Once again, the cover story on ESPN.com is a poorly written baseball article.
Phil Rogers' piece, "Cardinals still pushing to reach playoffs" is a good example of how baseball writers make baseless claims to write inspirational stories. Keep in mind, the Cardinals are two games under .500 the seventh worst team in the NL.
When the Cardinals arrived in Arizona, long since missing their ace and half of their everyday lineup to season-ending injury and another beloved teammate to death, they were greeted by questions about the validity of their remarkable late-season hero and soon were dealing with more problems, both old and new.
That's a long sentence.
Yes, losing Chris Carpenter was a huge blow. However, losing "half their everday lineup" was a blessing in disguise. The Cardinals lineup was chock full of bad everyday players (Adam Kennedy 54 OPS+, Preston Wilson 51 OPS+, David Eckstein 84 OPS+, Jim Edmonds 85 OPS+) so maybe they shouldn't be in the everday lineup in the first place.
It should be noted that the "remarkable late season hero", Rick Ankiel, would not even be playing if it weren't for the injury to "everyday player" Preston Wilson. Remember, blessings in disguise.
The reports linking Rick Ankiel to the use of human growth hormone
...in 2004 and it was not banned by the MLB yet so it is not illegal. Sure doesn't look good but go on...
were followed by the loss of catcher Yadier Molina to the apparent effects of a concussion
Molina pinch hit last night and is actually in the starting lineup tonight. So he got a day off on Saturday.
and the continuing sight of slugger Albert Pujols' gritting his teeth to play through pain in his right leg.
Wuss!
"This is nothing,'' closer Jason Isringhausen told reporters in the visiting clubhouse at Arizona's Chase Field. "Not compared to the other stuff that's been going on.''
This was a reference to the death of reliever Josh Hancock after an alcohol-related car wreck on April 28 and the loss of 2005 Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter to Tommy John surgery after only one start.
I agree. The loss of a Cy Young winner and a death of a teammate are way more costly to the team than wincing, a catcher’s day off, and a news story. Way more costly. Jason Isinghausen is a smart man.
It also alluded to the loss of third baseman/clubhouse leader Scott Rolen to shoulder problems,
Scott Rolen is having by far the worst season of his career (not counting 2005 when he only played in 54 games and his 27-game rookie season). Power-hitting third basemen Russell Branyan (and arguably, a better hitter these days) was acquired but Tony LaRussa refuses to play on a regular basis. I don’t know why.
outfielder Preston Wilson
No. No. No. He was an absolutely terrible hitter this year and his exit from the lineup opened the door for Rick Ankiel who Rogers called the “remarkable late-season hero.”
Preston Wilson 2007: .219/.265/.313 in 64 at bats
Rick Ankiel 2007: .330/.379/.692 in 91 at bats.
So, let me get this straight, Phillip Rogers. The injury to Preston Wilson is a bad thing?
There’s no comparison; it was a great thing for the Cardinals season when Rick Ankiel replaced Preston Wilson. This should not be considered a loss. It is a benefit.
and second baseman Adam Kennedy to knee injuries
Everyday Lineup Member Adam Kennedy, a veteran second basemen, was posting a .219/.282/.290 line before he got hurt which is the worst OPS among NL second basemen with over 200 AB. In other words, he is the worst everyday second baseman in the league. You should be happy he's on the DL and not in the lineup.
Again, this is not a loss. It is a beneficial to limit the at bats of the worst hitting second basemen in the league. Very beneficial.
and outfielder Juan Encarnacion after a horrifying incident in which he was hit in the face with a line drive when he was in the on-deck circle. Outfielder Chris Duncan could also potentially be sidelined for the rest of the season after he aggravated what the Cardinals are describing as a sports hernia on Saturday.
How much more can a team take?
Losing bad, injured hitters (Kennedy, Wilson, Rolen) is good for the team especially if you have capable hitters waiting in the wings that otherwise would not get an opportunity to produce. Please do not include them with Encarnacion, Carpenter, and Duncan -- not to mention the death of a teammate.
