Carp and Ankiel Return, Ludwick Still a Week Away

Chris Carpenter

Last night’s post was written out of pure frustration. Tonight’s post is written out of excitement.

If you did not get a chance to watch the game tonight, it was MUCH better than the past week of baseball. While the box score says five hits, they were against a VERY underrated Ted Lilly. We were in control the entire game after a RBI single from Yadier Molina in the 1^st inning.

After that, Pineiro took the game into his own hands and held on tight. Pineiro recorded his first complete game since 2003. All while allowing only three hits and… umm… NO runs. 92 pitches is all Joel needed while he blanked our rival Cubs, bringing his season ERA down to 3.50. Pineiro impressed us all tonight, and may have revived our team.

Our play was A+ tonight, and while that is awesome, there is even more to get excited about. As we get ready for Game 2, two of our main men will get ready to get off that dreaded Disabled List.

Both Chris Carpenter and Rick Ankiel will be activated tomorrow, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Everybody was waiting for tomorrow to pick up our team. Well, after tonight, our team is already picked up… Now, it’s only going to be held higher. Have you ever picked up your paycheck on the same day you get promoted? It feels good doesn’t it?

Not only will Carp be activated tomorrow, he will take the mound for the first time in over a month. The Cubs lineup is very similar to ours over the weekend, so expect a good outing.

A light bullpen session on Sunday (80 pitches) confirmed is readiness. He is coming back a little earlier than most expected. Only a week ago, we were guessing a start a series or two from now. Let’s hope we aren’t rushing him, but several successful BPS should have cleared all doubt.

Carp was injured while batting and suffered from a strained ribcage muscle… nowhere near the arm. It will be interesting the approach the team takes when Chris comes up to bat, but he vows that he “expects to hit like before”. There was talk of LaRussa just having Carp up there to try and draw a walk, but the former Cy Young award-winner says he won’t give the opposition anything.

Rick Ankiel will also be activated 15 days after his terrifying collision with the wall. He was first said to get through the injury without DL, so I would assume he is nothing if not ready. However, LaRussa is taking all precaution and wants Rick’s game to be evaluated before he is put in a game situation.

Ank will be activated tomorrow, but he won’t start. I would say he is unavailable until TLR and crew can make sure he is 100%. Everything should be back to normal by the end of the week.

The other third of the equation, Ryan Ludwick, is still at least eight days from activation, but is reportedly “healing very quickly”.

Studwick took swings off a tee on Friday and is expected to play some rehab games in the minors while still on DL. According to what I am reading, Ludwick is getting better and better every day. That is a HUGE relief considering a familiar injury sidelined Ryan for over a year when he was in the Indian’s organization.

It is no doubt that our team struggles without these guys, and we will take a full 180 when we get all three back. If you look at their 160-game averages, it shows the impact of these fine players.

Carpenter: 3.99 ERA, 15 wins, 170 SO
Ankiel: .260 AVG, 27 HR, 88 RBI
Ludwick: .273 AVG, 29 HR, 96 RBI

I difference? I would think so. Especially considering that these guys are replacing Boggs, Robinson, and Stavinoha. Wow. That puts into perspective doesn’t it.

So who is sent to AAA when Carp and Ankiel are brought back tomorrow? Here are the candidates.

Carpenter:

Blaine Boyer
Boyer is having a hard time lately, giving up four runs in his previous two outings. Boyer has been difficult to read so far. I think I would keep him up and see what happens. He has shown serious promise this year… we can’t deny him that. He did have seven consecutive outings without a single hit! Yes, check it yourself… 5.2 no-hit innings. No runs either. Boyer has been struggling, but I think we keep him in there.

Todd Wellemeyer
This is a hard one. Wellemeyer has definitely been our worst pitcher in the past week or so, but I doubt if MO wants to send him down. For one, we would need to bring up another starter to fill his rotation spot (only four-man rotation right now). Two, Wellemeyer is “worth” $4 million and that is tough to send down. Besides the financial reasons, Wellemeyer did pitch a fantastic 2008. This is a different season, but Todalion had a 3.70 ERA last year and was MLB pitcher of the month for May. There is still something there, believe it or not. An MLB pitcher doesn’t just wake up as a bad pitcher a year after being a really good one.

IF I was John Mozeliak, I would send down…

Brad Thompson
Let’s be honest here. Do we need Thompson? Hell, we don’t even use him. He has made two appearances in the past 11 games. While he has not done terrible in those outings, we don’t really need him. The best thing for Thompson to do is head to Memphis, polish his game, and get ready to open some eyes in his next chance. There will be one.

