As if Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo weren’t enough, the Cardinals made yet another move this afternoon when they acquired John Smoltz from the Boston Red Sox.

With the before-deadline trades complete, St. Louis had their needs narrowed down to right-handed relief help and a fifth starter. Smoltz may take care of one, if not both, of those.

Smoltz, the all time leader in postseason wins (15) and eight-time all star, signed with the Cardinals to play for the remainder of the season.

The agreement involves the Cards paying the league minumum ($400,000) and the Red Sox paying the remaining balance of Smoltz’s current contract ($5.5 million).

Smoltz will likely assume the role of the Cardinals fifth starter, and possiblty make a move to the bullpen if (more like WHEN) the club heads to the playoffs.

The right-hander will likely start in the upcoming Padres series, but would he be better in the setup role?

In his first time through the lineup when starting, the opponent is hitting .230. In his third time through the lineup, the opponent is hitting over .400. That is remarkable. Is it crazy to think he would be better with a one-inning gig?

Unfortunately, Smoltz wanted out of Boston because they wanted him in the bullpen. If he said no to them, why would he say yes to us?

Hopefully Dave Duncan can work some more magic on Smoltzy to where he is an affective starter (5 innings and 3 runs is FINE) and can help us in the playoffs. John obviously knows what to do when the bright lights of the postseason on upon him.

The way this is playing out, expect Smoltz to be a starter for the Cards in the remaining games of the season. However, in the playoffs when you only need 3-4 starters, a bullpen role may be issued.

- Jay -

This afternoon, the Cardinals held a press conference to announce the signing of first round draft pick Shelby Miller.

Miller was taken 19th overall in this years draft but had until 11:00 pm (CT) tonight (Monday, August 17) to sign.

Miller signed for a $2.875 million bonus; a franchise record for a high school player. The righthander from Texas was reportedly “demanding” $4 million after the Cardinals gave $3.1 million to 16 year old Wagner Mateo.

Without even playing a pro game, the flame-thrower from Brownwood High finds himself high up the prospects list already…and will likely climb quickly.

The club has always seemed to prefer collegiate players over high schoolers, yet the team spent a $6 mil on teenagers this summer.

There is no word on when/where Miller will begin his road to the majors.

Miller had accepted a scholarship to attend Texas A&M before the draft, and intially said he had “no problem” with going to college before being a big leaguer.

His options:

Sign with the second most decorated baseball team of all time for nearly $3 million.
…or…
Play for Texas A&M and not make a dime.

Yeah, I can see his hesitation.

Watching the late innings of a Springfield Cardinal game can be exciting these days.

Depending on the score, you’ll get to see two of the top relief pitching prospects in the Nation. Eduardo Sanchez and Francisco Samuel are the fourth and eighth top prospects in the Cardinals system.

Before this month, Samuel was Springfield’s pride and joy when it came to closing out games. Samuel, not Sanchez, played in the Futures Game in St. Louis. Samuel, not Sanchez, was the one getting all of the National attention and hype.

Nevertheless, Sanchez was promoted to the closer position recently.

Springfield Manager Pop Warner said, “It hasn’t been for lack of stuff. He has big league stuff. He just has to be able to harness it and be able to command the strike zone. The big thing is just trying to get him to become more consistent. When you’re getting the pressure of trying to finish a game and you’re having trouble with your command, it just makes sense to try and elevate something. You want him to be working in high-leverage situations, and some of that can still be used in the seventh or eighth.”

Well, Francisco may have “big league stuff”, but it really doesn’t matter when he walks nine batters per nine innings. He has a real control problem, despite the electric stuff.

Samuel started turning heads last year in Palm Beach when he struck out 85 batters in 54 appearances while only allowing 38 hits. He made his Double-A debut on April 11th when he walked three and allowed three. He has struggled ever since.

The guy labeled as the “closer of the future” gave up at least one walk in 18 of his first 22 appearances. Until last week, he had more walks than innings pitched.

Samuel did not give it up easily, but the closing duties finally went to the pitching prospect who could actually throw strikes.