That's a fair question to ponder
Not really. Some of the listed injuries have caused good things to happen. Like Rick Ankiel getting playing time.
as Tony La Russa's Cardinals head to Wrigley Field for a Monday makeup game, beginning an unusually important week in which they will play the Chicago Cubs five times.
Why is it unusual for the Cardinals to have an important week in the middle of September?
The Cardinals and Cubs will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Busch Stadium, the centerpiece of a historically challenging schedule for the Cardinals that will find them playing 35 games in the last 34 days of the season, weather permitting.
The remainder of the Cardinals season:
3 games @ CIN (.448 Winning Percentage)
4 games vs CHC (.507)
3 games vs PHI (.528)
4 games vs HOU (.434)
3 games @ MIL (.514)
1 game @ NYM (.570)
3 games @ PIT (.441)
Historically challenging? Their remaining schedule includes series against three really bad teams. Their remaining schedule is, on average, a .482 winning percentage or in other words, not difficult. How does this schedule challenge history?
In another year, or another division, all of these twists might not smack of quite as much consequence as they do this season. After all, the Cardinals are 69-71, a record that would put them at least 10 games out in any division except the National League Central.
Read that again: “Might not smack of quite as much consequence” What?
Translation: If the NL Central weren’t so bad this year, the sub-.500 Cardinals would not have a chance. This is important. The Cardinals are not a good team. The chances of making the playoffs are dependent on the poor play of the division.
Yet they find themselves three games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and two games behind the Cubs.
Again, because the Cubs and Brewers are not that good. More indicative of a very weak division.
The Brewers, who have taken advantage of attrition suffered by the Cardinals and Houston Astros (both had combined to win 10 of the last 11 titles in the Central) to lead the Central all season.
Wrong. The Cubs have led the division for 23 games. The Cardinals even led the NL Central for a few games. For 26 games, the Brewers did not lead the NL Central. I didn’t know “all season" meant “most of the seasons".
This is a division that could be won by five games by any team that wins 85 games or a division that could find itself with a three-way tie at 81-81, maybe even 80-82.
I’m so very confused. What does this prove? That the NL Central is horrible no matter how you slice it, perhaps? How many times do you want to say this?
The Cardinals might want to fold their hand,
Why would any team want to quit when they’re only 3 games back? Apparently, some teams would prefer to… lose? The Cardinals are not special, they are logical human beings.
but the willpower of La Russa and many of his players, including Pujols, Jim Edmonds, David Eckstein and Isringhausen, won't let them.
Man, Juan Encarnacion sure lacks the willpower. Why didn’t he will the ball away from his face? Coward.
The standings provide a nice incentive to keep grinding, as well.
Really? You think? Just a little bit? Maybe? It's the playoffs you know. It's lots of money at stake.
On June 30, St. Louis was 10½ games behind first-place Milwaukee. It was still eight back on Aug. 5, with a 50-58 record. But through last Tuesday, the 17-8 run fueled by the power hitting of Ankiel and the pitching of Adam Wainwright Braden Looper had gotten them within one game of first place.
You should also mention Joel Pineiro who had 5 quality starts over that period of time and sported a 3.90 ERA. This is a guy who was acquired from Boston with cash for pretty much nothing and only made one start all season.
"We're actually playing like a team that has a chance,'' La Russa said.
From a low of 20-29, the Cardinals climbed over .500, if only by one game.
Now they’ve plummeted to 3 games under .500.
They did it by winning more than their share of tough games, with La Russa doing a lot more as a manager than being confident enough to hit his pitcher eighth, which has gotten more chances for Pujols to drive in runs and jump-start what has been a down season by his high standards.
