Cardinals Report Card

I'm just too tired to do a full report. So here's a quick opinion.

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Starting Pitching:

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Mark Mulder is on the DL. He looked flat in the Spring Training game I saw, and he never has looked dominent. Maybe a rest will do him good.

Sidney Ponson had been sent to the bullpen, then brought back to the rotation due to Mulder going on the DL. I thought he looked pretty solid up to this point. He's not the ace of the staff, but he knows how to pitch and I'm happy with him as a #5.

Jeff Suppan is okay.

Chris Carpenter has dropped off quite a bit from last year. But he's okay.

Jason Marquis is okay, too.

There's this kid named Anthony Reyes that looks like he's ready for the big time. He pitched a one hitter the other night, the only hit he gave up was a 4-bagger and he got an "L" hung next to his name due to a lack of offensive support.

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Bullpen:

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Boy, lately they've been bad. Up 'til mid-June they were teriffic. Except Izzy. He may have to step down from the closer role.

Adam Wainwright is another young guy that's ready to stay in the bigs.

Pretty much everybody on the staff is good. I just think the management style of TLR/DD is not one that lets bullpen guys flurish. DD is a great instructor, but his abilities stop right there. TLR is just a knucklehead. The front office desirves as much credit as TLR.

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Catchers:

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Both Yadier Molina and Gary Bennett have solid defensive skills, good arms, call a good game, communicate well with the staff and can't hit thier own weight.

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Infield:

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Albert Pujols was injured right in time. He was starting to try too hard. I could see him looking to yank the ball into the bleachers with every swing. Up to this season he was okay with poking it to the opposite field if that's what the pitcher was giving him. So he sat down for 2 weeks. He's been back for about a week now and he has that easy swing again.

David Eckstien is still the pulse of this team. He's not gunna carry the team, but if he hits a slump, the whole team hits a slump. This guys important. And more important, he's a professional.

Aaron Miles aint' an All Star. He ain't a Hall of Famer. But he is a gamer and, just like Eckstien, he's a pro. I'm glad he's a Redbird. I wish his average was a little higher, but not everybody's a .300 hitter.

Scott Rolen. I wish everybody would shut up about his power numbers being down. His defense is as good as ever and he's hitting .340 So SHUT THE HELL UP!

(Oh yeah, watch Rolen and Pujol run the bases. They could put on a clinic. Watching most big leaguers run the bases makes me cringe. Even some of the Cardinals are clueless [Hector Luna] but these two guys will not cost you one single game making baserunning errors.)

Scott Spiezio is as good guy. Just what you want in a utility guy. My early opinion of him was wrong. Scott filled in well while Rolen and Albert were out.

Hector Luna. I'm not sure why TLR is in love with this guy, but he's alright. TLR plays him in the outfield as much as the infield. Dunno why.

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Outfield:

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Jim Edmonds is struggling. He's banged up. He's playing too shallow. He still believes that he can get to every ball hit to any part of the ball park, well those days are gone. I've seen more balls get past him in the first 3 month of this year that the last two years combined. And I'm getting tired of all the strikeouts. It's like he's not even trying to improve on that part of his game. Look at Ozzie Smith. Dude just got better and better with the bat. He knew that he needed to get better, and so he did something about it. Now, Jimmy has this laid back attitude that gives folks the wrong impression sometimes, but being a windmill year in and year out just shows me that you ain't trying. Still, I want to see him retire as a Cardinal. I stand by my earlier statement. Even with diminished skills he's the best in the Busch Stadium outfield, and he'd be the best in just about any outfield.

So Taguchi. Whatever. I'm tired of this guy.

Juan Encarnacion. He's fine. He has a strong arm and he knows it. That's a bad thing. He's lazy defensively. He seems to have the attitude that positioning isn't important, because whenever he eventually makes his way to the ball, all he has to do is throw it really hard. His offense is streaky. He wants to be a power hitter. He sacrafices average and smart hitting for is pursuit of the highlight reel. You know what? He's really the type of ball player I don't like.

John Rodriguez is not impressing me. He's just another guy. Hey, feel that breeze? I think he just struck out again.

Timo Perez is the latest addition to the outfield. So far he's okay.

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A few words about the outfield situation.

TLR is really getting on my nerves with this one. If you asked me who were the members of the starting line up in the outfield, I would not be able to give you an answer. There isn't one. Between the revolving door of guys going to and from AAA and having the utility infielders play as much as the backup outfielders, and they're playing as much as the "starters". There's been like 558,000 guys play in left field this week alone. Frankly I'm sick of it. TLR needs to pick three guys, look them in the eye and tell them "your my guys, now get it done." How freakin' hard is that? If my boss micro-managed as much as TLR, I'd go crazy. (BTW, I have an awesome boss. No, really.) I've looked at the stats on some of the guys they have in the minors, it's not that bad. I'd dump everybody but Jimmy and bring up John Gall, Skip Schumaker, Chris Duncan and Brian Daubach. Send Brian back down when Larry Bigbie comes off the DL. And let some of these youngsters play. The rest of the team are veterans. And, not to mention, talented. You have the perfect moment to let a couple of young guys mature in a protected environment. They can't be any worse than what's out there now. I bet you 35 cents that as long as TLR is calling the shots, the Cardinals will have a winning record. They'll make the playoffs more often than not. And they will never win a World Series. I know I'm right. You know I'm right. We both wish I weren't. We'll both keep watching.

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And that concludes my short report.

Phil