“He didn’t like it,” Warner said. “He didn’t like it at all. We talked to him and said, ‘Hey, at the end of the day, you have to pitch better. You have to throw strikes. You can’t walk guys, especially if you are going to be out there closing games. You can’t go out there and walk three guys an inning. You’re asking for disaster.’”

Since the switch on July 27th, they have had zero problems in the ninth inning.

Sanchez has dominated the opposition. So far this season, Eduardo rocks a 2.43 ERA with six saves and 44 strikeouts in only 37 innings. Better yet, he has only walked 13.

And there is no mistake about it, Sanchez’s “stuff” is no consolation, In fact, it may be even better than Samuel’s. His fastball tops out over 100 mph, but is usually 98. Just earlier this month, the stadium gun down at Hammons field clocked him at 103.

It’s not just his fastball either. A Springfield scout actually compared Samuel to the Texas Rangers’ phenom relief pitcher Neftali Feliz and said, “Eduardo has very similar stuff. Neftali’s fastball may have more tail, but I would say Sanchez’s breaking pitchers are a notch better.”

John Mozeliak was interviewed today on 101 ESPN in St. Louis and told the crew that he “wouldn’t be afraid to bring him up” if he thought he could help the club out.

With the demise of flame-throwing reliever Jason Motte, the Cardinals are searching for bullpen help. The options include John Smoltz, Justin Speier, and good ole 20-year-old Eduardo Sanchez.

If we don’t land Smoltz or Speier, look for Mo to ponder the thought of a Sanchez September call-up.

Sanchez really broke out last year in Single-A ball with a 1.44 ERA. All anybody heard was about this 19 year old pitcher who could hit 100 on the radar gun. Well we now know a little more…and I think everybody likes what they’re seeing.

- Jay -

Top Cardinals starter prospect fueled by competitiveness

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Cardinals Double-A pitching prospect Lance Lynn doesn’t remember facing Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus in the 1999 Little League World Series. Unfortunately, another at-bat from that game sticks in his head.

“All I remember is giving up a walk-off grand slam,” Lynn said.

Rasmus, who shares the same agent as Lynn, remembers that game as well.

“They were beating us 4-1 in the last inning with two outs, and a boy on my team hit a grand slam to win the game,” Rasmus said. “Lynn was good. He was a big kid; I remember he was throwing hard. I remember that game because of the walk-off. It was late in the tournament, knocked them out. He was dominating us. He pitched good.”

Almost 10 years to the day since one of Lynn’s greatest heartbreaks on a baseball field, the big righty is now the top starting pitching prospect in the Cardinals system. But at 22 years old, Lynn doesn’t allow himself to look ahead.

“None of us really think about the prospect stuff,” Lynn said. “Everybody just goes out and tries to get the job done. It’s all about getting the job done and doing what you’re supposed to do and keep progressing, and that’s what I feel like I need to do to be the best I can. I don’t really think about if I am the top pitching prospect or the worst; it’s all about going out and getting outs and doing what I can.”

Lynn, who starts Thursday for Springfield in one of the games of a doubleheader, has put together an impressive season in his first full year since being drafted in 2008. He is 9-4 with a 3.13 ERA in 18 starts for Springfield after having a 2.30 ERA in 15 2/3 innings to start the year at Class A Palm Beach.

“You look at guys in his class and most of them are probably still pitching a level below,” said Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak. “And for him to be doing what he is doing, I think it’s great for him. He’s getting good experience. I think he’s maturing and learning a lot.”

The former Ole Miss star kind of surprises you when you watch him pitch. Despite his 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame, he doesn’t possess a high-powered fastball. Instead, he uses his 91-92 mph fastball to help get ahead in the count and set up his other pitches.

“Stuff-wise,” Mozeliak admits, “he doesn’t necessarily overwhelm you.”

Lynn throws strikes and attacks hitters in the zone. He can get the strikeout — he has 83 in 103 2/3 innings — but is fine with making them put the ball in play. He has given up only five home runs all year and has kept opponents to a .258 average.

“Early on, he scuffled a little bit with his command, but I think that was a product of coming here to Double-A and the strike zone is a little bit smaller,” said Springfield manager Pop Warner. “He had to shrink his zone up a little bit and command his pitches and keep them down, but he’s been impressive. The guy goes out there and competes, and he wills his way to victories sometimes.”