Albert Pujols during the 28 games with pitcher batting eighth:
100 AB, 32 H, 6 HR (4 with none on base), 12 RBI, .320 BA/ .433 OBP/ .520 SLG
Albert Pujols during the previous 28 games with pitcher batting ninth:
105 AB, 35 H, 8 HR (with none on base), 23 RBI, .333 BA/ .427 OBP/ .638 SLG
In fact, Pujols has driven in less runs and performed more poorly with the pitcher in the eighth slot. Phil Rogers—you are wrong. You can’t claim that it has given Pujols more chances to drive in base runners when he’s only driven in 8 base runners outside of his solo home runs while hitting extremely well with the pitcher in the 8th slot. You know what that tells me? Lack of baserunners. Not jump-starting offense. Please do not commend LaRussa for doing this when it is slowing Pujols down. Stop making baseless claims.
Opponents have outscored St. Louis by 62 runs -- a differential that ranked 11th in the NL.
But their standings show that they are 10th in the NL so run differential rankings are pretty accurate, I’d say.
The Pythagorean standings credited La Russa for creating five wins from thin air
Weird metaphor. I can understand it if La Russa managed the Colorado Rockies, but St Louis is pretty regular air.
and showed that, based on the math of Bill James, the Cardinals should be nine games behind the Cubs and six behind the Brewers.
You’re gonna bash Bill James’ Pythagorean standings because there is a five game variance? Do you think Bill James predicted Josh Hancock’s death? Chris Carpenter's injury?
The standings in your morning paper, of course, show the only standings that matter to the Cardinals, who are the one team among the three Central contenders that has a habit of winning.
Mr. Rogers, you cannot say they have a habit of winning when they have more losses than wins on the season. In fact, they are the only one of the three who do NOT have a winning record. This is a very wrong statement.
It's amazing that the Cardinals have been able to weather the loss of Carpenter, who carried them into the postseason with a 15-8 record in 2006. Before losing Carpenter, they had seen Mark Mulder sidelined by shoulder surgery and Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver and Jason Marquis leave as free agents.
The Cardinals management let them leave by choice. They chose not to sign them. Also, they're not weathering anything, they're not a winning team!
Think about that for a minute.
Thinking… nothing’s happening…
With Mulder returning only about a week ago, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan have had to manufacture a pitching staff while thus far getting only two starts from five guys who combined for 129 starts a year ago.
No. No. No. The pitching coach does not manufacture a pitching staff. The GM does. The GM is responsible for “manufacturing” the pitching roster. They let they're starting pitchers go in the off season and deliberately chose to turn to their young players.
They made a good decision in moving not only Wainwright (always a starter in waiting) from the bullpen into the starting rotation but also Looper, whose 157 innings have been a key in keeping the staff together. But the bullpen was weakened when Josh Kinney underwent Tommy John surgery in spring training and Hancock (one of those glue guys in the bullpen best appreciated when they are no longer there) was killed.
Doesn’t that last line seem a little distasteful? Did he have to use the word “killed”?
Also, two words can substitute “one of those glue guys in the bullpen best appreciated when they are no longer there.”
Middle reliever.
Carpenter had seemed fine until awaking with swelling in his elbow after facing the New York Mets on Opening Day. Consider that a harbinger of things to come.
"I believe losing Carpenter changed a lot," Duncan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You can't discount his value to this team, especially this staff."
Well how bout that. The 2005 Cy Young winner is valuable for a team. Thanks, Duncan.
Ankiel has been St. Louis' exception this season -- a bright spot in the middle of a dark, deep forest of negativity. The guy who fell apart on the mound during the 2000 playoffs is hitting .330 since being promoted from Triple-A Memphis, where he had 32 homers and 89 RBIs in 102 games. His instant impact in the outfield begs only one question -- why did general manager Walt Jocketty and La Russa wait until early August to summon him?
You referenced the injury to Preston Wilson earlier as an obstacle that the team had to overcome. Now you’re saying the GM should have played Ankiel over him? You can’t have it both ways. I know you’re a journalist and you need to justify claims somehow but you can’t claim that Preston Wilson’s injury was a big loss to the team and then say that Ankiel should be playing over him anyway. I’m sorry.
Phil Rogers, there were like 403 baseless claims this article. Yes, it's amazing how horrible the NL Central is. But it is undeniable that the Cardinals are NOT A GOOD TEAM. They are only in the race because the other teams are not that good.
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