fringy.
The Cards could be a little bit interested, but not a lot interested. If they could get LaRoche,, maybe Oquendo and McGwire could squeeze something out of him. He needs a new start somewhere else. Since Freese has a bad injury, LaRoche could be a candidate at 3B for 2011 spring training.
The Pirates want to dump LaRoche, but will want another team to overpay for an uncertain, fringy at best talent. The Pirates will not want to do favors for a team inside their division. It would be hard to swing a LaRoche deal.
“Brendans double off the wall”
There are many reasons that I love Brendan Ryan, beginning with his old school manner of wearing the uniform. While there can be no doubt that he is a “hot dog” (especially when he shows-off his cool, side-arm delivery of the ball across the diamond), he is also an essential sparkplug in the clubhouse; always filled with vitality and infectious enthusiasm. I really, really hope that his average climbs back up to at least .280 by the first week of September. Then… all talk about getting rid of him will begin to evaporate.
There is a pitcher’s duel going on at Wrigley. Reds and Flubs are tied 1-1 b7.
Now at the seventh inning stretch, the Reds are beating the Flubs 3 to 1, while the hapless fans at Wrigley Field sing yet another round of “Take Me Out of the Ballgame”…
(‘Twas the middle of the 8th; begging your pardon…)
Reds won 4-3. Flubs had the bases loaded with 2 out and Marlon Byrd K’ed.
Do we need to here from Ozark Bob again 57???????????
In other MLB news, Toronto beat Tampa Bay 17-11 (rookie for Jays hit homer on first pitch in Majors); A-Roid was hit by a line drive in BP; and the Mets released Alex Cora.
Westy, it seems to me that Brian and blingboy are also chucklin’ fans of the old sage…
” “fatigue” was not the only reason Johnson did not pitch last night ”
Holy cow, I never thought of that. I’ll bet you’re right crdswmn. Their CY candidate would have gotten toasted. Marlins are using strategery to prop up their guy. If there is any justice, we will slap him silly tonight.
Perhaps you can find the right tact here Brian.
Match calls for Colby………Craig tomorrow…………… will it happen?
Lineuo: Lopez 3B, Jay RF, Pujols 1B, Holliday LF, Rasmus CF, Molina C, Miles 2B, Westbrook SP, Ryan SS
CY race update: Waino and Roy Halladay are the only NL pitchers in top 5 of ERA, W, SO and WHIP. Waino leads Halladay in all categories except SO; Halladay has 158, Waino has 154.
I might speculate that it appears that Tony/Dave realize Lohse is soft. Its smart to get him angry… its also convenient for the Suppan story.
Angry? Try “belligerently whiney”. After the AA debacle, how can Lohse possibly presume that he is sufficiently recovered and fit for Major League play? If he has such temerity after such performances, one must wonder if the boy-in-denial is in touch with reality…
12 hits in 5 innings is soft. 11 hits and a HBP I’d say bring him on.
“Lohse unhappy with decision” to have another rehab start.
“Syracuse may have lost another player Monday or Tuesday, although the Nationals are dropping a blanket of secrecy over that situation, too. Tuesday afternoon, according to several sources it was apparent that veteran outfielder/first baseman Chris Duncan’s locker had been cleaned out of all his gear.
Duncan, 29, had been on the disabled list with hip injury and had struggled most of the season. In 82 games Duncan was hitting .191 with seven homers and 27 RBI.
When asked to comment on Duncan’s status or even if he was still part of the team, Harris declined to provide any insight.”
(Story is dated July 27, 2010)
http://blog.syracuse.com/sports/2010/07/syracuse_chiefs_shortstop_pedr.html
Anybody heard anything about Chris’s status?
As I have said………….its a story to watch. Tony is trying to earn his pay. Westbrooke and Suppan will have a say……………………hey ………a poem. You haven’t been married 57……….do you whip a momma’s boy……….when you owe him 25 million………or do you promise him candy if he does what you say?
I will be curious to see how Johnson treats Pujols………………….. challege him and his resurgence….
or pitch around him a little and test Holiday. I doubt he goes after him….scouting report will be to tempt AP into getting himself out.
I see your point, Westy, but it does nothing to change my assessment of that particular trait of Lohse’s character…
I am hoping that Albert sticks with taking swipes only at those which are in the strike zone and that he absolutely resists the temptation to go chasing after those which are low and away…
No way walking Albert can cost him a shot at the CY. The Marlins didn’t shuffle the rotation and get Josh out of squaring off against Wainy just to let him get pounded.
It seems like Lohse was assuming he was desperatly needed and would be welcomed as a savior. Instead he’s told he has to pitch his way into the rotation. Whaaat . . .?
Flip and Jon drove it into the ground, lets see about Albert.
Even last year, when Lohse was clearly (barely) the number 4 starter, he spoke and behaved as though he were at the same level as Adam, Chris and Joel… Right now, he hasn’t got a clue that he wouldn’t even make a pimple on the butt of a number 5 starter!