That seems to be the theme for Lynn, whom his college coach once called the most competitive player he has ever coached. While he won’t overpower or dominate on most nights, Lynn can usually make the big pitch when needed.

With his high school team a perfect 34-0 and one inning away from the Indiana State Championship, Lynn trotted to the mound for the final inning with his team up, 6-2. He quickly gave up two runs and loaded the bases with no outs. With the tying run at second base, Lynn struck out the next hitter before getting a double-play ball to end the game.

“I feel like as a pitcher, you have to rise to the challenges and rise to the occasions, and that’s one of the challenges you face,” Lynn said. “You are going to get in tough jams and if you’re the guy who is able to step up and do what he needs to do to get out of them, it makes you competitive and makes you a better pitcher.

“That’s one of the things that was instilled in me when I was a young kid by my father. It’s stuck with me. That’s just the way I play the game, very aggressively. I pitch very aggressively. You don’t see that much with starters — you find them here and there — but that’s just what I’ve always done and it’s a big reason that I am who I am.”

During a start last week with Mozeliak in the stands, Lynn got in a first-and-third situation in the first inning. But he struck out Tulsa’s Ryan Harvey to end the jam.

“He is someone that brings it every time,” Mozeliak said. “You talk about competitiveness and willingness to win and compete — clearly, he’s done that.”

Anyone wanting a CliffsNotes version of Lynn can look no further than that start on Aug. 7. Lynn went five innings and gave up nine hits but he struck out six, walked none and gave up only one earned run. The Cardinals eventually won the game, 4-3.

“When things are going bad, I’ve always been able to keep my team in the game,” Lynn said after the game. “And that’s part of being mentally tough and being a competitor, because if you can do that, you’re going to win some games. I’ve never been a guy where things blow up on me; I can usually keep them in control, and that’s helped me.”

Lynn, who projects as a No. 4 starter in the Major Leagues, has continued to improve since the year started. But he knows he’s still a long way from being ready to pitch effectively in the big leagues.

And like his fastball, he’s in no hurry.

“I’ve been working on a lot of things since Spring Training and I’ve been able to make a lot of progress throughout the year,” Lynn said. “I think it’s shown with how well I’ve done. This being my first full season, I think I’ve done really well. I’ve done a lot better than expectations and I’m still not happy and still not done. I have a lot of work to do to get where I want to go.”

B.J. Rains
MLB.com

With the August 17^th First-Year Player Draft signing deadline on the horizon, only 12 first round picks have been locked down. There are 20 teams scrambling to sign their next possible superstar. One of those teams, unfortunately, is your St. Louis Cardinals.

With the 19^th pick of this year’s Draft, the boys took Shelby Miller. The flame-throwing pitcher from Brownwood High School (TX) has wanted a $4 million bonus, and he is sticking to his guns.

In fact, him “wanting” $4 mil recently turned into DEMANDING $4 mil. With the Cardinals giving nearly that much to a 16 year old kid, I can definitely see where Miller is coming from. It’s about time we figure out that we won’t get him for slot and just give in.

The top prospect from the 2009 International class, Wagner Mateo, signed for $3.1 million… and he’s barely old enough to drive.

In 2008, only Missouri starting pitcher Aaron Crow did not sign with a team. Since he did attend college already, he could not go back and had to settle with a “semi-pro” team. Miller’s experience does not go beyond high school, so if failed to sign, he would go to Texas A&M – where he was committed to going if not drafted.

However, I do not think it is time to panic. If you’re asking me, I’m saying we are going to sign him.

John Mozeliak remains optimistic: “Once we start getting to that point where-the-clock’s-ticking mode, it’ll force us to try to get something done,” Mozeliak said. “…We’ll get something worked out.”

Currently, there is an open line of communication between the two parties, but nothing concrete.

Hopefully Mozeliak and team can figure something out, because despite what he says, the clock IS ticking…

…So go get something done.

- Jay -

I just wanted to send this to apologize and try to give a decent
excuse on why I have not been a very active blogger lately.

As most of my readers know, I have at least three new posts per week. Lately, that has obviously not been the case.