 

Ankiel:

Joe Thurston
To be fair, Thurston is our worst hitter. He is a likable guys, I suppose, but he is just not an MLB player. In fact, at the plate, he is terrible. Thurston is an average AAA player, and in all honestly, that’s where he should be. However, we have very little infield depth right now with Khalil Greene basically inactive. Unless we would bring up another AAA infielder, Thurston has to stay. Should he be in the starting lineup? Hell no, but we need him in order to back up our regulars.

Shane Robinson
Sugar Shane is one of my favorite players. He is an outfield version of Eckstein, but faster. The dude is a little spark plug and I LOVE his desire to play the game. You can just see it in his eyes, and it shows when he plays. Just like Eckstein, he is a spark plug for this team and provides life and energy that some players don’t bring to the table. He is super fast (4.2  40) and is electric on the base paths. He is by no means an every day outfielder, but he deserves to be up here for special bench situations.

IF I was John Mozeliak, I would send down…

Nick Stavinoha
Stavi was 1-for-6 before Monday’s game. He is having some troubles at the plate. I was the one who totally supported bringing him up, but he has yet to make any sort of impact. With Ankiel coming back, we would likely have to get rid of an OFer in return, and this is the guy. I would not be surprised if Sugar Shane Robinson is the guy instead, but just like Thompson, do we need this guy? He has had limited opportunities, and will go down due to the number of good outfielders we do have.

Even With Carp Coming Back, We Need More

Phillip Hughes

Coming into the season, everybody was freaking out over the Cardinals pitching staff. I heard that our pitching was equal to “paper and glue”.

We had Wainwright as our ace, we were hoping for a similar 2008 season from Lohse, hoping the rejuvenated Wellemeyer kept it up, hoping Pineiro came in with the same contract-year approach that Lohse had, and of course we had that Carpenter guy.

Speaking of the Carpenter guy, he is doing great. Word is he’s coming back within the next ten days. Carp had a bullpen session yesterday, and ANOTHER bullpen session today. He is starting to gain form once again. Coaches say there is a good chance that he will not make any rehab starts, and just join the rotation ASAP. If I was John Mozeliak, I would give him one start at the AAA level. After that, I would see how the start went. If it went relatively well then bring him back in. It is obvious that we can survive with him on the DL, so why not make sure everything is okay before bringing him back into the rotation?

Another weak point in our pitching staff was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Our bullpen was pisspoor in 2008. We watched blown save, after blown save, after another blown save. Jason Isringhausen is out, Mark Worrell was traded to the Padres, and Looper was cut loose as well. So basically we lost our closer; who we were relying on shutting the door for another couple years. Not only that, but we lost a guy that gave us a good performance every fifth day. Looper was underrated. Last year was undoubtedly his best as a closer – ERA barely above four. He is also very versatile. If we have a young spot starter come in and dominate, we can always move Looper to the ‘pen. Hell, the dude was a reliever for nearly ten straight years. It’s often easier said than done with converting SP to RP, but it would have been simple with Looper.

So coming in, here is how our staff looks and how they have done so far:

Rotation:
1) Wainwright… 3-1, 4.08 ERA, 30 Ks
2) Carpenter (DL)… 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 Ks
3) Lohse… 3-1, 3.22 ERA, 23 Ks
4) Piniero… 4-1, 3.24 ERA, 10 Ks
5) Wellemeyer… 3-2, 4.75 ERA, 20 Ks
5) Boggs… 1-0, 3.50 ERA, 19 Ks

Bullpen:
CP) Franklin… 9 saves, 0.00 ERA, 11 Ks
SU) Motte… 6 holds, 3.55 ERA, 10 Ks
RP) McClellan… 3 holds, 2.70 ERA, 13 Ks
RP) Perez… 2 holds, 2.25 ERA, 11 Ks
RP) Boyer… 1 hold, 3.60 ERA, 5 Ks
RP) Reyes… 4 holds, 4.00, 8 Ks
RP) Miller… 1 hold, 4.32 ERA, 10 Ks

After the Opening Day debacle (trust me, I was there), everybody was ready to throw in the towel on this team and, especially, our bullpen. Motte was the most hated dude in St. Louis. For example, when leaving the ballpark, a loud-mouth fan yells, “Hey Motte, I think my slow-pitch softball team needs a f***** catcher if you are interested!” It was funny at the time, but actually pretty ignorant. Little did the guy know… Motte actually was once a catcher!

