That Bastard Selig May Get My $159 Yet

I have a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

Damn. Another great start by Piniero and Ankiel seems to be out of his rut the past two games. 5-10 with 3 runs, 3 RBI, 3 doubles, a long ball, 11 TB and 0 Ks is music to my ears. Mind you, I'm not holding my breath over this club, but they are certainly more fun to follow than last year's version. If they keep this up for another few weeks I'm going to need that cunning plan to convince Mrs. Southlandish to let me purchase the MLB Extra innings package.

Optimism I Wish I Could Share

Jeff Gordon is not approaching the Cardinals season with an air of impending doom. Why the Cards may not be as bad as feared

1. Against all odds, the temporary rotation is shaping up.

Adam Wainwright appears prepared for the lead role leaving Jupiter. Free agent pick-up Kyle Lohse showed up ready to pitch, which was a pleasant surprise.

Most mid-camp additions would need a couple of extra weeks to get ready. Lohse already has impressed his new team.

Braden Looper just threw an encouraging 5 1/3 innings, relocating his sinking stuff while getting eight groundball outs. Prior to that, he got hammered.

I'll believe nothing until the season has cycled through the rotation a couple of times. As I read them we have a number 2 starter in Wainwright as our stopper, and four other guys who are all #4 or #5 starters in every other role. It is the sort of situation every team can go through because of injuries, and you certainly hope you can get by until reinforcements arrive, but try as I might I don't see Mulder coming back into his pre-St. Louis form; I worry that Pineiro will discover he has something seriously wrong with him; and I worry that Carpenter will not be at 100% until late August at the earliest.

The worst case scenario has our bullpen worn thin by the time mid-June arrives. And if that happens I'm not sure prospects from Memphis will offer much support.

2. Adam Kennedy can hit!

He was a black hole in the lineup last season, batting .219. He came to camp on a short leash, since the club re-signed reliable Aaron Miles and had slick-hitting Jarret Hoffpauir in the wings.

But Kennedy seems to have relocated the stroke he had throughout his time with the Angels. After a slow start this spring, he pushed his batting average up to .349.

Alright, this is a positive, and he has the resume to make me believe he can put last year behind him. It will help, but lets not over sell this.

3. Rick Ankiel is going crazy.

This team has many X-factors, but none is greater than this guy. Will Ankiel post solid, Ryan Ludwick-type numbers (.267, 14 homers, 52 RBIs in 303 at-bats) in his first full season as a big league outfielder?

Or will he add an impact bat to a lineup needing all the offense it can find? Chris Duncan’s spring struggle underscored this team’s need for another strong hitter.

Ankiel’s spring training performance (.397, three homers, nine RBIs) has raised expectations.

If Ankiel shows he can fill that spot between Pujols and Glaus than we may be able to score some runs. But we will only win games if the rotation holds up. Even with a productive Ankiel we will not be out-slugging many.

4. Ron Villone is viable.

This is notable, because would-be lefty specialist Tyler Johnson faces an uncertain ’08 season after developing shoulder trouble. And holdover Randy Flores didn’t dominate the lefty-lefty matchups last season.

In past springs, the Cards have seen an assortment of veteran lefties fail to impress Duncan. But Villone has posted a 1.17 ERA in six appearances, generating hope he could become a key bullpen component.

This would help. But does anyone really believe Villone will offer that much of a boost?

Really?

5. The organization finally has depth.

This is a "proof is in the pudding" sort of thing. It will be great if a lot of our young kids are ready and able to contribute at the major league level, and this would include not only those at AAA like Rasmus, McClellan and Hoffpauir, but also someone like Brian Barton who will be with the big club from day one.

Besides, the ebb and flow in the fortunes of prospects can turn what looks like a verdant field into a dry lifeless desert in no time flat.

So Are Sports Writers Retarded Or Lying Bastards?

I'm already tired of the moralizing asses I'm reading in the papers or seeing on ESPN telling me what a bad person Rick Ankiel is for using HGH to recover from arm surgery.

"Wait a second?? Arm surgery?? I thought HGH was helping Ankiel hit home runs? That is what every sports writer has said."

Well, every sports writer is wrong. HGH won't help you develop power hitting ability, although it might help with the healing process after surgery.

"But Ankiel was a pitcher! He couldn't hit the ball far before! He must have done something shady!"

You mean like when he was in high school and hitting 450 foot home runs, and smacking balls into the upper decks of professional stadiums? The truth is Ankiel always had the power he is displaying nowadays, it wasn't cultivated since the HGH use. Also, the HGH use only occurred while Ankiel was trying to be a pitcher. There is no evidence that he ever used anything unusual since he gave up pitching.

What I cannot stand are sports writers putting themselves forward as holders of our moral conscience. They aren't. In fact no media personage can speak well on moral matters. The press is chock full of scumbags who are more interested in their personal aggrandizement than they are with anything to do with the public good. But being a self-righteous ass is a good way to get a book contract or a show on ESPN, unfortunately.

Were I grading the media on their performance regarding Ankiel I'd give them a "D" on getting their facts straight, an "F" on placing the incident in its proper context, and an "A+" on ill-informed dickishness.

A Thought

Do I really care about the revelations about Rick Ankiel and his possible use of HGH before MLB banned the substance?

No.

But I will enjoy watching the media that lionized Barry Bonds try to rip Ankiel apart.