At least for a couple weeks (depending on how things go) Cardinals Front Office will be put on hold. I have been given a tremendous
opportunity, and a chance to “live the dream” that I just cannot pass
up.

Some of you may know a guy by the name of Daniel Poneman. He is now 17
years old and has been in Sports Illustraded a couple times and has
appeared on countless TV stations (CBS, ABC, etc, etc) about what he
does.

He runs the site IllinoisHSBasketball.com and scouts high school
basketball players across the country, but mainly in Illinois. His job
is, basically, to open doors for high school athletes that are looking
to play sports at the collegiate level.

He wants to expand to different sports throughout different states.
Since he is 17 and everybody gets a kick out of this teen that has all
of the Big Ten Conference head coaches on speed dial, he is looking to
hire other kids.

I know him from Facebook and talked to him every once in a while. On
Friday, he sends me a message that just says “text me”. So we get to
talking about sports in general and then discuss what he does and I
mentioned that “I would kill to have that job.” His reply came shortly
thereafter with “You now have that job.”

Basically, he offered me my dream job and I accepted later that night.
I will run the MissouriHSBaseball.com site and travel across the state
(sometimes out of it) to scout high school baseball players for
colleges. It is a year-round thing, but I only have to do as much as I
have time for.

SO I should get back to blogging at some point, I just have to take
some time off right now to get things together and prepare for the new
gig. I’ve been staying up until 4-5 in the morning lately just trying
to contact a list of 200 high school baseball players. I’m definitely
running on fumes right now and just don’t have the time to write stuff
for the site.

Hope you understand. I just wanted to make should this was known
before you thought I simply went AWOL.

Have a good one, Cardinal Nation.
GO CARDS!

In a season where Kyle Lohse has seemingly discovered ways to get hurt other than from throwing a pitch, we could soon receive some major help (and relief) in the rotation.

Lohse suffered a strained flexor muscle on June 4 after diving for a ground ball. This eventually put him on the disabled list for the first time in his nine-year career.

Right away, the team was thinking Kyle would be out at least a month, maybe more. However, after experiencing no complications during his Sunday 40-pitch bullpen session, the target comeback is set at early-July – Possibly the Cubs series in Chicago (10th-12th).

Hopeful that Lohse may reappear before the All-Star break, the Cardinals have placed their No. 3 starter on a program that calls for him to throw off a mound on alternate days.

When asked about his return, Lohse said, “For a while it was hard to project anything at all. I couldn’t be sure how certain activities would make it feel, much less throwing a ball. That’s gone now. I’m hoping there won’t be any more setbacks and I can get back as soon as possible.”

With 15-game winner from 2008 coming back in a few weeks, management is going to have a big decision to make. Who to drop from the rotation?

There are a few directions available.

The one that first comes to mind is simply putting Todd Wellemeyer in the bullpen. Wellemeyer has a 5.53 ERA in 86 innings pitcher and has given up 12 runs in the previous three starts.

The team could also think about bringing up Mitchell Boggs from AAA-Memphis. Boggs had a very good stint as a Cardinal starter this year, but has struggled recently as a Redbird in the Minors. His 3.22 ERA and 20 Ks in 22 IP as a starter in St. Louis was very impressive, but his ERA north of five in Triple-A is very alarming.

Another option (not a very popular one) is bringing Brad Thompson back into his normal position as the long-reliever for the Cards. While it seems stupid at first, that is a Cardinal Management-like move. It seems like the always side with the struggling veteran over the proven youngster (i.e. Mitchell Boggs). Brad has certainly shocked most with his great pitching of late and has likely sealed a spot in the rotation for a while. He now rides a 3.87 ERA in 37 innings pitched and has the best start of his career fresh in his mind from last week (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 K).

IF I was part of Management, this decision would take about five seconds.

Todd Wellemeyer was murdered yet again out there last night against a sub-par Mets lineup without Reyes, Delgado, AND Beltran. He was obliterated for 10 hits in five innings and allowed five runs. This seems to be the norm for the Todalion, but La Russa just keeps running him out there to get killed. Time, after time, after time.

There are only nine starting pitchers in the MLB with a higher ERA, and his seven losses rank 5th highest in the NL. He allows over 15 baserunners per nine innings pitched… which is the worst such stat in the MLB.

