Sigh

Is it just me, or are the Cardinals really 17-6? I just keep double taking every time I look at that 12-11 record sitting right beside a +30 run differential, a run differential that just so happens to the best in all of baseball. I felt throughout Tuesday night's 6-5 loss to the Lastros that the game was really firmly in hand. Yeah, I know the game was consistently close, but I just wasn't scared. I was going nuts after Lance Berkman's slap double drove in Matt Holliday because I honestly thought that run was all the Cards were going to need. After all, Mitch Boggs has pretty much been lights out all season. Turns out, he wasn't even that bad Tuesday night. This was no Franklin implosion wrought with jet plane home runs and laser tag line drives. This was, in fact, completely ridiculous. I feel no need to go on any longer about this game in paragraph form. I would likely to simply state that TLR needn't insta-pull Boggs from this role; with any luck he would've recorded save number four or at least pushed the game to extra innings.

Let us recount the bottom of the ninth inning of this awful baseball game I keep blathering on about.

-Brian Bogusevic, who had never played baseball until this particular game, accidentally hits a line drive into right field for a base hit.
-Yadier Molina slips into a narcolepsy fit and a ball skips off into the distance. That Boguasbvnlbi vadsl guy heads on down to second base.
-Michael Bourn bunts as usual. Mitchell Boggs plays hot potato and everyone gets to be on base.
-Mitchell Boggs throws a pitch eight feet and Molina has no idea what to do. That one guy scores, while Michael Bourn forgets he is allowed to run to second base. The game is tied without anyone having done anything at all.
-Angel Sanchez reaches out and burps a bloop single in front of Lance Berkman. Michael Bourn holds up at second. Despite having already made several outs, none are showing up on the scoreboard.
-Hunter Pence, owner of a fancy pants name, follows Angel Sanchez's lead and peeps a ball to the opposite field. The bases are loaded, no one is out, and no one is sure why any of this has happened. The Astro fans are excited despite the positively dreadful fact that they are Astro fans.
-Mitchell Boggs induces a pop-up out of the dead-phase bat of big, fat Carlos Lee. One down and I'm actually optimistic there will be free baseball.
-Mitchell Boggs dominates Bill Hall and forces him to hit into what would have been a double play if a shortstop was playing shortstop. Astros 6, Cardinals 5.

For me, these are among the most frustrating losses. The Astros accumulated the two runs they needed to win on the wings of four weak singles, a passed ball and a wild pitch. It's hard to place blame anywhere when Lady Luck was clearly wearing a green hat with a broken star on it. I'm optimistic the Cardinals will turn this dubious trend around, but it's getting old watching them drop games to bad teams in ugly ways. But hey, there's always tomorrow.

Franklin Out as Closer, No Replacement Announced

St. Louis, MO-

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa announced Tuesday that Ryan Franklin, the team's closer since 2008, will be taken out of his role at least for the time being. Franklin has blown four of his five save opportunities and surrendered three home runs in his first 4 2/3 innings pitched in 2011. La Russa added that a concrete replacement for Franklin has not yet been determined.

"We're not sure what direction we're headed in yet," La Russa told the media in a temperamental tone. "Obviously Ryan's one of the best closers in this team's history, and he would probably make a fine President if elected, but I guess we need to go with another guy for now."

La Russa then muttered something about Franklin's struggles being center fielder Colby Rasmus' fault and mentioned that he had to return some video tapes. The Cardinal manager made this announcement with one of his eyes swollen shut, an ailment he attributes to an illness he picked up over the weekend.

"It's got nothing to do with this situation. No one punched me in the head, if that's what you're trying to imply," La Russa told reporters without having been asked.

La Russa added that Franklin took the move very well, and the he "probably wasn't going to dress in camouflage and fire shots at fans from the outfield."

The most likely candidate to get save opportunities in the interim is Mitchell Boggs, a starter-turned-reliever who relies on a mid-90s fastball and a slider to dispatch batters. Other possibilities include fireballer Jason Motte and rookie Eduardo Sanchez, who has struck out eight of the first 10 batters he has faced.

Boggs seemed optimistic that he would get the call if the opportunity presented itself.

"Yeah, I mean I really should, shouldn't I? I've been very dependable, and I know how to get guys to miss when we need to keep the ball out of play," Boggs said. "And if it's not me, we've got a few other guys who I know will get the job done better than Franky. He's terrible. It's really a miracle that he's made it this far tossing those wet gerbils up there for three years."

Motte also seemed to think the move was a good one, or at least reporters interpreted his statement that way.

"When the darkness descends over the moonlit plain, I will be there. My staff glows radiant under the force of the illumination. No mortal man could withstand the bloodshed brought forth by the running of the wolves."

