Introducing Your 2011 Playoff Cardinals: Bullpen

This is the Cardinals bullpen. I feel like there are a lot more guys hiding in there somewhere but every other familiar name I double-checked now pitches for another team. At the beginning of the season there was a lot of criticism leveled at the bullpen (*cough*RyanFranklin*cough*) but, after considerable wheeling and dealing the Cardinals have put together a respectable group of pitchers.


This is Kyle McClellan. He was left off of the NLDS roster due to a recent bout of arm fatigue. He says he's fine, so maybe he will show up later if when the Cardinals advance. Just thought you should know.


This is Mitchell Boggs. Like a lot of guys in the Cardinals' bullpen he has experience starting games, finishing games, and showing up somewhere in the middle. The past four seasons his won-loss record has been 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, 2-3. This isn't relevant to anything, it's just a minor statistical oddity.


This is Mark Rzepczynski (pronounced zep-CHIN-skee). YES HE HAS A WEIRD NAME. There aren't many people named Mark anymore. A former starting pitcher in Toronto, the Jays converted him to the bullpen before trading him to the Cardinals halfway through the season. As a left-handed pitcher he is often brought in as a specialist for specific match-ups, although he has pitched as many as three innings in relief. Since coming to the Cardinals he has averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, which is quite good.


This is Octavio Dotel (rhymes with Hotel). He has played for 11 teams in the past 8 seasons, which either means he is not terribly desirable, or he is the king of one-year contracts, or it means he is an excellent bargaining chip. Since coming to the Cardinals mid-season from the Blue Jays (just like half the dang team) Dotel has pitched effectively and has been used recently as the eight inning set-up man.


This is Arthur Rhodes. He is old. He was playing Minor League baseball in 1988. In 2007 he underwent Tommy John surgery, so really he is only pitching with a four-year-old arm. A lefty specialist, he will only face one or two batters at a time, some of whom weren't even born when he signed his first contract. Rhodes has done well as opponents have only batted .207 against him since he came to St. Louis in August.


This is Fernando Salas. He was born in Huatabampo, Mexico, which is infinitely fun to say out loud. This is only his second season in the Majors and for a while the Cardinals used him as their regular closer. They never announced that he was THE closer, he just frequently found himself pitching the final inning of tight ballgames. Last month his role was less defined as he was brought in to pitch as early as the seventh inning. Regardless he is consistent, reliable, and Mexican.


This is Jason Motte. He is a relief pitcher. Less a pitcher, more a throw-the-living-crap-out-of-the-ball-er. As they'll remind you during every broadcast Motte was a former catcher. You can tell this in his delivery as it looks like he is trying to throw every pitch through a brick wall. Despite throwing the ball so violently he walks surprisingly few batters. Last month he was used as the closer despite the fact that, again, the Cardinals never announced an official closer. He was simply their guy who finished close games.

Introducing Your 2011 Playoff Cardinals: Infielders

Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies started off promising enough (three runs off of Roy Halladay? Holy cow!) but a bad inning, followed by a bad inning, followed by a bad inning put the victory out of reach. But with Halladay out of the way, the Cardinals can look forward in Game 2 to beating up on... Cliff Lee? Aw, nuts.

Let's look at the Cardinals' infield. Apart from Albert Pujols and, to some extent, Yadier Molina, the regular infielders are quite anonymous outside of St. Louis. Tony LaRussa is always shuffling them around anyway, so how are we supposed to keep track? Here are the guys you should at least make an effort to remember.

This is Albert Pujols (pronounced POO-holes, tee-hee). He plays first base, except for those weird seven games when he played third. Despite having the worst offensive season in his Major League career, he still led the team in home runs, hits, RBIs, runs, and total bases, among other things. Pujols is so dominating with his bat people forget he is also an excellent fielder and a smart baserunner (his stolen base success rate is always surprisingly high despite the fact he is not at all fast-legged). In 57 post-season games (including last night's Game 1) Pujols is batting .322 with 13 home runs and 37 walks, 12 of them intentional, so as this series progresses expect some Pujolsian damage.


This is Skip Schumaker. You could probably figure out everything you needed to know about him by simply looking at his name. Scrappy player under 6ft tall? No home run power, .290 career average? Check, check and check. In addition to competently fielding his second base position Skip can also be seen playing the outfield when Tony LaRussa gets a case of the late-inning switcharoos. Fun fact: Earlier this year Tony had him pitch (with permission, I'm sure) the last inning of a blowout game. Of the five batters he faced, he struck out two. He also walked a batter and gave up a homer. There is no reason to think Tony won't try this again next season.


This is Ryan Theriot (like "stereo," but without the letter S). He also plays second base. Theriot was actually the regular starting shortstop until Rafael Furcal was acquired in July. Since then he's been platooning with Skip and filling the position for the late innings. Theriot has also shown himself to be an effective pinch hitter.


This is Rafael Furcal. The Cards picked him up from the Dodgers in a mid-season trade. Although he is a little error prone, Furcal has great range and a cannon arm. He missed the final two games of the regular season with a hamstring injury but felt well enough to start Game 1 last night. After singling in his first at-bat the announcers said his base running could be hindered by the injury. Then he went ahead and stole second.