Some of his struggles have been blamed on “bad luck”. But it is more than bad luck with him.

Sure, opponents’ batting average for balls-in-play against him is substantially higher than the average MLB mark, but it is much more than that.

Somebody needs to tell the guy to get the ball down. If he can’t do that, then why is he in the Majors?
BALL UP = LINE DRIVES
BALL DOWN = GROUND BALLS

Out of all the starting pitchers that have taken the mound for STL this year, Wellemeyer has the worst ground ball percentage at 48%. The rest of the Cardinals regular starters have that mark above 60%.

The rest of it lies with his inability to finish off an inning. HALF of the runs that Wellemeyer has allowed have come with two outs.

He also needs to start using his slider more often. Todd threw his slide-piece 24% of the time. This year, that percentage is at 17. If he wants to know which pitch to layoff a little, tell him his fastball. Batters are crushing it. Whether it is due to his decreasing velocity, or him just missing location all together, batters are locked in.

Especially lefties who are batting .349/.421/.622 on the season.

I am interested to see what the team plans to do when Lohse returns. Wellemeyer is obviously the consensus pick by the fans, but what will the Front Office think about sitting one of the team’s best pitchers from a year ago… Not to mention one that is making $4 million this season.

Justin Hulsey
Cardinals Front Office

April 12, 2009 -- Cardinals' Albert Pujols in the dugout during a game at Busch Stadium.

Albert Pujols has an opinion.

Actually, the Cardinals first baseman has plenty of them. But nine seasons into what appears destined to be a Hall of Fame career, the two-time NL Most Valuable Player still believes it best to keep them under a basket — or at least off the table — difficult as that might be.

“They pay me to play the game,” Pujols says. “That’s what they want me to do.”

El Hombre has opinions about the direction of the organization, about this team’s chances of reaching the postseason for the first time in three years, about his contract status.

“If they want to talk to me about something, I’ll talk. But no one has talked to me. So my job is to shut up and play,” he says.

Pujols, 29, acknowledges an increased responsibility as a team leader and even as a representative for the game. He will serve as centerpiece of attention during the festivities surrounding the upcoming All-Star Game. He will return home from a July 12 day-night doubleheader in Chicago to accept an avalanche of media responsibilities, participate in the July 13 Home Run Derby, perhaps attend a gathering at his Westport restaurant, then start at first base in the July 14 game.

“It seems like every major magazine or newspaper wants to write something about me, either about baseball or something off the field,” he said. “All that stuff has been there the last five years and they didn’t want to do it. Now they do.”

Once viewed as mercurial, even churlish with media, Pujols now recognizes his fame carries opportunity and obligation. But greater exposure carries a need for greater care.

“I’ve learned over the last three or four years this comes with it,” he says. “I’m different. This came so quick. Everybody tried to approach me. I was feeling a lot of pressure. Everything came so fast. It’s amazing. It’s not like I’m disappointed. It’s just happened very quickly.”

Now Pujols hears questions about the gradual evolution of a franchise committed to building from within while receiving regular criticism for conservatism within the free-agent and trade markets. Pujols, too, has questions to go with opinions.

“As players, we don’t have any control over that. I wish we could have more control,” Pujols says. “But what are words going to do? Is it going to solve anything? A lot of times saying something only makes it worse. It just gives people more ammunition to write and say more negative stuff about the club. They (the front office and ownership) see what we see. They know what we need. If they don’t make the adjustments, we can’t do anything about it. We just need to go with what we have.”

Pujols insists he is not preoccupied with his next contract because he still has one guaranteed year plus an option left on his current $100 million deal.

“If they’re open to it, I’ll talk,” he says. “I’m open any time. But nobody has said anything. So until something happens, why am I going to talk about it?

“Right now I don’t want to stress myself out because no matter what I think, I can’t do anything about it. When the time comes when I’m able to do something about it, I’ll think about it.”

General manager John Mozeliak said last month that the club would aggressively pursue another bat due to third baseman Troy Glaus’ open-ended absence. More recently, team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. played down the likelihood of an imminent move because of an uncooperative market. Manager Tony La Russa openly has pined for another bat since last winter. He also has discussed the matter with Pujols, who became an advocate for free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez before Ibanez signed a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pujols told La Russa he would gladly lobby Ibanez but never received such a request from the front office.