Pfffft. Josh 1, Albert 0
Challenged him on one pitch………….the one he usually looks at……….and then nothing…….everyone was late…….Lopez 3/1 was conspicuously late.
Johnson went through our guys like a hot knife through butter… Let us hope that the inning did not represent a prelude…
Let us hope that the very first batter faced by Westbrook does not serve as a prelude!
May it be that the homer was a fluke and that it will represent the only ball that Westbrook will allow to leave the infield…
On the roster for the Syracuse Chiefs, Chris Duncan is listed on the 7 day DL.
In September, Chris will become a free agent.
Ramirez is their best hitter.
The Cardinals are paying Lohse more than everybody except Matt, Albert and Carp. He figures he’s entitled to act like it.
Josh wasn’t blowing it past anybody whiffing guys left and right. He throws hard is all.
Nice pitch to end it. He will do okay…………..but we need to keep him close. We sill need some fancy glove work because they will put it in play.
I like Johnson’s attitude………..he throws two of Colby’s favorites saying “hit this”……..he may regret that………I hope. Molina lays off the away pitch………..and he lets him turn on a ball inside. He is pitching to the scouting report.
The two fly ball outs are encouraging: It tells me that Johnson is vulnerable…
He’s been hitable, but nobody has centered it. . . . .yet.
Westbrook looks good. Live arm. Good location. He’d be good with a lead.
Aside from that lead-off home run, I cannot detect any chinks in Jake’s armor: He’s keeping the balls low and he’s looking sharp.
Nice inning by WB………he is hitting the spots…..good motion. He is pitching for a future contract somewhere.
If Jake eventually stays with us, I can see that he will be spending some time in the batting cage…
At least Brendan knows enough to run the count up…
So far… 4 of our outs have been outside the infield. All of the Marlins’ outs have been in the infield…
All those K’s are definitely NOT typical for Jake: What a great surprise!
4 K’s in a row. I thought Westbrooke wasn’t a strikeout pitcher?
I admire Jake’s manly ways. On a team with so many boys, that doesn’t hurt. He was embarrassed that he had to throw an extra pitch to Johnson.
Flip failed to work Johnson and swung at two bad pitches…
Leave it to Jon to get our first hit and to set the table for the Albert bopper…
All right, Mr Clean Up: Jon and Albert have set the table for you. It’s your turn to clean it off!
A double and an RBI is perfectly acceptable, Matt!
Attaboy, Colby! An RBI is an RBI!
Oh well. We are ahead.
Oh, well… The man who was thrown-out at home was the man who delivered the go ahead run…
Nice sac by Colby…………… Matt was moving…….great defensive play + throw.
Pardon me: ‘Twas our boy, Colby, who delivered that “go ahead run”!
A couple of hic-cups, right?
What happened to the control? What’s with all these balls leaving the infield? What in Hell is going on, so all of a sudden?
Now, Jake is back his power-pitching; as though the first four batters had never come to the plate…
Al and Dan were saying Jake may have been tipping his pitches and that is why Dunc came out to talk to him.
Until we got that Marlin out, it was a very, very strange inning..
Hard work there……………..he made some tough pitches……….he will need some luck to last through 7……………………. You know Johnson isn’t going to be relieved. We need to cut down some swings and put him in the stretch.
Like I said, if Jake will remain a National League pitcher, his future will include a great deal of time in the batting cage…
If we can’t put Johnson in the stretch, the least we can do is run of the counts on him… damn it!
That was a heck of a play by Brendan.
That was the kind of Jake Westbrook inning he’s gotten us accustomed to seeing…
Brendan Ryan has a solid presents tonight. I approve………..
This 3rd time through, we’re going to have to tear Johnson a new one…
At the plate, Brendan has consistently driven-up the count (and his last out was hit deep into left field)
That was a typical 3-pitch Lopez out…
That was an unusually impatient and careless at bat by Jon…
Its dangerous when you give your pitcher so little rest at this point in the game…….lets hope WB isn’t gassed…………….
A 3-pitch out by Albert! No, we ain’t interested in driving-up the count and we ain’t interested in putting Johnson to the stretch. All we be interested in doin’ is givin’ Johnson an easy, relaxing time….
Ratta-tat-tat! The top of our line-up went down just as quickly at the very first inning!
Nothing left the infield: Jake is one tough dude!
Jake has only 5 more pitches than Johnson. With the sole exception of that weird 4th inning, he’s done a magnificent job…
Josh knows he can let us hit 400 ft. fly balls all night.
“Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night”! All three of those strikes we directly over the plate! What in Hell happened to our Colby?
With Yadier’s opposite field gem, he’s the only Cardinal batter with 2 hits in this game…
Matt’s blast was definitely a “home run out”!