While the move was taken well by all in the Cardinal clubhouse, not everyone sees the move as a positive change.

"Personally, I love what the guy does," Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp said. "I think he's outstanding, and I honestly wish we could play the Cardinals every day in one-run games. If it was up to me, Ryan Franklin wouldn't have to worry about his job one bit."

Only time will tell if the Cardinals made the right decision in lessening Franklin's role going forward. The team has yet to find itself in many close games, so it is possible that the team's new closer will not see action in the role for a while.

La Russa hinted that Franklin was likely to reclaim his closer position later in the season should things turn around for the 38 year-old.

"He'll be back where he belongs before long. Unless you guys want puppies pooping all over the infield all week, he'll be back."

Home Runs and Blown Saves

Sure, this Dodgers series ended in ugly fashion, the same ugly fashion that so many games seem to have ended in as of late. But I honestly don't want to dwell on that. Based on TLR's post-game comments and, well, his entire managerial career, Ryan Franklin's going to hold on to his fancy closer title for as long as his invincibility cheat lasts. At least this time the disastrous death bomb to center field came at the hands (or bat, really) of Matt Kemp instead of Cameron Maybin. The glass is half-full, right?

Seriously, though, the glass has to seem half-full right now if you're a Cardinals fan. The team just finished up a streak in which they scored a minimum of eight runs for five consecutive games, something that hasn't happened in my lifetime. For that matter, it never happened in Jack Buck's lifetime! It was a truly fantastic streak that saw Albert start to heat up, Lance Berkman remind me why I took the life of multiple mobile phones when he opposed the Cardinals a half-decade ago, and Colby Rasmus show why he's so important to the future of this team. I certainly wouldn't have thought this around the start of that Giants series, but there's a lot to get excited about with this offense.

I'm going to back off for a moment and restate that I haven't changed my mind in relation to the big picture. I don't think this team is going to win more than 90 games at the most, and I still think this division is going to be quite the fight all the way to the finish line. What I am starting to realize is that Lance Berkman may be something of a bargain for this offense. No, he isn't going to slug .700, but who's to say he can't hearken back to his still-productive 2009? Colby hasn't done anything to disprove the hypothesis I and several others made prior to the season. You know, the one about him approaching stardom. David Freese looks totally competent at the plate and has played an outstanding third base. Skip Schumaker hit a home run that one night.* There's a lot to be excited about!

*At the exact moment that Skipper popped his little dinger my Mediacom connection was briefly lost and my TV screen blacked out. The signal returned just in time for me to see a three-run change in the game's score and everyone high-fiving Skip. Come on! What are the odds? I feel like I missed a lunar eclipse or something!

But wait! I'm not just excited about the offense. Between Bryan Augenstein's wiener and Brian Tallet's hand, the team was forced to call up both Fernando Salas and Eduardo Sanchez (no, not Kenny Powers' dad) as replacements. Salas has shown himself plenty competent, and Sanchez is most likely the best relief prospect in the organization. TLR probably just hates it, but his back is now against the wall and he has to prize talent over guts and Connect Four skills. Tallet is useful against lefties and all, but this bullpen excites me more. Some of that probably has to do with the fact that Sanchez has faced 10 fellas as a Big Leaguer. One of them got a base hit. Eight of them were sat forced back to the bench with their heads shaking at the hands of the Ed-ucator. (I'm still working on a better nickname, so don't even bother).

Going into Tuesday's series opener against the Expos, my over-exaggerating early-season self now comfortably believes this team is as good as he thought it was before it was Franklin'd on March 31. It's a nice change considering he was starting to see shades of the 2003 Tigers.

Patience and Impatience, TLR Style

Depending on who you are, it may seem like Tony La Russa has either the most or least patience of any human being on the planet. Somewhere between his ears (which are covered by anachronistic tufts of hair), TLR has information that could give us all the answers to some pivotal questions we've all been wondering for years.

For instance, Skip Schumaker definitively can not play second base, but here we are in his third season of making vague attempts to do so. La Russa must believe that one of these years he's going to turn into a non-hobbled Chase Utley out there. And what about Ryan Franklin? Sure, the saves are there, but most of us without PCP addictions realize saves don't really matter. More concerning is the fact that Franklin will never be able to get a strikeout when he needs it, fizzles near the end of every season, and looks ridiculous. Also, he wants to be able to keep his guns in the clubhouse, and there's no telling whether or not he would try to "hunt" all of the teams with animal names.