Ah...good times.

Stop The Stupidity With The Lineup

No, I am not talking about batting the pitcher in the eight spot. There is no way to argue that we haven't been winning while we've been doing that.

What I want to see an end to is the all right-hand hitting lineups La Russa throws out against left handed pitching. Our right handed hitting does not take enough advantage of LHP to make it worthwhile.

Look at the numbers so far this season:

RHB v. RHP

AB: 1706
Hits: 471
HR: 48
Slg: .413

RHB v. LHP

AB: 1002
Hits: 281
HR: 19
Slg: .395

These number are pretty dreadful. While batting average goes up slightly (.276 v. .280), the power numbers drop right into the toilet. While a full 10% of the hits off of RHP go for home runs, RHB only manage to hit homers at a 6.7% clip against lefties. This is only marginally better the our LHB does against LHP (2 HR's out of 40 hits, or 5%.) Sure Duncan is only hitting .225 against LHP, but he has only had 71 AB's against them, and it is still better than Ludwick or Rolen's average against southpaws. And when you consider what a big power role Duncan plays on this team it makes even less sense to keep him on the bench.

The thing is had Duncan faced more LHP earlier in the season (and last season for that matter) he might be better prepared to face it now. You can make the same argument for Ankiel as well. As of right now only Albert Pujols has a batting average above .225 with more than one home run against LHP. So where is the benefit from sitting Duncan and Ankiel?

Ankiel! Ankiel! Ankiel!

It is only the 7h inning of Ankiel's third game as a full time major league outfielder and he has three home runs and is batting over .400 and has 6 RBI.

Not that we could have used this back in June. Nah.

Ankiel

Get Up, Baby! has Rick Ankiel's night in pictures. Pretty cool.

Surely Now Is The Time

Jim Edmonds gets sent to the DL today, and as a result the Cardinals have to bring up someone to play in the outfield. They need someone who has the pop in their bat to hit in the 5 or 6 spot in the lineup. Right?

Wouldn't Rick Ankiel fit that role perfectly? Why, yes, of course he would. This is especially true as both Taguchi and Encarnacion have played in center field before.

So of course the Cardinals bring up the warning track power of Skip Schumaker.

Oh, for fucks sake.

Cardinals, Please Bow To Reality

From the PD:

Outfielder Rick Ankiel hit three home runs Saturday night for the Class AAA Memphis Redbirds in a game against the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines.

Ankiel hit solo home runs in the first, fourth and eighth innings and also had a single in a 7-5 victory.

He has 19 home runs and 52 RBIs and is hitting .282.

Given Preston Wilson's season ending surgery how can you keep Ankiel down on the farm?

Baseball Brou-Haha's

Alright, it cannot measure up to the Chicago Cubs beating the crap out of each other in the club house, but things are a bit testy down Cardinals way. From the PD:

Former Cardinals catcher Eli Marrero on Friday blasted Tony La Russa for the manager's recent comments about how Marrero blew his chance to remain with the organization.

"I don't know what this guy thinks," Marrero said. "I have no more respect for this guy whatsoever. I can't believe what this guy put out there."

The Cardinals released Marrero, 34, from Class AAA Memphis on May 21 after he caught one complete game for the Redbirds on May 18. Marrero, 34, said Friday he never received an explanation from Redbirds manager Chris Maloney but held no animosity toward the club or La Russa until recently reading his explanation.

"I go up there. I catch nine innings, get my four at-bats and my two hits. Then they release me. That's their decision. I left. I'm done with the Cardinals," Marrero said. "Then, all of a sudden, I read this from this guy. He doesn't have the (guts) to call me. He says, 'He didn't do enough with his chances, injuries aside.' Yeah, right."

...

In need of catching depth after Yadier Molina suffered a broken left wrist Tuesday, the Cardinals turned to Brian Esposito, 28, who was hitting .178 at Memphis.

"They screwed up in letting me go. Now, they're trying to make it sound it like it was my fault. Typical," Marrero said.

I have to say it sounds like Marrero is more in the right here. The Cardinals brass did not do a good job preparing the franchise for this season, and they are trying to cover their asses. Blaming Marrero seems like a pretty petty way to go about it. Given the sheer amount of injuries that have clobbered the team it might not have mattered much in the standings even if the off season preparations had been handled correctly, but there is no way to deny the half-assed approach.

Given all of that, the questionable moves just keep coming:

Altering course because of mounting injuries, the Cardinals now concede left fielder Chris Duncan will probably land on the disabled list today, two days after he returned to St. Louis for treatment of persistent infection and bursitis.

The club is expected to promote shortstop Brendan Ryan from Class AAA Memphis after putting Duncan on the DL retroactive to Sunday.

The moves are in contrast to the optimism expressed about Duncan's condition before an 8-1 win over the Houston Astros. During the win, third baseman Scott Rolen strained a right hamstring, left the game and is expected to miss the balance of the weekend's series.

Alright, I won't question bringing up an infielder as Eckstein's and Rolen's status is up in the air, but how do you continue to justify keeping Ankiel down in AAA given the state of the Cards outfield? I know that once you bring Rick up you are committed to him for the season, but so what? The lack of pop in this lineup is a serious handicap, and Ankiel is the only viable option at this point. (I'm really writing off Preston Wilson at this point, and can anyone give me a good reason not to do that?)