This is David Freese. He splits third base time with Daniel Descalso (which unintendedly sounds like some sort of innuendo). The Cardinals acquired him before the 2008 season by trading away an old broken Jim Edmonds to San Diego. Freese is a good hitter... and this concludes all I know about David Freese.


This is Daniel Descalso. He is a utility infielder playing his first full season in the Majors. Although not a regular starter, his versatility has allowed him to appear in 148 of the Cardinals' 162 games. He is always around, but you forget about him later.


This is Yadier Molina. He is the catcher, one of the best in the Major Leagues. Although he as always been regarded as an excellent fielder, the 2011 season was his best offensively. Usually regarded as a relatively quiet guy, this year Yadier got himself some tough tattoos and then later spat on an umpire. If this new scary Yadier continues to improve his hitting then I'm all for the radical image change. It is important to note that Molina is a post-season stud, batting .313 in 33 games and always there for the critical hit.

Introducing Your 2011 Playoff Cardinals: Outfielders

Tony La Russa switched up his starting pitchers again. We still have Kyle Lohse starting Game 1, but now Chris Carpenter is starting Game 2 on three days rest. He has never pitched on anything less than four days rest. SCARY. Jaime Garcia will start Game 3, and Edwin Jackson is bumped to Game 4. It wouldn't surprise me if this all changes fifteen minutes before game time.

Now lets talk about the outfield. Ten different people at one point or another started a game in Tony's outfield this season, so you'll be forgiven if you can't recall everybody. They look so tiny out there anyway. Here are the need-to-know names and faces.


This is Matt Holliday. Apparently his nickname is "Big Daddy," which disturbs me more than a little bit. He is the left fielder, and every once in a while he has trouble catching baseballs lined directly at him. He more or less lost Game 2 of the 2009 NLDS all by himself when he attempted to field a line drive with his crotch, so hopefully there will be some sort of Matt Holliday redemption story this go-round. As ineffective as he can sometimes be in the field, he more than makes up for it with his bat. Holliday can hit for average, maintains a good on-base percentage, and is always a home run threat. However, he currently has a bum finger and will miss Game 1.


This is Jon Jay. He has, as far as I can tell, the shortest name in baseball history (right up there with Mel Ott). Raise your hand if you knew Jay played in 159 of the Cardinals' 162 games, more than anybody else. Now put your hand down because I can't actually see you. Yes, Jay weaseled his way into nearly every game by starting a few games here, pinch hitting there, replacing Lance Berkman over yonder, etc. Following the Colby Rasmus trade in July, Jay became the regular center fielder. He's reliable, he's durable, he's young (only his second MLB season), and the kids love him.


This is Lance Berkman. His nicknames are, and I'm not making this up, "Big Puma" and "Fat Elvis." After a disappointing 2010 season a lot of people decided that Berkman was old and broken. Eyebrows were raised when the Cards signed him during the off season, and eyebrows were raised even higher when it was announced he would play the outfield (something he hadn't done since 2007). He managed not to tear up his leg muscles in the field, and surprised everybody at the plate by becoming one the Cardinals' best offensive producers. He led the team in OBP, SLG, and (by extension) OPS.


This is Allen Craig. In only his second Major League season he has been surprisingly effective with the bat. As far as fielding goes he can play nearly every position, infield and out. He's usually been used to fill in for injuries or guys taking a day off or late-inning outfield substitutions. If he keeps performing this well he will have a regular starting gig someday.


This is Corey Patterson. He came over from the Blue Jays in that super deal in July that sent everybody everywhere. About the only thing going for him right now are his speedy legs, but he has zero stolen bases since coming to the St. Louis, so that shows you how much Tony cares about that. And having seen him play in Toronto I can tell you he is not a great base runner anyway. He has had bat problems too, hitting just .157 since the trade. What is Patterson good for? He can catch a ball. Most of the time...

Introducing Your 2011 Playoff Cardinals: Starting Rotation

We continue our reacquaintance with the St. Louis Cardinals, this time taking a look at the starting rotation.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Tony La Russa's chosen starters for the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies will be Kyle Lohse, Edwin Jackson, and Chris Carpenter... in that order. Jaime Garcia will be saved for Game 4. Once again I cannot tell if La Russa is an insane genius or just insane. I'll call you back after the fourth game.


This is Kyle Lohse. Lohse pitched well in April and May, not at all well during the summer months, and sparkled in September. He may just be a mild weather kind of guy. This season Lohse was one of those few guys who actually pitched better on the road. He also did very well in his two appearances against the Phillies, holding them to 3 earned runs in 15 ⅓ innings, walking only 1 and striking out five. This may help to explain La Russa's decision to make him the Game 1 starter against Roy Halladay. It helps to explain, but does not fully explain.


