St Louis Cardinals

After two weeks for the Cardinals, there have been good and bad things, promising and unpromising things, and most importantly, good and bad results.  The good has been the hitting, especially the homers, and the bad has been the blown saves/losses by the bullpen.

The Good

Well, I might as well start with the most important player, Albert Pujols. He has four homers and 14 RBI (half have been in one game, however) so far this season. 

Ryan Ludwick certainly is no fluke.

The 30-year-old outfielder proved just how potent his bat can be on Friday as the Cardinals lost a nail-biter 8-7 to the Chicago Cubs.

The All-Star slugger hit a pair of homers off Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano in the third and seventh innings and finished the day with four RBI. He did strike out twice though, including a critical at-bat in the ninth inning against Carlos Marmol.

The Cardinals former ace and 2005 Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter enjoyed an offseason that could almost be called “normal”.  Cardinal fans were hoping for a strong return from the pitcher this year, but most were playing the safe bet that his health would keep him from taking the ball every fifth day.

After a very solid month of Grapefruit League play, Carpenter started to sway our opinions. What if he could continue his spring pace in the regular season?  How good would the Cardinal rotation be?

Closer by committee? Who needs it? Certainly not Kyle Lohse. 

The young right-hander dominated the Houston Astros with a complete game gem on his way to help the Cardinals win 3-0 on Easter Sunday, completing the series sweep. 

Like many baseball fans believe, sometimes the first pitch of a game can reveal just how the rest of the game could turn out.

Lohse's first pitch of the contest equated to a single from Kaz Matsui.

The St. Louis Cardinals web site announced today that Minor League pitcher Deryk Hooker has been suspended for 50 games because of a violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program today.

In today's age of PEDs, I wish Minor League and Major League Baseball would distinguish between drug violations of PEDs and recreational drug use. Especially when you are dealing with a young kid, like Deryk Hooker, and with today's sensitivity to the use of PEDs in Major League Baseball.

Is this the way it's going to be? Down one day, up the next, down the day after that?  Let me know so I can take some motion sickness pills.

The Cardinals lost again last night to the Pirates, this time with St. Louis trying for late inning dramatics and failing.  One day after the high of an offensive explosion, the Redbirds again struggled, posting only two hits until late in the ballgame.

Quite a conversion. Switching from catcher to pitcher in 2006, Motte has shown all the talent needed to be an everyday MLB player. But does Jason Motte possess the mindset of an everyday closer?

Motte showed his arsenal during his short 12-game stint last season, posting a .82 ERA and well over a strikeout an inning.

He has a fastball that can touch 100 MPH, a fantastic slider and a decent curveball. Seems to be more than enough for a dominant closer.

I have to say, I love MLB Extra Innings. I may not get anything else done this spring/summer, but it is fun to get Cardinals baseball!

Of course, the big story of the day was Jason Motte's "implosion" in the ninth to blow the save and cost the Cardinals the game, 6-4. I'm not going to get into the melee on this one. He was too pumped up coming into the game, had a long inning in the bottom of the eighth where he was not sure whether to be throwing or not, and was just a bunch of nerves.