By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 9:13 am
JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals sent ailing righthander Joel Pineiro for a magnetic resonance imaging scan and the results showed no structural damage to his right shoulder. That answers one question for the Cardinals, but doesn’t put Pineiro back on the mound.
The Cardinals have taken Pineiro out of his scheduled start and do not know when he’ll next pitch, manager Tony La Russa said this morning. Anthony Reyes will start in Pineiro’s place Wednesday. They will continue to explore reasons and treatments for the recurring tightness in Pineiro’s shoulder.
My take: In a baseball world where you can never have enough pitching, why are we always so shallow on the mound?
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As another pitcher falls, Carp climbs
By Derrick Goold
03/11/2008 1:59 pm
JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals healing ace Chris Carpenter threw a light bullpen off the mound Monday, his first trip up the hill since his failed attempt to pitch through bone spurs last season.
Carpenter threw 20 pitches to a squatting catcher, and did so at slightly more than halfspeed. He joked this morning that he wasn’t lobbing the ball, but wasn’t really “firing it” either. Just as importantly, he came to the clubhouse Tuesday with no soreness or discomfort or swelling in the surgically repaired elbow.
“It was fun to get back out there,” Carpenter said. “I got the ball down real good. It had some pop at the end.”
My take: He can’t get back into this rotation fast enough as I don't think Miles can handle more than 25-30 innings of work this year.
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Chris Duncan focuses on staying healthy
03/11/2008
DUNCAN'S 2007 in Review
Chris Duncan opened last season on a tear but ended it hurt. A look at his production:
Before All-Star break
.288 avg 236 ab
16 hr 47 rbi
34 bb 68 so
After All-Star break
.209 avg 139 ab
5 hr 23 rbi
21 bb 55 so
Duncan, 26, figures as one of the Cardinals' primary production sources this season. As an important first step, he would love to go about his work uninterrupted.
Leaving him with intense discomfort in his lower left abdomen, a sports hernia and ensuing surgery abbreviated Duncan's '07 season.
My take: Stop screwing around as your time has come to buckle down and not look like a CYC 10 year old fielding the ball. We need you to focus as you'll probably be our starting First Baseman in early May for the rest of the 2008 season.
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Record lags, but Cards see some encouraging signs
By Jeff Gordon
03/11/2008
...The Cards are pretty much on schedule, despite their 5-8 record in Grapefruit League play.
The spring hasn’t been totally smooth, of course. Albert Pujols is trying to play through a partially torn elbow ligament, an injury that may eventually require surgery. This is a big uncertainty hanging over the team. He believes he can manage the injury with treatment and additional rest, but . . .
The Scott Spiezio Fiasco punched a big hole into the Cards bench, since the club lost a switch-hitting infielder/outfielder with power. He was the team’s Troy Glaus insurance coming into the spring.
Shortstop Cesar Izturis has been the biggest disappointment. He has just two hits in 22 spring at-bats and his fielding has been dreadful. Second baseman Adam Kennedy started poorly as well, but he is starting to show a little life at the plate.
Tyler Johnson’s sore shoulder was another setback, since it compromised the team’s bullpen depth on the left side. The Cards were hoping he would take a step forward this spring, not a step back.
My take: Make sure your 6 point safety harness is buckled – this is a gonna be a helluva roller coaster ride this year.
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Barton: Sudden impact
By Derrick Goold
03/10/2008
The Cardinals proclaimed surprise that they were able to snag Barton in the Rule 5 draft this winter. Cleveland left him off its 40-man roster less than a year after he was considered one of the Indians' elite prospects. The Cardinals were in search of youth and a righthanded bat and found both in Barton. His speed was just a bonus. It was also a question.
It's likely Barton slipped to the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft because he was just coming off knee surgery to repair a condition that had caused him discomfort for several seasons.
In the dash for outfield playing time, Barton offers an element that few others do. Only two teams stole fewer bases than the Cardinals last season, and throughout the organization the Cardinals have a need for speed. At Class A and higher, they had only one player rank in his league's top 12 in steals — Rasmus. Barton's speed can change a game.
On Sunday, he drove a liner to the gap in right-center for a triple. Then he scored easily on a wild pitch that didn't leave the grass behind home plate. But La Russa lauded how he nearly beat out a grounder to third for an infield hit.
"That's one element of his game that is interesting to us," general manager John Mozeliak said.
Coder’s take: The Ronnie Belliard dreads are back in the house and he’s the new Twizzler.
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Viva el Birdos author Larry Borowsky mines this nugget of gold from the history books:
In the last half-century, this franchise has recorded back-to-back losing seasons only once, in 1994-95 — the last year of Dal Maxvill’s reign as general manager, and the first year of Walt Jocketty’s.
My take: Ruh roh.