After that game, Motte and the rest of the ‘pen have been lights out. Since that memorable 9^th inning, Motte has pitched 11.2 innings and only allowed one run. He has been dominant in the setup role, but will one day be our closer. He has all the makings of a great, shutdown, closer. The confidence and swagger he has is making some Cardinal fans despise him. Not me. That is a characteristic that EVERY closer needs. He needs to come in with the mindset of “I am the best closer ever”… Basically, in his head, he needs to know he is the shit.

All St. Louis fans, including me, were yelling at Mozeliak saying “GET A RELIEVER! WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A FREAKING CLOSER!” Nobody was really sure what was going to happen when we reached the late innings. However, now that we are through the first sixth of the season, it seems like the focus of concern has shifted. Granted, MO did go out and get Blaine Boyer, who I believe has some unreal potential as a reliever OR starter, but he isn’t the solution we were calling for. He may end up being Todd Wellemeyer in a nutshell, which would be a good thing, but he will only be a decent reliever at best this year.

In early-April we would have done anything for a good late inning type of guy, but I think we will be okay there. In fact, I think we will continue to have a very solid bullpen. If I was John Mozeliak, I would go get a starting pitcher right now.

The first thing most people think is why? Chris Carpenter will be pitching again within a week and a half. Lohse is still locked in. Piniero is having one of his best seasons of his career. And Wainwright will come around. Why go out and give something up (player of money) for a starter? I’ll give you three good reasons why.

1. Carpenter is notoriously known for getting injured. He had his best performance since 2006 with his first start this season. Don’t be fooled though. That wasn’t because he ran into a rough patch in his career. It was his best performance since ’06 because he hasn’t been healthy since then. And when he does come back, he always has some ridiculous injury that screws the Cards for months on end. When Carp is healthy, the Cardinals are great… but what leads us to believe we haven’t seen the last of his injuries this year?

2. We have zero depth at the SP position. We have young guns that will one day be good starters in the MLB, but they are inexperienced and it shows. They’re simply not ready for the next level. I think P.J. Walters has potential to be an ace. The same thing with Mitchell Boggs and Jaime Garcia. In fact, I can see Garcia having the same emergence as Yovani Gallardo has had with the Brew Crew. Call me crazy, but he is our best SP prospect and has major potential.

3. We are hoping that things work out with Piniero and Lohse. Both of those guys have not been lock-down pitchers all their career. They were revived when they came to STL, but it’s been rough outside of the past year for both. How many pitchers do we have that are a sure thing every fifth day? Wainwright and Carpenter when available. Again, do we know that Carp will be with us for the rest of the season? We don’t. There are a lot of questions with this rotation.

So, with that in mind, I would go out and get a good #2-3 starting pitcher. There was speculation of two deals with American League teams, New York and Detroit. In the Detroit trade, I had heard we wanted Brandon Inge (for 3B) and a prospect pitcher. Who we were going to give up was never released, but you have to imagine Ankiel was in the mix. With the Yankees trade, it was pretty straight-up. Rick Ankiel for Phillip Hughes. There was never a deal offered, I don’t think, but I know that there was talk.

I am here to say one thing… CALL CASHMAN UP!

We have a surplus of very good outfielders, if you have not noticed. Chris Duncan is crushing the ball so far (as I predicted), Studwick is being his normal self as an offensive powerhouse, and Colby Rasmus is proving he is ready. Everybody loves Ankiel, and loves his story, but I think pitchers have figured him out. In his first season, he was literally hitting on all cylinders. However, 2008 and 2009 so far was ugly. He just does not look comfortable out there and I have to think that the guys have figured him out. Pitchers are proving my theory by refusing to throw him fastballs. He puts fastballs into the upperdeck, but he looks like a AA player when trying to hit a big-league curveball.

The good thing about it is people love him and he still has value. The Yankees need him too. With Xavier Nady out for possibly the entire season, the Yankees are looking to make a move. They have a HUGE hole in centerfield (dude named Gardner is starting there now), and that does not sit well with Cashman.

For those of you Cardinal fans who do not know who Phillip Hughes is, he’s one of the top Yankee prospects. A couple years ago, he was the #1 prospect in baseball. He was the first-round pick of the Yanks in 2004 and has torched the minors thus far. Hughes is currently fighting for a spot in the rotation.

You want a taste of what we would be getting with Hughes?
April 28 at Detroit: 6.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 6 Ks

I’m just saying… That’s what I would do IF I was John Mozeliak.