“I want to win,” Pujols says. “I have experience knowing guys around the league and knowing what guys want. I would love to help.”

Some within the Cardinals’ clubhouse see Pujols uniquely positioned to publicly cite the need for help. La Russa has not recited his wish list for a couple of weeks. But when interrogated last week about the protection provided Pujols in recent years, the manager shot back, “What protection?”

After Ryan Ludwick’s grand slam Friday, Cardinal cleanup hitters rank last in the league in batting (.226), on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.704) while tied for sixth in RBIs (46). The Florida Marlins’ and Pittsburgh Pirates’ No. 8 hitters had 25 extra-base hits through Friday compared to 21 by Cardinals No. 4 bats.

“You can’t tell yourself we need this or we need that. Then you’re beating yourself already,” Pujols says. “You need to be positive and go with what you have. If we take care of business here in the clubhouse and the field, I don’t think the owners and general manager are blind. They need to see what we see. I don’t think they’re blind.”

The Cardinals reached the postseason in five of Pujols’ first six seasons.

“Everybody knew last year if we would have another key bat or guy in the bullpen we would have been there,” Pujols says about an 86-76 fourth-place team that finished four games behind the wild-card Brewers. “The year before it was the same way. If we had a guy to help us when (Scott) Rolen and Jimmy (Edmonds) went down, I think we would have had a shot. I wish I had a magic ball and could say, ‘This is how it’s going to happen. This is how it’s going to be run.’ But my job is to be a leader here and respect my manager and my team.”

That respect causes Pujols to stop himself.

“You can write the owners don’t spend money or don’t do whatever. But that disrespects the talent we have here,” says Pujols. “I think we have talent that is one click away.”

One click, as in the sound of someone pulling the trigger on a deal.

Joe Strauss
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Josh Kinney

After a three week stint on the DL, Khalil Greene has been activated.

Greene was back in St. Louis on Wednesday but was not expected to be activated until this weekend. Manager Tony La Russa wanted to observe Greene go through an extensive workout before making any further decisions, but obviously liked what I saw.

Greene spent four games and logged 15 at bats in Memphis. He hit a healthy .400, had three runs, two doubles, and two RBI.

Greene hit the disabled list in wake of his very serious anxiety disorder that forced him to abuse himself. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate as it is, Khalil will now man the hot-corner instead of shortstop. Due to Brendan Ryan and Tyler Greene’s success, Khalil agreed to move over to third.

KGreene seemed very relaxed when asked about the move and said he is “very excited to return”.

—

Josh Kinney, P.J. Walters, and Nick Stavinoha also received news today regarding where they are going to spend at least the next week or two. Kinney was recalled from Triple-A affiliate Memphis and Walters is set to take his spot in the Minors.

For Kinney, this will be his second stint with the Big League club. He made three appearances with St. Louis earlier this season. Josh recorded 2.2 innings and allowed four runs while walking four. However, he has had some previous success in the Major Leagues.

Kinney had a pretty damn good start to his career before he needed his Tommy John Surgery. Kinney made a huge impact on that 2006 World Series team with an accumulation over 6 innings of three hit ball (no runs). That ’06 season was definitely his best. Josh threw over 25 innings with a 3.24 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Anything close to that would be a huge help in the ‘pen.

As for Walters, he is sent down to Memphis for the second time this season. Out of his grand total of six outings, Walters only came out of one without giving up any runs. That happened to be the only one-inning outing he has made thus far.

Walters will be a huge help to the 31-35 Memphis Redbirds who have definitely been on the raw end of these promotions. P.J. has 4.14 ERA as a Redbird, but has yet to settle in any one level. Maybe this move will be his last and he can find a groove as one of Memphis’ front-end-of-the-rotation guys.

Stavinoha has become one of the most loved guys in the city and in the clubhouse over the past few weeks, but is also packing his bags for Memphis.

Stavinoha proved he could handle MLB pitching when he belted in 10 RBI as one of the team’s bench players. In May, Stav batted .256 and was among the team’s best in most offensive categories.

