“The Cardinals have traditionally done away with the piggyback system around mid-season, and I think the personnel on this pitching staff lent itself to doing so a bit earlier this year.”

He is correct in timing in that in 2008, the move away from the piggyback starting system in its third season of usage occurred at the break in mid-June. Palm Beach also recently ended their use of the tandem arrangement approximately three weeks sooner than in 2008.

The five Quad Cities starters going forward are Gary Daley, Brett Zawacki (pictured), Kevin Thomas, Hector Cardenas and Arquimedes Nieto. Adam Veres and Scott McGregor head to the pen. Andres Rosales had already been assigned there, but was kept in the starting mix due to a roster that has been in considerable flux.

Other starters unavailable include Josh Wilson, who apparently abruptly retired again, suspended Deryk Hooker and injured starters Jared Bradford and Jonny Bravo, both on the seven-day disabled list.

All the rotation turnover has to be a contributor to the River Bandits’ uneven season to date. Despite a 2009 home record that includes six home series victories against just two losses, the club is scuffling along with a 22-24 record overall.

They are currently carrying a season-long five-game losing streak with a 2-8 mark over their last ten games. The Bandits have struggled on the road all season long, with no series wins, four losses and two splits away from Modern Woodmen Park in 2009.

Some of the Quad Cities hitters have been ice cold, including shortstop Niko Vasquez, having gone just nine for his last 76 (.118), and key RBI man Osvaldo Morales. Since driving in 33 runs in his first 33 games, the big first baseman has just one RBI in his last ten contests and is batting 3-for-25 (.120) over his last eight.

Another factor behind the club’s struggles is their porous defense. The River Bandits have committed 19 errors in their last 11 games, leading to 19 unearned runs. They are tied with Clinton for last in the 14-team Midwest League in fielding percentage (.957).

The Bandits are 13th in errors with 73 and also 13th in total double plays turned (30). They are 13-19 this season when committing at least one error in a game, compared to a 9-5 record in their 14 error-free contests. Vasquez alone has ten miscues in his last 20 games.

After three games at Lansing this weekend, Quad Cities will wrap up their ten-game road stretch with a four-game commuter series against the Burlington Bees that runs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.

The new-old five-man rotation starts Sunday with Daley taking the hill in Lansing. The other four will cover the Burlington series in this order: Zawacki, Thomas, Cardenas and Nieto. I plan to be there Friday to check out Nieto’s outing.

As always, for current rosters and the most up-to-date transactions at all levels of the Cardinals minor league system, don’t forget to check out the Roster Matrix.

It is similar wording and result from just one month ago when Quad Cities starting pitcher Deryk Hooker was handed down the same suspension for the same basic reason.

The pair join two other Cardinals farmhands currently suspended. They are catcher Juan Castillo (Extended Spring Training) and second baseman Wilfred Vivas (Venezuelan Summer League).

Since 2005, the Cardinals have seen 13 of their Major or Minor Leaguers face suspension for drug violations. That total ranks as tied for fourth-highest among the 30 organizations and five suspensions above the average of eight.

While all of the Cards 13 hailed from the minors, current Cardinal Rick Ankiel was mentioned in the Mitchell Report as was Troy Glaus, called out for actions before he joined the club. Neither faced any disciplinary action from MLB.

The list of suspended Cardinals players since 2005 follows. Announced reasons vary from performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to specific substances to drugs of abuse, generally considered recreational drugs as opposed to PEDs.

Though I have not dug into movement of suspended players in detail, I found it interesting to note the Cardinals also signed four former Seattle Mariners who had previously been suspended, including current Major League closer Ryan Franklin. (The others were Troy Cate, Ryan Christianson and Omar Falcon, none of whom are still employed by the Cardinals today.)

With all the attempts at education, the core issue is driven by decisions made by young men, not clubs and as such, this is not intended to be an indictment of any organization. Also, the number of additional users not caught is of course unknown. Still, being prominently mentioned on this list of total suspensions since 2005 is not where any club would like to be.

(Note: “none” designates those players not a member of any organization at the time of their suspension.)

It is enlightening to scan the totals by team, with the Chicago Cubs bringing up the rear with the most players caught, 16, over five times the two clubs with the fewest suspensions, the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox at three each.

Of course, this simply indicates the organization of record at the time the player tested positive. For example, the furor over the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez’ recent suspension may have been felt nearly as strongly in Boston, where he helped lead the Red Sox to two World Series championships as in his current employment location, Los Angeles.

Hearty tips of the cap are given to the Biz of Baseball blog and longgandhi.com, among the sites where suspension details are maintained.