On the opposite side of the spectrum we have TLR as the hot-headed, irrational antagonist. He benches Colby Rasmus because they aren't best friends, pulls Jason Motte after one blown save on opening day, and refuses to give David Freese the real third base starting job even though he deserves it by all accounts.

Before this next series against the Giants, I just want to simplify things a bit. Let's just play Descalso at second and bench Skip as a theoretical super-sub who can play shoddy defense and slap the occasional butt-squeak single from nearly anywhere on the field. Let David Freese seriously play third base; he's looked spectacular over there and he should be good for a bit of batting average, a few walks, and the occasional home run. Quit letting Jon Jay try to replace Matt Holliday. Don't even do it for one second. Allen Craig has a real bat in his hands, and I don't care about his glove because the Cardinals have yet to exceed a negative run total in six games so far this season. Oh, and I'm pretty sure Jon Jay hit .004 the last two months of 2010, has no power, and possesses two first names. I hate it when people have two first names.

And Tony, if you're going to stick to your guns and keep Ryan Franklin as your closer (which Ryan Franklin coincidentally loves to do), at least make sure you have the right guys (Motte, Boggs, Tallet and Miller versus lefties) in the game when stuff gets serious. Oh, and while we're at it, it's probably going to wind up being a good idea to move Kyle McClellan back to the bullpen and plug Lance Lynn into the rotation. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I don't think K-Mac has many more gems in his bag.

It's strange to do so much complaining on an off-day, but I needed to vent before I watch the Cards try and hit Jonathan Sanchez after seeming thoroughly confused against Charlie Morton. If there's any consolation to be had, it's that the Dead Birds won't be seeing Tim Lincecum at any point in this series. He used his 13 strikeout card on someone else already.

Before I go, a quick mathematical venture:

TLR's ability to rescue dogs and hug them>TLR's ability to please me as a fan

A Sincere Thanks to Jaime Garcia

Until today's masterful performance by sophomore Jaime Garcia, there was very little to be excited about in the Cardinals' opening series of 2011. It seemed like Garcia struck out a hitter to end like every inning of today's afternoon game against the Padres, and it felt very vindicating after watching various Padres drive in runs via walks and wet little turds tooting through the infield. A shutout from Garcia is exactly what I needed to feel just a little better going into the coming week. What I'm hoping is that Garcia can sustain some growth in his strikeout rate, cut the walks a bit, and wind up with an ERA around 3.00 the real way. (I'm not knocking his excellent 2010, I'm just saying that there are plenty of indicators (FIP, xFIP) that had his ERA closer to 4.00 than the resulting 2.70).

And I don't care that Garcia's outing came against the feeble Padre lineup, because the remainder of the staff (save big, angry Chris Carpenter) made that very lineup look like the '27 Yankees or something. While the individual numbers don't bear it, well except for those of Nick Hundley (?), the Padres scored 16 runs in the first two games of the series. This is a team that had Orlando Hudson hitting third on opening day!

This is a point I make each and every season, but let's get the high-leverage innings in the hands of the correct relievers. Franklin put the Opening Day game into extra innings by letting Cameron Maybin hit a ball into forever, and that was only after recording two outs on laser beams. It wasn't just Franklin and his swing-and-crush stuff, though. TLR really felt like, with the game on the line, Bryan Augenstein, Brian Tallet and Miguel Batista were the obvious answers. This isn't a big deal if it was just some sort of hair-brained, one-off experiment, but it's trouble if it's a genuine way of thinking. With McClellan moving into the rotation, it's even more imperative that important situations rest in the beards of Jason Motte and Mitch Boggs. Why wouldn't you trust your best relievers from a season ago (both of whom are armed with doomsday fastballs) more than a guy with limited minor league success, a probable left-handed specialist, and a second-rate poet?


Even more maddening is that poor Matt Holliday went to all the trouble of pounding a go-ahead home run only to later lose the game, his appendix, and at least two weeks of the season. That appendectomy had no right to happen to the Cardinals, not after Adam Wainwright's season role got reduced to giving boring interviews to Mark Grace.

So yes, it was a frustrating series. Even the Garcia game was fraught with a lack of scoring runs, which I hear is one of the methods to which a team can win at baseball. In fact, rumor has it that eight runs across three games will generally result in a loss total no fewer than two. The lineup looked fairly punchless, but Colby Rasmus showed all the signs of a man ready to take his game to the next level. He's bulked up, his approach at the plate was stellar, and he even whacked himself a triple. Oh, and he grew his hair back out to ensure he looks more like a baby.

Next up are the Pirates, so maybe the grass is about to greener on the side I prefer. The thought of seeing Albert stand 60 feet and six inches away from Charlie Morton has already brightened my outlook. More baseball! More baseball!