Aaron, unfortunately, wasted Yadier’s great effort///
It was said; “If our pitching can hold the sub .500 club down to 2 runs or less, we can at least score 2 runs or more”. The only thing missing was “a game plan that would include a concerted effort to drive-up the counts and get Johnson worn-out by the 7th inning”.
We knew only that Jake was a groundball contact pitcher: We did NOT know that he was a strikeout power pitcher!
3/2….pitcher on deck…………………yikes
Oooh, that hurt… bad!
I wonder what Westbrook’s career high is for Ks in a game? He is looking masterful against a predominantly right swinging lineup.
Also looking good tonight: John Mozeliak.
We can still win it for Jake and remain only a half-game back… Otherwise, we begin coughing in Cincinnati’s exhaust…
9
My bad. I jinxed Westbrook. Good grief, Donnie Murphy with a ML career .640 OPS. Ugh.
“Oh, for…!” Thanks a lump, Flip!
Dumb play by Ryan……….on damp ground. Up the dosage I’d guess.
Johnson is pumping 96 mph fastballs through 8 innings. He is a nasty piece of work.
No, Jake will not get a “W” tonight. The crucible o’ clutch is comin’ for Jon, Albert and Matt (and, possibly, Colby)…
I hasten to say that Kyle is a righteous specimen of grit. My hat is off to him!
The are snake bit though……………. we seem strangely calm…………maybe a 2 run inning… Jat has to get on….Nunez…………
Now, when the chips are down and it really, really counts….
Matt, it’s up to YOU!
My, MY! Colby, ya better not do what ya done the last time, boy!
Our 5 hitter in the clutch.
Okay, Yadier! Win it for us!
The snake ……….bites.
Let us bow in obeisance to the man who didn’t crumble under the pressure!
Just a measly single, Aaron! C’mon, guy!
I have to say this………..when I had the flash…………Frankie was also in trouble………..lets hope it was gas.
A small-balling b-teamer puts it away for us!
“Massively Motivated Miles Murders Marlins” ! !
“Fabulous Franky Fries Fish” ? ?
Oh, the pain, the pain.
What we need is a bona fide closer; not a weak-armed contact pitcher!
Uggla is ugly
I dont understand removing Rasmus. Craig is not nifty in RF.
When that ball went sailin’ out deep into rightfield, I prayed that Allen would catch it. Franky boy is truly a wimp…
Oh man.
The arm Jumbo. Jay vs Colby. Sad but true.
Now, shall we give the leaky li’l wimp a “W” for a blown save? Or are we completely demoralized by him?
Left field
Cut that down a bit 57……………………..
Rasmus has a better arm than Jay. It must be sore.
Allen damned near homered against a bona fide power pitcher!
Somehow, we gotta hold ‘em down for some more clutchwork by Jon, Albert and Matt…
If we can get through this inning, the big boys are coming up.
“Rasmus has a better arm than Jay”.
Eee gad.
Securely into a Gold Glove: One down… two to go!
Those balls go sailin’ out to the outfield and I can’t help, but wince and grimace!
Well you can’t say it wasn’t an interesting game.
Cut that down a bit, Westy…………………………..
We have been farther back than 1 1/2 games this season. I am not worried.
Read the thread 57……………..when Jumbo starts crawling up on your posts and spouting off…..that’s his mating dance……………….give it some thought whether you want to join him on the bench as his boyfriend………………..this isn’t Cards talk.
When I vent in the manner that I am wont, true Cardinal fans know that my heart is with the team and the clutch efforts of some heroic guys…
Try to be respectful, Westy, so that YOU do not “join him on the bench as his boyfriend”…
If it had been Hawksworth facing off against Johnson, the game would have been lop-sided. Westbrook gave the Cards a chance to win. Franklin was not able to nail it down.
Okay boys. Calm down.
The only justice in this game was that the one who blew the save was not rewarded with a win.
Talk about intestinal fortitude: I can not say enough for Yadier and Aaron!
The indisputable facts: As sharp as Jake definitely looked tonight, the Cardinals were losing when he left the game. It was Yadier who kept us in the game (by driving-in Albert) and it was Aaron who won the game, conditionally (by driving-in Matt). It wasn’t the failure of nailing it down, but a matter of Franklin blowing the win in the 9th inning and then losing the game in the 10th inning…
Benched. Sorry to the other poster.
We have seen a couple games like we have seldom seen on the road this year. That’s positive.
Franky costs us a game now and then, same as a bad start does, or bad defense, or bad baserunning or bad hitting. No use blubbering.
So far Westbrook has pitched well twice and come up empty. Hopefully he won’t decide to pull a muscle and check out.
Baserunning flub in the ninth. Lost a runner at the plate in the 4th.
I just don’t see Johnson as a CY candidate. His ERA is really the only thing in his favor.
Good Night, guys! Hopefully, we will take the series tomorrow afternoon and start another lengthy winning streak (we’ve definitely got the pitching and the firepower to sweep at least 7 series between now and the first week of October)…