Nonetheless, he just isn’t a starting outfielder yet in the MLB. And with a group of very solid outfielders, Stav found himself struggling with no room to play here lately. He is batting a mere .190 in June with only 21 at-bats with the return of Ludwick and Ankiel.

Nick’s clutch hits and key RBI will be missed to say the least, but all in all, you can hardly argue that Stavinoha is not at the level the rest of our outfielders are at.

Justin Hulsey
Cardinals Front Office

I like the guy's future... but not this season.

On Friday, June 12, P.J. Walters got the recall. May I ask why?

Walters was first called up when the club purchased his contract on April 18, but after a few rough outings, was sent down to make room for the versatile Brad Thompson. Walters made only one start, but had logged five appearances as a Major Leaguer before being sent back down.

His one start began very well, but had fallen apart toward the end against the Chicago Cubs. That one start resulted in four innings of work with three earned runs against him, but he did show promise and the club kept him around for the meantime.

In only four innings, Walters had K’d seven Cubs and only walked one. Considering P.J. is a very young and inexperienced pitcher, many of the coaches were worried about Walters’ control. In that start, control did not appear to be an issue.

However, in his next six innings of his MLB career, Walters did in fact run into some control problems with four walks. After his first start, he was moved into that long reliever position. In his 6.1 innings of relief, he had given up seven runs and the team sent him down.

You would think that things would get better down there, right? Wrong.

Well…ok…I’ll give him that much. He did get a LITTLE better. So far this season, Walters has a 4.14 ERA in 50 innings and is currently rockin’ a 2-5 record in Triple-A.

So I again ask why? Why does he get the call up on Friday? Is he the best pitcher we have at Memphis? I listen to most of the Redbird games in the internet, and Walters is not the top pitcher down there.

Fourteen rookies have made their way to the Cardinals’ active roster this season (not a good thing). Walters is one of them and he is now on his second stint.

SO, not only are bringing a mediocre AAA pitcher up… We are bringing up another rookie that is simply not ready. Walters is 24 years old and was drafted in 2006. The 11^th rounder only has two full years of Minor League ball under his belt, and this is was the first season that he started out in Memphis.

In his 172 total innings pitched at the AAA level, batters are hitting just under .260 against him. His ERA is a plump 4.68 with the Redbirds.

Who would I have brought up? Not Walters.

How about…

Clayton Mortensen
6-3, 3.38, 74 IP, 24 years old

Josh Kinney
1-1, 3.24, 25 IP, 30 years old

Evan MacLane
2-4, 2.92, 52 IP, 26 years old

Royce Ring
2-0, 1.93, 23 IP, 30 years old

Matthew Scherer
0-0, 2.05, 31 IP, 27 years old

I would say that all of those guys are just as good as…

P.J. Walters
2-5, 4.14, 50 IP, 24 years old

You could say that most of those guys are prospects and may not be ready for the Majors (same with Walters). If that is the case, check out Ring or Kinney. Both are past prospect-status and have MLB experience.

Royce Ring has the most experience, and has had some decent success. He has 66 innings under his belt with the Mets, Braves, and Padres. Before last season, he had a 2.93 ERA. However, last year he hit a bit of a rough patch as a reliever. He did have four holds in 22 innings, but also had an ERA just above eight.

Josh Kinney has actually already been with the Big League club this year, but was sent down after only 2.2 innings of work. Walks were his biggest problem with his enormous ERA. He had four total walks in those 2.2 innings. However, he had a pretty damn good start to his career before he needed his Tommy John Surgery. Kinney made a huge impact on that 2006 World Series team with an accumulation over 6 innings of three hit ball (no runs). That ’06 season was definitely his best. Josh threw over 25 innings with a 3.24 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Kinney’s career ERA is 55 points under the Cardinals’ earned run average this season. The most impressive stat is his opponents average. Throughout his career, opponents have hit Kinney at a .177 clip. Woah.

All considering, IF I was John Mozeliak, I would have never brought up Walters again. Walters may be able to contend for a rotation spot next year if he improves over the offseason, but this is not his season to be promoted. I would have likely sided with Josh Kinney just because I think Mortensen needs some more time in AAA.

 Justin Hulsey
Cardinals Front Office