This is Edwin Jackson. The son of a military cook, he was born in West Germany and can thus technically be referred to as a Bavarian. Jackson has played for five teams (if we don't count the two hours he belonged to Toronto) in the past four seasons and can thus also technically be referred to as a journeyman. In 2010 he threw a no-hitter, but it was a sloppy no-hitter as he walked eight batters and drilled another.

Jackson has only pitched against Philadelphia once. It didn't go too well.

(I didn't mean for Edwin's blurb to be so negative. His game should be an interesting one.)


This is Chris Carpenter (not to be confused with the Chicago Cubs rookie who is also a right-handed pitcher, also about the same physical size, and also shares the same first, middle, and last name). He is the "ace," at least until Adam Wainwright's arm is firmly reattached. Carpenter has the most experience of all the starters and even has one of those nifty Cy Young awards. His numbers were down this season, but he had a strong September. Carpenter is not a man you would expect to be laden with tattoos, but he is.

Carpenter pitched twice against the Phillies this season. In 15 innings he allowed only 1 run, walked two, and struck out 12. This is a very, very good thing.


This is Jaime Garcia (pronounced HY-may gar-SEE-ya). He was born in Reynosa, Mexico. He is the only left-hander in the starting rotation. 2010 was his first full season and he came third in Rookie Of The Year voting. His 2011 numbers were down a bit, and he threw 12 wild pitches (2nd-most in the NL), but his strikeout-to-walk ratio was much better. One day everything will click and there won't be anything you can do about it.

Garcia also did exceptionally well against the Phillies this season. In 15 innings he allowed only 1 earned run, walked 3, and struck out 9. The splits indicate Garcia is better at home than on the road and great after a ton of rest, and that may be why Tony is holding him until the series comes to St. Louis.


This is Jake Westbrook. His middle name is Cauthen. I don't know why his head seems so much bigger than everybody else's. Acquired from Cleveland in 2010 as part of a three-team trade the Cardinals are so fond of, Westbrook is an exceptionally good fielder. Pitching-wise, the second half of the season was better than the first, although he did bomb his last start.

And guess how he has done against Philadelphia this year. Fairly well! In 10 ⅓ innings he allowed only 2 earned runs (although he walked 8 and only struck out 2 -- yikes!).

Giving a Hoot

Cleveland, Boston

Colorado, Arizona

I don't have any allegiances to any of these teams. I do have an intense dislike for the Boston Red Sox organization (or "nation", or whatever), so from here on out instead of rooting for a team, I'll be rooting against the Sox. That's quite a negative way to participate in the playoffs, but I suppose it's better than just not caring.

What happens, though, is that I've got to suddenly and emphatically pull for the Indians even though I was just cursing their very existence during the Divisional Series. Fan-hood is such a strange thing.

As for the National League contenders, I'm just along for the ride. I think I might be more inclined to favor the Rockies, but if the Backs make a World Series appearance for the second time in their short existence I won't complain.

Ideally, given who's now remaining in the playoffs, I'd like to see a Colorado/Cleveland World Series. Both are due for a World Series appearance (this is only the second playoff appearance for the Rocks and the first time they've advanced to the NLCS, and the Indians haven't won a World Championship since 1949) and I'd be interested in seeing how Cleveland pitching responds to Coors Field.

Champion-wise, and I know this is extremely superficial, I'd rather team named for a mountain range win than the embarrassing Chief Wahoo. It's bad form to choose a victor based on mascots, but that's how uninvested I am.

Wait... the Rockies' mascot is that stupid purple dinosaur? DINGER?! Well then, there will be no winners this year.

NL, Oh-No

Playoffs are underway, and since I only came in 5th place in my fantasy league I don't think I can make World Series predictions with any authority. I'm just hoping for an entertaining post-season.
I'm excited about the American League games. New York and Boston always make things interesting, and it's fun to watch the outstanding young pitchers from the Indians and Angels. These National League games, though...

The entire National League has been pretty abysmal this season. The Cardinals took a mediocre championship team and, even though expectations were already low, still managed to disappoint. The Mets, chosen by many to be World Series champions, didn't even make the playoffs. None of the teams finished with over 90 wins. And I can't bear the thought of either the Cubs or Phillies playing (let alone winning) a World Series.

It was a rough year for the Cardinals, and I looked for positivity wherever I could find it. However it was always marred by something. I was still celebrating April baseball when Josh Hancock tragically died in a car accident. The Birds delivered the Phillies their 10,000th franchise loss in July, but Philadelphia is now in the playoffs and the Cards are not. The Ankiel story was a good one, at least until HGH caught up with him. Now I can't believe in anything good ever again.

And although I'm bummed that the Cardinals didn't make it to the post-season this year, I'm at least glad that their collapse (losing 14 of 16 in September to go from 1 game behind the Cubs to 9.5) was overshadowed by the Mets' freefall (dropping 12 of 17 at the end of the season to lose their division lead).

If I had to choose an NL team to root for right now it'd be the Colorado Rockies, and not just because they have a chance to stop Philly from advancing. They won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games to take the NL West by surprise. I kind of feel they deserve it.

Of course after that playoff-to-make-the-playoffs game between the Rocks and Padres, everything else seems sort of anti-climactic.